Amit Mishra ( Bureau Chief, Mumbai )
Funny man Rajesh Kumar is back as Sanam Harjai in Sanjay and Binaiferr Kohli’s Excuse Me Madam. The actor who conquered Covid bravely is back on the set. He speaks about his role.
“I am playing a character called Sanam Harjai who is not a typical henpecked husband but his wife is possessive and for that, he is a bit annoyed. At the same time he will fall in love with his office boss. Sanam is a very loving character and a typical forty plus man when the waist size and age become the same.”
He also adds,”I have no similarities with my character at all. And that is the challenge. This time without a get up I am creating a different character on camera. We see many men around us who feel bored after 10-15 years of their marriage. I feel not only men who get attracted to other women after 40, women also get attracted to other men (smiles).”
He further adds,”The uniqueness of Sanam is the characterization. It is beautiful writing with underlined humor. It is very real with day to day conversations. I feel in today’s television scenario not many simple shows is being made like Excuse Me Maadam. Situations are very funny and he is an underdog also. Even the other characters are relatable and viewers will like it.”
Speaking about the special attraction of the show – the dogs – Rajesh feels that’s another special thing. “We have humanized the dogs and they do have their own conversations. I am having a great time on set with furry friends. With them around, the set vibes are too good.”
Rajesh also has gained weight for some other show and that gaining worked for Sanam’s portrayal and has been useful. He explains, ,”Yes the weight factor is adding to the character. If you look at it – in North India, post 40 they treat their life like semi-retirement. They don’t pay much attention to their fitness and lead a very happy go like life. With weight face and reactions become very cute and in comedy, you can take that risk because you are not doing heroic stuff. I have no apprehension on this because to look like a man next door the overweight factor works. Till the time it is justifying the character everything is fine.
” How will you define the producer duo Sanjay and Binaiferr Kohli?
“For me it’s a homecoming, I have worked with them in a show called Bhootwala in 2009. We were in touch all these years and when I got this offer I jumped into it. We go to the set with the intention of having fun and good work happens automatically and that’s a great quality of this production house.”
