Supriya Pathak tells JYOTHI VENKATESH
that marketing serials has become the most important aspect of Indian television today.
What is your role in the second season of ‘Remote Control’?
I play a really strong character called Baari, the mother in the Babulnath family, who has instilled the right values in her children. I can really relate to the character and that is the reason I accepted the role.
Comment about the change in the TV scenario today.
TV in the initial days when the satellite channels had not yet come was very good. There were thought provoking as well as entertaining serials like Buniyaad, Udaan and Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi. However, there is a vast difference between the scenario then and now as far as serials are concerned.
In what way do you think the scenario has changed?
Unlike in the past, the audiences today have short lived memories. In today’s time, you should be able to market your serials well, even if you end up making good shows. If there is dum in your shows and you also market it properly, you will get the audiences.
Do you mean to say that quantity has taken over quality?
Today, it is sad but true that quality has ceased to be important. It is a question of how much time you are able to do your work in. Though at one time the weekly serials were watched with bated breath, today, people like to watch dailies.
What was the reason that the first season of ‘Remote Control’ did not reach the audience?
The first season of Remote Control did not reach the audiences the way we expected it to and the major reason for that is the lack of publicity.
What is your approach as an actress?
The new generation may identify me as Hansa of Khichdi as well as Instant Khichdi, but the average viewer still remembers that as an actress, I have a great body of work to my credit. Frankly, I do not think about myself just as an actor. As an actress, I feel that what I say to people should go across to them and sometimes feel upset if it does not.
Will you be a part of Pankaj Kapoor’s film as an actor?
Pankaj’s film has been delayed. Though Shahid Kapoor will act in it, I am not sure whether I will be a part of it, as an actor or not. It all depends on whether Pankaj feels that I am suitable for the character and wants to cast me in his directorial debut film.
Is it true that you do not get work because of your blunt nature?
One of the reasons that I am not given much work is because I am not happy with the television scene and also as I am too blatant for comfort and tend to voice my opinion without beating around the bush. I believe in quality.
Is ‘Remote Control’ the only serial in which you are working now?
Besides Remote Control, I do not have any other serial on hand as of now. I have just completed my work in Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra’s latest film Dilli 6 in which I play Sonam Kapoor’s mother. Dilli 6 is an ensemble film in which Om Puri and I are playing Sonam’s parents. If as an actor, my presence makes sense, I absolutely do not have any issues at all about the footage that I am given in the film.
Besides ‘Dilli 6’, do you have any other film up your sleeves?
Besides Dilli 6, I have to my credit, one more film, in which Pankaj is also acting with me. It is Bhawana Talwar’s untitled film in which I am playing the challenging role of a paanwali.
Do you feel that you have not been given your dues as an actor till date?
I have absolutely no complaints about the way my career has progressed. In any case, when has an actress been given her due after a certain age? I hope that the mind-set changes, especially because the possibility of doing good cinema is exists now, with the emergence of the multiplexes and the reception to cross-over cinema, even as mindless films are being churned out. It is not something that is new. In the 60s, Rajendra Kumar was there, even when Dilip Kumar reigned supreme as an actor.
