Meet Rajesh Kumar, The Man World Has Known Only As Rosesh For The Last 12 Years
"Rosesh is a duffer... and if you take that out of him, the character will lose its essence. This season he has finally found a girl - Jasmine."
We're talking to Rajesh Kumar, the man known more for his pot-bellied alter ego who sprouts poems so bad they'll make your ears bleed, Rosesh Sarabhai. Something made even more special by the fact that the last time it was on TV, it was 2004, FB was just launched and Twitter was still being imagined. So, for the millennials to remember something for 12 years that wasn't directed by Tarantino is a huge achievement in itself.
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And 12 years later, the show is making a comeback and people are already going bonkers over the news. Ask Rajesh Kumar about how the journey of Sarabhai started 12 years ago, and he narrates the story from the day when he was first introduced to Rosesh Sarabhai.
Interestingly, this was a role for which they didn¡¯t audition anyone apart from me. They came to me because I think they had it on their mind that probably I would fit into the role. Aatish Kapadia narrated me the role and also mimicked the voice of Rosesh Sarabhai. He showed me what the character is like.
The voice modulation was, of course, very tough for me. It took me about 15 days to learn to talk in that manner. I still remember, the first time I had tried it on a toilet seat because in there, the voice echoes and that way you get a better idea of it. Then I kept talking in that tone to almost with everyone, for several days. I would meet ¨C my wife, my maid, my watchman, and I would talk in that tone.
But was Rajesh ever sceptical about playing such a goofy character onscreen at the age of 30? He says there was no room for any doubt.
I never doubted, even once, not even when I was offered the role. I was never sceptical. This role was, in fact, the most important one in my career, and I am still very thankful to have bagged this opportunity. The moment I got to know that I¡¯ll be working with actors like Ratna Pathak Shah, Satish Shah and others, I knew it was a big opportunity for me. I was never in doubt.
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Not many know that the character is inspired by a real life person. In fact, all characters from the show have been inspired by producer Aatish¡¯s family. Did Rajesh ever take any help from him or meet him to understand the character better? Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t.
As you know, all Sarabhai characters are inspired by real life people and so is Rosesh Sarabhai. But unfortunately, I have never met the man. I have always requested Aatish Ji that I want to meet the real-life Rosesh. But unfortunately, it could never happen. However, I hope that I¡¯ll get to meet him soon.
When people collaborate for a comedy show, you expect the cast and the crew to burst into laughter on the sets too. What do the sets of Sarabhai VS Sarabhai look like?
Yes, we often burst out laughing on the sets of the show too. It¡¯s crazy. It¡¯s so much fun to be working with the team. We crack lots of jokes, and more often than not, we tend to forget that we have to shoot as well. That is when Ratna Ji acts like a teacher, or rather a principal, always telling us that we need not laugh at ourselves, and we need to make people laugh too. So, let¡¯s get back to work.
Who is naughtiest among the cast, the prankster of the clan?
If I have to name one person as the prankster, it would be Sumeet for sure, and then Satish Ji as well. I also take part in playing pranks on the team. So, I join them often.
Interestingly, Rupali aka Monisha is always the target. For instance, we all eat our lunch together but once we banned Rupali from eating with us because she gets the same thing for lunch every day. So, we literally banned her from eating with us. We play a lot of pranks on her.
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Didn¡¯t you miss the show for all these years? Or ever thought it would be revived?
For almost one and half years, after the show ended we didn¡¯t give out our dates and kept it reserved because somewhere we thought it might be revived. But since the rights of the show were with Star TV, everything depended on them.
Also, it has always been said that the show was ahead of its time. So, when it aired in 2012, it was actually meant for 2017. And the show was never a huge success at that time. It gained hype only through repeat telecasts. During the time, when Saas-bahu serials were most loved, it seemed that the show didn¡¯t fit into that zone.
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Any crazy experience with the fans?
Often people who I meet in real life think that my real voice isn¡¯t real and that I am trying to speak in a different tone. They feel I am mimicking a different voice while it¡¯s my real voice.
So, once I was shopping in a mall and somebody saw me there. After five to ten minutes I get a call from my producer, Aatish ji, and he asks me if I was at the mall. I said yes, and then he told me that somebody called him to say that he saw Rosesh, who was trying to talk in a different voice and told him to convey it to me that my original voice is better. So, people thought I was doing that purposely.
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After more than a decade, was it tough to get back into the character?
I never was out of my role, I think. These 12 years, I was in the role. Rosesh had never left me. So, I never felt like I was revisiting the characters all over again. It has always been close to my heart. ?
Ask him which is his favourite poem, and he says it¡¯s tough to remember those quirky poems.
It was very difficult for me to remember the poems, because this time around, unlike the last time, I couldn¡¯t read them. In the last season, while reading the script, I would not pay much attention to the poem, because I knew I would take out the paper from my pocket and read it.
However, this time around, I was made to learn the poems, which was very tough for me. Even while at home or other places, I would keep rehearsing them. But one thing is for sure, I can never learn them. I don¡¯t exactly remember even one poem from the last season. I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll ever be able to learn them.
Ask him how he looks back at the wacky character he played, and he laughs it off by saying Rosesh is a ¡°duffer!¡±
The character itself is very funny. Sometimes I think about the character and feel what a stupid person he is. Rosesh is a?duffer, and if you take that out of him, the character will lose its essence. ?
What¡¯s new about Rosesh this season?
This season Rosesh has finally found a girl, Jasmine. So, yeah this is something that fans should look forward to.
A new member is added to the family in Sarabhai VS Sarabhai Take 2, and we were eager to know his rapport with him. Interestingly, the Chacha-Bhatija pair is going to be fun, he says.?
Rapport with the kid ¨C is of course very friendly. It¡¯s like any other chacha-bhatija pair. So, it¡¯s fun.
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If not Rosesh, what role would Rajesh love to play on the show?
I can never imagine myself in another role. Each character is distinct and I think each actor has done complete justice to the role. They are quite perfect in their roles. But if still, I have to choose one, I would say, Dushyant. That is quite an interesting role.?
