"I am amongst the minority of actors who can do comedy well" says Deven Bhojani

A talented theatre actor and director best known for his Gujarati plays and dramas Deven Bhojani, has portrayed many a comic role in shows like Dekh Bhai Dekh, Office Office, Sarabhai vs Sarabhai, Baa Bahoo aur Baby and others, amongst which he is widely popular for his character Gattu in Baa Bahoo aur Baby. He was last seen on the big screen in film Agneepath as Azhar Lala and on television as Mr. Suhas Tendulkar in Mrs. Tendulkar.

His role in Sarabhai vs Sarabhai has won him three best director awards viz the ITA Award, the Indian Telly Award and The Apsara Award. He mastered the art of film direction from the University of Sothern California.

In an exclusive interaction, Deven Bhojani shared with Adgully his views on the industry, how comedy is the preferred choice of audiences, about his favourite on screen character among all the different roles he has portrayed till date and more.

At the very onset of the conversation he spoke about his on going show Bh Se Bhade which went live on October 26, 2013. "I am playing this kind of character for the first time in my life.  Since Bhade is a unique character I had to spend a lot of time in adapting to this elderly character and imbibing his traits. Audiences have liked me in my other roles so they will definitely accept me in this role as well."

In order to understand his character better and make it more lively Bhojani spent most of his time discussing about the same with his creative team.

When asked to share his thoughts on his character Gattu which he portrayed in Baa Bahoo Aur Baby he said, "I feel Gattu's character is the most loved character played by me on screen till date, as audiences have praised it the most in comparison to my other roles. But that doesn't mean that as an actor I should stick to Gattu, I need to grow up. I think people have watched enough of Gattu and they also want me to entertain them by doing different characters."

Most of the shows in which Bhojani has acted till date have been produced by Jamnadas Majethia’s Hats Off Productions.  Is there any specific reason for it? Answering this query he said "J.D. Majethia, Aatish Kapadia and myself  are old and good friends and more like brothers. I share comfort level in their company and that helps me in doing good work. I have not only acted but directed shows with them such as Baa Bahoo aur Baby, Khichdi and Sarabhai vs Sarabhai."

After entertaining audiences as Mrs. Tendulkar a big gap ensued wherein Bhojani was conspicuous by his absence on the small screen and now he is seen making his appearance as Bhade. Explaining further on this he said "Actually I got offers from other production houses in this span of time but did not like the roles. In my opinion my duty as an actor requires me to provide wholesome entertainment for my audience with new and different characters."

Today audiences have accepted and like family entertainment shows and comedy undoubtedly is an important element of entertainment. "I am not in favour of doing shows that take help of double meaning to add more flavour to a comedy. I have done loads of comedy shows and I am proud of my endeavors."

Bhojani considers comedy to be quite a serious business and a difficult task to achieve in acting. According to him it is only the select few who can pull it off with ease. He concludes, “Today in our industry there are a lesser number of actors who can do a good comedy in comparison to actors who play all kinds of different roles. I am amongst that minority of actors who can do comedy well and I am glad to be  gifted with  this talent."