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A lifetime of laughter

As a brilliant actor who has played diverse roles —be it the kind-hearted eunuch in Tamanna or the scheming shop owner in Maya Memsaab, the kind landlord Baburao in Hera Pheri, or the conscience tickling landlord in the commercial hit Judaai —with equal élan, Paresh considers the role of Sardar Patel his personal favourite. That is, of course, till the next good one comes along.

But of late, the versatile actor, is getting typecast in similar kinds of roles. Says he, "True but then, what to do? I am no producer or director. I am just an actor and I have to choose roles from amongst those offered me." Paresh is a trifle disappointed at the kind of roles coming his way. "They are not really making the kind of landmark movies I have performed in earlier. But, it's okay. It happens," says the actor matter-of-factly.

Perhaps. But, how does it feel to be considered more for comic roles which seems to be his current speciality? "Earlier, I was slotted in negative roles, then for a while, I was typecast in positive roles and now, it is comedy. But, there will be movies soon through which I will undergo an image change." promises the actor.

Although Paresh's core competence lies in the area of acting, very few people know that he runs a production company and produces serials as well. Recently Paresh's production house has produced a serial called Main Aisi Kyun Hoon which is to be telecast on Sahara One from October 8, four days a week at 8.30 P.M. Paresh, who was present at the launch with wife Swaroop Sampat is upbeat about the serial especially, with the portrayal of women in it. "The serial is woman-oriented and progressive in its approach, unlike other serials. It revolves around career women in metros who march ahead despite difficulties. That's all I can say. I am very bad at storytelling." he says modestly. Does it have shades of the comic? "Yes, but it's not loud comedy. It's a refined and a proportionately balanced comedy. We even sacrifice a character for the sake of humour," says Paresh.

The next inevitable question pops up —what about producing films? "Yes, very soon. Film production is in the offing," informs the actor. Paresh seems to have lost oodles of weight and is looking quite different. What led him to do so? Says he, "I had put on weight and needed to lose some of it. I haven't done it for style or for a role,"

But if required, he would have done it nevertheless, in order to lend an authenticity to any character he was to play. That's Paresh Rawal for you. Whatever he does, he does it to perfection. No small wonder then, that all characters played by him have come alive on the silver screen with the kind of fiery intensity rarely matched.