nafees

Halla Bol is a negligible film. Yet, Pankaj Kapur manages to tower over it. MINTTY TEJPAL talks to the man who’s played some of Hindi cinema’s most distinct characters

You’ve had 20 successful years on TV. Office, Office, Karamchand. How did you do it?
By God’s grace. In 1985 when I was offered Karamchand, I initially refused. I thought, “who wants to do TV?” But I realised I had no money, so I said “Okay, let me have a look.”

Who gave the character all the nuances we all grew to love?
Barring the carrot, it’s all me. Pankaj Parashar suggested the carrot. Many things I suggested were also incorporated, like the office Karamchand had, which looked like a tiny garage. I said, let’s not get into this “smart spy” thing because James Bond has already been there. My idea was that somebody who is a genius may not necessarily look like a genius. I believe Einstein went to attend a conference somewhere and the person who was to receive him had his own idea of what a genius looked like. Einstein just kept standing there. So we dressed Karamchand in a way that would turn no heads. We went to Colaba to buy those goggles, which later became “Karamchand goggles”. That’s the kind of popularity the series had. Of course, there was only one channel then.
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