Navigation

Vashi2Panvel.com: Navi Mumbai: Aug 28: The best thing about Sajid Khan is that it is difficult to believe him when he is at his best giving statements left and right that he does not think that he is a good comedian at all. With a poker face he says. “I am single but not at all ready to mingle. I do not have a biwi at home to nag me all the time. Hence I have all the time to take up offers to do shows for television.”

Sajid’s latest show is Har Sale Ka Baap Super Sale on Star One from Monday to Friday at 7 .30 pm. “It is not a funny show”, Sajid declares at the outset when I meet him for this interview. “It is ironical that I had actually started my career with a similar game show like Tol Mol Ke Bol for Zee TV way back a decade ago.”

Sajid asserts that his show is completely different from Kaun Banega Karodpati. “First of all I am not Amitabh Bachchan. I am just plain old Sajid Khan. Secondly if you participate in my show, you could end up as the face of the month, unlike in KBC where you are there only for one or at the most two episodes. In my show the winner can continue till the time he wants to quit. Mine is an exciting fun show. The contestants for Super Sale need to brush up not only on their general knowledge but also on their entertainment (read films) knowledge quotient to enable themselves to tackle the queries posed on the spot by Sajid impromptu. “I have been an ardent fan of Sridevi. I make it a point to ask some thing or the other about Sridevi every time I have to anchor a quiz show.”

Sajid adds. “My show is not at all like Tol Mol Ke Bol. It is more of a Q&A related show, which will set out to test your general knowledge. By and large every show has a same format. We have followed the ground rules of the Australian show. To put it simple, all I’d say is that it is a super hit show in the days of TRPs. Star One has finally got a high entertainment quality show in its stable.”

Talking about Super Sale, Sajid quips. “Imagine buying a brand new washing machine worth Rs 20,000 for just Rs 20/-. This is possible on my show Super Sale. Each episode of Super Sale will feature three contestants who will challenge each other over different rounds of the game and go all out to collect Super Sale Rupees (SSR) to buy attractive items at special Super Sale Prices (SSP). Neeti Mohan, the multi faceted young star of the pop band Aasma will provide the glamour quotient for my show.”

Sajid adds. “The game begins with 20 SSR being handed over to each of the three contestants. Ina succession of heated rounds, I will put forward a series of questions and the first one to hit the buzzer and provide the correct answer wins further 5 SSR. Any contestant who gives an incorrect answer automatically loses 5 SSR from that same amount of SSR. As the rounds progress, Neeti and I will tempt the contestants to spend their winnings at the Super Sale Gift Shop (SSGS) which offers a host of exciting items at Super Sale Prices.”

Sajid has just completed directing one out of the six stores of Ramgopal Varma’s Darna Zaroori Hai “It was a one-man show like Yaadein of Sunil Dutt. Manoj Pahwa is the only actor in my film.” Sajid adds that he did not take any tips from sister Farah Khan, as far as direction is concerned. “I am a very lazy person. I do concede that Farah is brilliant as a director but I am strongly influenced by Hollywood. I feel that if you are not a good audience, you can never be a good filmmaker. I think as a filmmaker, half my battle has been won for the simple reason that I am the greatest movie buff in the entire world. You can take away the success but not the truth away from me. It was hilarious on the first day on the sets when I forgot to tell Start Sound, Lights, Action and my assistant had to remind me when I didn’t utter a word. When you love movies, it is very difficult to direct them”

Sajid who had never assisted any director all his life is now all set to launch his first full-fledged youthful film as a director soon. The film has been tentatively titled Hey Baby. Hey Baby will be out and out a hilarious film, according to Sajid Khan. Hey Baby will star Fardeen Khan and Ritesish Deshmukh with two new girls who are now being finalized. It will also have, besides Fardeen and Ritesih, another big hero and a big heroine.”My brand of comedy may be over the top but then I know when to draw the line when it comes to make people laugh. I do not believe in going overboard or being vicious. I do not believe at all in the Dada Kondke brand of double entendre though as a teenager I did have voyeuristic pleasure by watching his films like Andheri Raat Mein Diya Tere Haath Mein or Pandu Hawaldar.

In the same breath Sajid Khan also adds. “I do not think that I am a good comedian. Main sirf logonke phasatha hoon. I am of the opinion that he who makes the public laugh is a good comedian”

Sajid had made his debut as an actor with Hrishida’s Jhoot Bole Kawwa Kante. His next film as an actor is Indra Kumar’s Pyare Mohan in which he has been cast along with Boman Irani.”We play father and son who are after Fardeen Khan who is one of the leading men besides Vivek Oberoi. No one has had the guts to cast me in a film after Hrishida till now, besides Inder Kumar and Ashok Thakaria who are making Pyare Mohan. People ask me why I am only anchoring film-based comedy on television instead of acting in serials. I tell them that the last time I had acted in a serial called Acting Acting for Sab TV, thank God it flopped.”

Said reiterates the fact that universally the top ten hit pictures have always been family socials, whether it was Titanic or Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge or for that matter Hum Aapke Hain Kaun. Sajid adds. “Name me just one sexual film which has clicked at the box office in a big way? My writer Mushtaq and I have stayed away from sex as far as Hey baby is concerned though the comedy will be of a high level. My film will instantly remind you of Hrishida’s film Golmaal. I have actually four different endings and four different second halves for my film. My target audiences are the ones who go and watch films like Munnabhai MBBS, Kal Ho Na Ho and Main Hoon Na. I guarantee you that if you watch my film just once, you will be tempted to watch it again and again. I plan to revive the concept of the repeat audience, which we have lost due to the satellite television.”

Says Sajid, “I do not at all believe in a written script for any of my shows on television. My script is here on my head. Of course you need a script when you do a film or a serial or a double role, not otherwise.”

In the offing is yet another chat show called Mardowali Baat to be produced by Sajid in collaboration with Ravi Behl which will be aired on Star One shortly. “Right now I think it is too early for me to divulge more details about the show”, Sajid concludes.

Jyothi Venkatesh