Bollywood News

Who doesn't know about Gattu of ‘Baa, Bahoo aur Baby'! Kids and the elderly love him alike. But at the end of the day, he is Deven Bhojani. We decided to take a sneak into his life and find out more about the actor. Here are the excerpts of our interview with him:

Q: Gattu is now a household name and everyone loves him. But being the character yourself, is there any single thing about Gattu which you personally don't like?
A: I like everything about Gattu. When I go out, kids are so happy to see Gattu that they actually pull my cheeks, punch on my back and talk to me. All this makes me happy.

But when the same thing is done by the elderly, it becomes irritating. At least they should understand that I am not the real Gattu. This is the only thing which I don't like about being Gattu.

Q: One has always seen Deven Bhojani playing comic roles! Is he that way in his real life too?
A: No way, in fact I am a complete serious person in real life. I will say that I am a very normal man who is 40 years old and has two daughters.

Q: So how do your daughters react? Do they like Gattu?
A: They too love Gattu. My elder daughter who is 12 years old, sometimes criticizes me when she doesn't like my performance.

But my younger daughter who is 7 years old is crazy about Gattu. She imitates Gattu and whenever her friends call me Gattu, she proudly says that "Gattu is my dad".

Q: You are playing a dad in ‘Remote Control'. Wasn't it difficult to get into the character when you are already so much into Gattu's character?
A: I feel it is difficult for any actor to get into any character in the beginning because you have to switch between many characters. For me also it was very difficult initially. In the first couple of episodes, I was unable to get the feel of the character.

But then slowly it all got managed. Same happened with Gattu's role. Initially I was searching the real Gattu and now the result is in front of you.

Q: Which character is close to you between the two?
A: Both are really close to me. It would be partial for me to name one. Like I cannot distinguish between my two daughters, the same way I cannot choose between Gattu and Babulnath.

Q: Why are you not seen in regular daily soaps?
A: Actually, there is no time for any other serial. From 1st to the 20th of every month, I shoot for ‘Baa, Bahoo aur Baby' and after the 21st, I shoot for ‘Remote Control'. I am not only acting in both the serials, but also am the creative director on them. And all these responsibilities eat up most of my time.

Q: How do you manage acting as well as creative direction?
A: Everything is planned. Before I start shooting for ‘Gattu' or ‘Babulnath', I sit with directors and people from the various departments of the production. I manage everything and see what the requirement is. So when I am on floor, I am just an actor.

Q: You have been acting for more than 20 years now. But the recognition has come your way only recently. Is it not true that you have got your share of accolades late?
A: It's true, but I always believe in one phrase, "better late than never".

Q: You started your career with theatre. Are you still into it?
A: No since the time I got into direction, I am unable to do theatre. Initially I used to get many offers for theatre, but now even they know how busy I am. So no one approaches me anymore.

Q: Don't you want to take a chance with serious roles?
A: Actually I want to. But if you go to see, even ‘Gattu' and ‘Babulnath' are not entirely comedy roles. There are various shades in these characters too. Yes, they are not out and out serious roles. So, if I get good offers, I will definitely take up those too.

Q: You have played various roles so far, so which role is closest to your heart?
A: ‘Gattu' undoubtedly. It is a unique character which I really enjoy playing. And it was the most challenging one too.

Q: Which is your dream role?
A: I don't have any dream role in my mind, but I would like to play a negative character once. I think I would be very good in it.

Q: How you manage your personal life? I mean given the fact that you are too busy with so many assignments at a time.
A: Whenever I get time, I take my family out. I spend quality time with my daughters by playing with them, taking them for swimming, shopping, dinner or movies. At times my daughters do complain, but by the end of the day, they too understand.

Q: Which is the best complement that you will never forget?
A: There is one incident which I will never forget. In one of the episodes, ‘Gattu' wanted to eat ‘pav-bhaji', but he didn't have money, so the ‘pav-bhaji' vendor shows him the door. Poor ‘Gattu' was left hungry.

After the telecast of the scene, on the following day, few kids came to my house with their tiffins. They said that they have saved their food for ‘Gattu'.

They had also saved Rs 20 and gave it to me saying, "Now you go and have ‘pav-bhaji', we have saved the money for you". So that was really sweet and touching. - Saakshi Tiwari