sarabhai n khichdi....

Aatish Kapadia: a genius at work!

Aatish Kapadia loves to scribble, and as I glance at the notepad in front of him, I realise that sometime later in the day, these silly nothings are going to make way for another episode of Sarabhai...or Instant Khichadi. As I speak to him, I understand his genre of comedy that believes in pure entertainment, without diluting it with crass attempts at being funny! These are a few things that make this man of words, the king of one-liners!

Where do your lines come from?
From life. I keep looking at life, and give it my perspective. I tend to look at life's situations in a lighter vein...You know, I believe that everything that happens in our lives has an element of happiness. I see that!

It's a great achievement to constantly churn out episodes that are better than the earlier one...you seem to have a magic wand of sorts...does this come naturally to you,or you really prepare?
Trust me. It is very difficult to go on doing this kind of work. Comedy is the hardest to generate day in and day out. That is why I work on comedies only with my own production house (Hats Off Productions). You know you can't work for peanuts when you are doing a comedy.

The Sarabhais" Aatish's family that wears a mask!

You are doing two shows that are so different from one another...is it difficult to work on them simultaneously?
See, that is the perception. Instant Khichadi and Sarabhai...are very similar. You see, Hansa (Supriya Pathak) is very much like Monisha (Rupali Ganguly); Rajeshri (Vandana Pathak) is like Maya. They are different as I have made the Sarabhai...team wear masks. They are sophisticated, but underneath they are just like the Parekhs. Maya and her family are a bunch of hypocrites, but the Parekhs are politically incorrect. You know the difference is an optical illusion --- people watch what they like.

But do you think they cater to different markets...
Again, I don't agree with this. The Parekhs have this habit of reacting extraordinarily...you know, something you don't expect. A viewer thinks, "Well, I am not like this"...so the comedy! As human beings we tend to laugh at others. My shows have viewers who cut across all classes...but there are people who are fiercely loyal to one particular show and don't like the other one. But the people who like both are considerable in number!

How did you finalise on Rajesh and Rupali...they have never done comedy before...

Rupali and Rajesh: Discovered in a new avatar!

Rupali played a vamp in one of the shows that I had seen and personally I find vamps hilarious.To do what they do with such conviction is laudable! I believe that to do something that is so overboard with so much belief is the sign of a good actor. Somehow, I feel that all negative characters on screen can make great comic actors. Rupali just fitted in. Frankly, Rajesh was JD's (JD Majethia , his partner and is the guy who plays Himanshu in Instant Khichadi) choice. We wanted a guy with a fresh face but a macho look. We gave Rajesh a month to practise the drawl, sent him to South Bombay and had him observe the nuances of the people there. Now that drawl is so much a part of Rosesh that he would seem abnormal without it!

Your style of comedy seems to stand out from the other comedies on air...
That is the problem with television. That chalta hai attitude. That is the reason why I waited for so long to do comedies and I have decided that I will do this only with my own banner. Moreover, my kind of comedy doesn't come at somebody's expense. I just hate that style. I am not in the business of sending out social messages, instead I write about social madness, my humour will not be borrowed from outside. Lines like, "yeh doodh to Karishma Kapoor ke kamar se bhi patli hai," positively turns me off! I like people having the ability to laugh at themselves and to do that is comedy...something that is original.

Tell me, how many hours a day do you write...

On the sets of 'Instant Khichadi': His first baby!

36 hours! No seriously, when I get an idea it just flows, but when I am stuck...bas that's it then! But I am blessed that JD and a girl called Sonal Ganatra do a lot of groundwork for me. Sonal is a find...I am training her to write dialogues and she is very good!

Any other shows in the pipeline...
We are doing a daily soap for Star Plus. It might sound clichd, but it is different. It is believable, the people are not millionaires and they don't wear suits in summer. There will not be continuous extra-marital affairs, it is about people not relations....it's going to be aired in August or September...and I can't tell you anything more!