One character in Rajan Shahi’s “Anupamaa” that will make you fall in love with himself is Shekhar Shukla, who plays the role of Jignesh. Mamaji, as he is lovingly called, is quite an interesting character, especially when he says “mane remember the.” The actor, who has worked both in films and TV, feels that the storyline of the show has connected well with every household and credits the lead pair Sudhanshu Pandey and Rupali Ganguly for this. Shekar opines about top-rated television serial Anupamaa.
He said, “It is the story of every household. In every culture, it is there that a daughter-in-law either gets very good in-laws or they get this type of in-laws, who are orthodox or have a conservative mind. Daily soaps need this kind of content, and Sudhanshu and Rupali’s performance also has connected well with the audience. The story writing and dialogues are written in such a way that strikes a chord with the audience.”
Shekar on his character:
Talking about his character, who is funny yet very supportive and understanding, he said, “In real life also I am like this. I am a happy go lucky person and I am always happy. I don’t take too much stress about anything like even now with Covid I am not taking too much stress, but yes I am taking all the precautions to keep myself safe.”
And what about your catchphrase “mane remember che“, he said, “Actually this is the tagline which is also known as takia kalam. I did it first in the show ‘F.I.R.’. In my career so far, I have used different taglines with different characters. The fun part about using this catchphrase is that it appeals to the people as I am a Gujarati and it comes naturally. Since I have used taglines in ‘F.I.R.’ also, I have a specific target audience. They likes to listen to this type of tagline from me.”
Sharing the response, he is getting for his performance, he said, “It is very good. People are messaging me from abroad also, and people are saying ‘kya baat hai?’ People have seen me in this type of character before also and now they are liking this character too, so they are assuming that Shekhar Shukla prepares the character and performs it, but it is the writer who has given me this tagline. I am very much comfortable with it.”
Top-rated television serial Anupamaa:
Talking about the bond he shares with Arvind Vaidya and Alpana Buch, who is seen as Hasmukh Shah and Leela Shah, respectively, he said, “The three of us are Gujaratis and Arvind Ji is senior to me, while Alpana Ji is junior to me. Her dad was very well known in the theatre industry, he is no more now. We understand very small things about each other and we do our improvisation immediately. It feels really good to work with them.”
Shekhar has earlier worked with Rajan when he was directing a show. He said, “This is for the first time that I am working with Rajan Shahi’s production house Director’s Kut Productions. Previously I have worked with him when he was a director. On the set, it feels great because Rajan Ji knows how to give respect to artists and other people. Onset and he gives very good narration too. He is very transparent about everything; he does what he says.”
Covid precautions on-set:
And sharing details about the precautions taken on the set, he said, “On set Rajan Ji has taken so many precautions to keep everyone safe. Proper sanitization, checking of oxygen level and body temperature, hot food is served which is catered from a hygienic food center and the food packages are also sanitized. Only the person who wants to eat their food will unpack his food container. Plates, spoons, everything is sanitized and washed in hot water only. Our makeup rooms and washrooms are sanitized three times in a day.”
“Since the day shooting started doctors have visited our sets and we all have got our tests done. And we get results within 15 minutes. Everyone on the set is safe and this is because of Rajan Shahi. Everyone on set is continuously wearing a mask, except the actors. As they need to perform and their make-up might get affected. But as soon as the shot gets over, we immediately wear our masks. We all also keep ourselves protected. After pack-up when we reach home, we immediately sanitize ourselves and take bath,” Shekhar signed off.
So, this was all on Shekar and top-rated television serial Anupamaa. Stay tuned to Bollywood Hush for more news and updates.
