October 30, 2017

My Filmi Keeda: Stars in the TV Galaxy

Everything that glitters is not gold. Every star who shines on the silver screen may not twinkle on Television. Years back when Amitabh Bachchan made his debut in TV fiction with thriller miniseries Yudh, I was super excited. My fascination with Big B had started with KBC in 2000. Seventeen years on and my love for him has only grown manifold. Despite the KBC memories, I didn’t enjoy watching him on TV.

When film stars act on the small screen, they look very different. Sometimes, less convincing. Not just Amitabh, established actors like Karishma and Anil Kapoor have showcased their acting skills on TV. Karishma’s serial of the same name aired on Sahara One in 2003-2004 and lasted over 262 episodes. It also had many other actors like Sanjay Kapoor, Arbaaz Khan, Arshad Warsi to name a few. Anil Kapoor’s 24 in 2013 was a superhit. I watched all the episodes with equal interest as the plot was too gripping.

Until some years back, television was considered a smaller platform than Bollywood. And every TV actor aspired to be part of the bigger screen. Many actors left their successful TV careers to find a place in films but never made it big. Gracy Singh, Aman Verma, Karan Singh Grover, Amar Upadhyay, Gurmeet Choudhary, Aamna Sharif, Rajeev Khandelwal, Anita Reddy, Prachi Desai are just some of them.
   
But there are some actors, new and old, that never made it big in films but are so adorable on TV. One name that immediately comes to mind is: Vibhuti Narayan Mishra. The character is so lovable and the actor who looks some 20-something is actually 55 plus of age. Aashif Sheikh (Vibhuti) has acted in several films like Karan Arjun, Haseena Maan Jaegi, Army, Pyaar Kiya Toh Darna Kya, Kunwara, etc. We may not remember his roles in these films but his rendition of a jobless man flirting with his brainless neighbour is remarkable. He has been working on TV since 1985. He first appeared in Hum Log which also happens to be India’s first daily show on television.
       
Another name that got immense popularity is Ronit Roy as Mr. Bajaj in Kasautii Zindagi Kay. He was able to impress the producers, landing himself a role in Balaji Telefilms’ Kyunki Saas… He repeated the success story with courtroom drama Adaalat as KD. Off late, he has been doing some work in films like Udaan, 2 States, etc.

From the old school, actor Sanjay Khan made a stellar debut in The Sword of the Tipu Sultan in 1990. Despite a career spanning more than three decades, the actor-director is best remembered as Tipu Sultan. He starred in many hits movies and acted in over thirty films from the 1960s till the mid-80s. Now, his son and actor Zayed Khan is all set to make his TV debut in Sony’s latest thriller show Haasil. Zayed was last seen in Sharafat Gayi Tel Lene in 2015. He has done more than 20 films but the only role worth remembering is that of Lucky in Main Hoon Na.

It’s something to be seen if Zayed is able to create some magic with his role as Ranvir Raichand. The show also stars Vatsal Sheth (Kabir Raichand) and Nikita Dutta (Aanchal Srivastava). The story revolves around two brothers who supposedly love the same girl. While Nikita has done couple of TV shows earlier. Vatsal is a known face on silver screen. His first show Just Mohabbat was a hit and ran for four long years. He has also tried his luck in movies with Tarzan - The Wonder Car – being his first film.

The latest offering by Sony is a romantic drama with love triangle as the backdrop. The promos and teasers seem intriguing. Wait gets over on October 30 at 9:30 PM IST. Hope, Zayed Khan keeps up the legacy.

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