Satish Shah feels Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai was the first failure of his TV career

He is nothing short of a comic genius. His name is enough to bring a smile on your face. Satish Shah in his three-decade career has raised laughter on TV with his tongue-in-cheek humour, wit and affability. From Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi, Filmi Chakkar to Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai, every show he did is iconic. Even the music countdown show Philips Top Ten is best remembered for Shah’s inimitable hosting and the various characters he donned in them. It remains the highest rated show on Indian television — at one point, it had garnered 48 TRPs! And yet, the actor has done only a handful of shows, his last being Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai. He is now set to return with a web series.   

We meet the 65-year-old actor to find out why he has been missing in action on TV that is in dire need of some clean-hearted, pure humour that he specialised in on the small-screen. It took some convincing and a producer friend to put in a word for the veteran actor to finally give me “30 minutes”. So, it was with trepidation that I arrived at his house. I feared that he must be a serious man in real life, as most comedians are known to be.  After a wait of 20 minutes, Shah walked in looking charismatic with grey hair and moustache. He told the photographer to capture him in proper light lest his thinning hair be seen! Within minutes we were chatting like friends thanks to his charm and geniality. And, the interview continued for more than an hour over cups of coffee. Excerpts..   

After Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai, you haven’t done any serial....

I still get offers, and the money offered is at par or better than top TV actors,  but the reason I have kept away is that I cannot work in the format of daily soaps. All the shows I have done so far have been weeklies. If I do dailies, my life will be like a robot. At this stage I want to relish the fame and adulation. I have earned it and by the grace of God I am doing well.

You didn’t judge a show after Comedy Circus...

During Comedy Circus, I found that I did not go with the flow of the format. There were three judges and by the time I got my turn,  the other two had said whatever I wanted to. I was not smart enough to add something else to it and found my lines were cut. I felt my participation was not there.

Have you watched any of the current comedy shows on TV?

Yes, I have, but I can’t watch shows which have the same kind of humour for long. I used to watch Kapil Sharma’s show but after a few episodes, I withdrew because I found he had the same kind of repartee  and one-liners. Krushna Abhishek started in front of me in Comedy Circus. He has turned out to be very good comedian. He has a great ease in front of the camera. I believe that if a person finds a comfort level in front of the camera, nobody can stop him. I have no complaints against the comedians today, whether it is Kapil or Krushna. I like the way they improvise the situation and sometimes even save it. But as I said I get bored watching the same format after a while. However, their shows are getting good TRPS (TV Rating Points), which means the audience is liking them. Who am I to say they aren’t good?

Hasn’t the concept of comedy changed over the years on TV and films?

It has and these days there is a lot of toilet humour. I don’t know from where it has crept in. It is not needed at all. I took a strong objection to some episodes in Comedy Circus too, but people felt I was being khadoos. Maybe, I belong to a different genre or generation. In films, especially, I get disgusted with the kind of humour that has come up. I am so happy that I did not accept some films that were offered to me. My humour is a little sophisticated... how do I put it.. it’s  bhadra (refined). Initially, I did that kind of comedy when I started out. I did Ramsay films, I was new and it was an experiment, even vulgarity was there. I still admire Shyam Ramsay as a director. He is very good in all departments of cinema, but unfortunately he got stuck in the horror genre.

What is the reason behind this change in comedy?

Those writers were different. Sharad Joshi used to write serials like Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi. Sanjay Chhel scripted Filmi Chakkar. Today, it is difficult for writers, especially those who write comedy because so much is being churned out. It’s not a problem for daily soap writers because they can take inspiration from novels, introduce a twist and turn in the plot. There can also be ghost writers. Sometimes suggestions come from the channel. But for humour you need a lot of time to write. There were times when I used to interfere in the dialogue of some serials that I did like Filmi Chakkar. Sanjay was very enthusiastic and would put all the punches in one scene. He was very young and I would tell him to write whatever her feels and then I would segregate it. Even he allowed me to do it as I was a senior artiste. The reason I took so much interest in the serial was because if it doesn’t do well people won’t say the producer or director is bad, but that Satish Shah is bad! Whatever I got associated with on TV became my responsibility. I would take interest not only in my lines, but also others’ and help with their punches. You can ask my co-actors like Vijay Kashyap (Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi). People should laugh and enjoy whether it’s on my joke or reaction.

Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai was so popular, but still there hasn’t been any talk about a sequel or season 2. Why is that?

Let me tell you something, we did the serial as a weekly. However, at that time it was not publicised  much. By the time people got to know that it’s a good serial and started watching it, it was taken off air due to lack of TRPs! It was the first failure of my career on TV. I felt bad. Later, the show was re-run as a daily. That’s when people got hooked on it. The irony is Sarabhai was a big flop when it was released the first time, otherwise it would have been still running. And that was one show for which I had compromised on my remuneration, too.

Was the character of Indravadhan Sarabhai close to you?

Producer JD Majethia and writer Aatish Kapadia had come to my house to narrate the script. When they left I told my wife (Madhu), they have just described to me what I am in real life! That’s how similar Indravadhan was to me. Whether it is the humour, wit or one-liners, he says exactly what I would in a situation. I am also at heart a South Bombay guy (Kemps Corner) because I was born and brought up there.

Tell us about your cool chemistry with Ratna Pathak Shah who played your wife in Filmi Chakkar and Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai?

Ratnaji’s mother and my father’s younger sister were best friends. Her mother got married in my aunt’s house. At that time we were not into acting, but we knew each other. When we met professionally, we just hit it off and have a great comfort level. Her husband (Naseeruddin Shah) is my best friend and my wife is her best friend. Hum dono screen par aate the toh really husband-wife ki tarah the. That is chemistry.

What was the best thing about doing this show?

The best thing about Sarabhai was all the characters were important — adrak, mirchi, nimbu milake ganne ka juice gahazab ka hota hai — and all of us gelled well together.  We used to eagerly wait to go on the sets. That’s why even after a decade, we all meet once in two-three months at somebody’s place. I am an easy going person. I don’t have airs about me being a senior artiste. I make the other person comfortable, so that he can interact well. My performance depends on the reaction of the co-artiste. If he is not relaxed, he can’t give a perfect performance.

What do you think worked for the serial?

The serial was a little over-the-top, but underplayed. For instance, take Roshesh’s character  (a mama’s boy he recited nonsensical poems with rhyming words). It could have easily gone into the zone of buffoonery, but he did it so seriously. The way he would ask everyone’s opinion after he recited the poem made it even more funny.

Any anecdotes that you can share with us?

We used to share each other’s food. All of us would sit together including the director, cameraman, lightmen etc. There was no hierarchy. I used to bring lunch, which everybody used to eat, but what Ratna would bring nobody would eat. Not because she didn’t share, but because she would bring very little quantity. She would say, jiski jaisi body. Later, she did want to share, but felt embarrassed. However, she called us to her house several times for dinner and we had a blast.

Now, that there is talk of it making a comeback as a web series there is a lot of excitement among the fans...

It’s one show that never left anybody’s mind. Sarabhai has a huge footprint. I had gone to Houston in February and four of us had lunch at a hotel. When I asked for the bill, the waiter told us it had been paid for, but refused to reveal the identity of the person who paid. When I insisted, he said it was paid by a couple, and that they were waiting outside. When I met them, they said they were newly-married and loved Sarabhai which was airing there then. The serial has trickled from Indian shores to Europe and America where it is popular.

This will be your first web series?

Yes, though we have just bounced the idea. I don’t care whether it is in digital format or on TV, I will be working with the same actors and same set up. I have to perform in front of a camera and it will be as good or better than before.