Deven Bhojani: ‘We are nobody to judge the audience’

Deven Bhojani in Black, White and Gray—Love Kills. Pics/Instagram

His mere mention evokes either a smile or a chuckle. After all, Deven Bhojani has served some of the funniest and most heart-warming moments to his audience on screen in a career spanning over three decades. However, going by the visual assets of his upcoming show, Black White and Gray - Love Kills, the actor is set to create a new visual imagery for himself - one that is raw, intense and grey. Gearing up for the release of the SonyLIV crime drama, Bhojani speaks to mid-day about OTT offering him a new dimension to acting, the exhaustion he experienced while delivering blockbuster shows on television, and his plans for direction in the near future.

Edited excerpts from the interview.

What convinced you to come on board this gritty show?
There was no reason for me to say no to this. Whenever producer Hemal [Thakkar], who is an old friend from my theatre days, and I do some new project, we just call up each other to ask what the other person thinks about it. He briefed me on the concept of this show and said there was a role for me in it. We met with the director [Pushkar Mahabal] and the creative team, who then narrated [the story] to me in detail. They were a little sceptical whether I would agree because it did not have [a lot of] screen time, and I have been on television, where I have mostly played lead characters. However, I am someone who looks at the meat of the character, not the length. I have never played such a kind of a character before.

The work you have done on OTT so far - Scoop, Taaza Khabar and now Black, White and Gray - speaks much about your versatility and the variety of roles offered to you. Do you feel that creators on OTT view you differently from the kind of work you are known for?
Yes, definitely. I wanted to explore OTT for the longest time. That is why for the last three-and-a-half years, I stopped doing television because doing a daily soap and an OTT show together was next to impossible. Thankfully, I started getting offers and have done a variety of roles already. As an actor, I am like a kid in a candy store. In television, shows go on for some time. Like Baa Bahoo Aur Baby, wherein I played Gattu, went on for five to six years. Of course, it was enriching; I loved the process and the popularity. But then I was stuck. After a point, it becomes a little monotonous, whereas on OTT, a show's shoot goes on for two or four months at most. I am doing this middle-aged love story where I played the lead. I have also just finished shooting a film where I play a reporter. I have done a lot of theatre work with Hemal. So, they know my capacity as an actor, how versatile I am, and I am not restricted to only doing comedy. That is why they dared to cast me for this character.

How did you break the monotony of doing similar roles?
Luckily, in the case of Sarabhai vs Sarabhai, my character Dushyant became iconic. Memes on him go viral even after 20 years of the show. [Besides acting], I was also the director on that show. It was time-consuming and taxing. Similarly, in Baa, Bahoo Aur Baby, I was also the creative director of the show. So, at a point, I had to tell the writers on both the shows to write less [for the characters of] Gattu and Dushyant. Even if the TRP increases with Gattu and Dushyant coming in the scene, don't put them so much that the audience gets tired. As an actor, I got to break the monotony of playing the same character repeatedly. Some days I would shoot, and some days I would be there just as a creative director. I took a break after it to study filmmaking from USC [University of Southern California]. In my class, there were directors from different parts of the world. It helped me break the monotony of my life.

You were part of the golden age of television. Do you feel TV has regressed since then?
You are right to an extent, but the audience is there for every kind of entertainment. So, it is very subjective. We are nobody to judge anyone, even the audience. People are making those shows because they are getting a good audience and TRPs, so why not? The moment TRPs go down, they shut the show ruthlessly sometimes. That is how it works. There is nothing wrong with it.

Do you feel actors who excel at comedy are not always considered great actors and there is a bias?
It is sad that people think that. I fail to understand why, because comedy is the most difficult thing to do.

When Deven Bhojani is not just an actor

. Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander (1992): actor, Assistant director
. Sarabhai vs Sarabhai (2004-06): Actor, Director, Creative director
. Baa Bahoo Aur Baby (2005-10): Actor, Creative director
. Commando 2 (2017): Director