as he celebrates his 72nd birthday, veteran actor Anang Desai of Khichdi fame looks back at his brilliant career in this special conversation with Subhash K Jha.
What does a birthday mean to you at this age?
I’m extremely happy that I have been able to celebrate my birthday all these years, including my birthday today. It has been a fascinating journey, and I thank God for that. Every day I wake up and thank God for the lovely life and healthy life that I’ve got. It is a wonderful journey which I will always cherish and definitely I like to celebrate my birthday with my dear and near ones. It’s a pleasure to be with the family every day, and especially on this day.
How do you look back on your journey so far?
I look at my journey with a lot of gratitude. I’ve been able to work for all these years. I’m still working, which is very gratifying. I’ve been able to do some interesting and varied roles. I’ve been able to work with fine people, talented actors, talented directors, and that is wonderful for me, and so it has been an enjoyable journey, wonderful journey, and I just love doing acting, and so I’m very happy that I’ve been able to do that for all these years.
Any regrets?
No, I look at my life and the world around me with a lot of positivity. No, there are no phases in my life I would like to erase. There are no regrets in my life. No regrets. Life is a celebration. I just love my life.
What are your memorable roles?
On the television front, Khichdi, of course, then Akbar Birbal and Tenali Rama. I also remember my work with Satish Kaushik in Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai, Kagaz 2, and more recently, my work in Rustom. I am very fond of that role of mine. All these roles I am very fond of. I remember all my roles, but there are certain roles which are more memorable. I remember them fondly. First of all, my first serial called Raj Se Swaraj, which came on Doordarshan then, dealing with certain pre-independence political trials. Gandhiji, Tila, and INA trials, which was directed by Amal Alana, and I was part of it, and that was my first serial, so I remember that fondly. I also remember my work with Shyam Benegal, especially Bharat Ek Khoj, where I did a very multiple roles, variety of roles, most importantly the Raja Ram Mohan role that I did. It was a wonderful experience working with Shyam Babu in this project and, plus some one or two other films that I did with him. Other than that, there were other serials once I came to Mumbai called Kabir, Hamrahi, and Imtihan was a serial which gave me a strong footing in the television industry, plus Chattan. Coming to films, of course, I remember Gandhi because that was my first and a very important film, although I had a small role in it, but an international film, to be part of such a film is an honour. After that, of course, I remember a small film called Parinati, which was directed by Prakash Jha as a telefilm, which I fondly remember.
But Khichdi remains your signature show?
Yes, Khichdi remains my signature show, and it’s a pleasure that I have been able to do it. It has been a wonderful journey for me in Khichdi and Khichdi just happened. One day, Aatish Kapadia and JD Makhija rang me up that there’s a show that they are going to do and they want to cast me and we met, and Aatish narrated the whole first episode of the first series of Khichdi and I was just floored by the unusual subject. I had not done such a thing before that, so it was wonderful, and that’s how it happened; Aatish and JD were very sure of their casting, and they were very sure that I should be doing Babuji.
Khichdi gave you an opportunity to test your comic chops?
I’d like to tell that before that on television and in films, before Khichdi happened, I had, except for Akbar Aur Birbal, I had only done very intense positive and negative roles, so no one thought that I’ll be cast in a comic role, but Aatish and JD were very confident and very sure that they wanted me as Babuji and I’m very thankful to them that they casted me in this role and that’s how our journey in Khichdi started.
Khichdi is a way of life?
It has been a long and lovely journey. Khichdi has become a brand, and we all bond so well, and that bonding shows on the screen.
