Farukh Saeed Unplugged

Farukh Saeed is know for his stellar performance in the tv show Navya which gained a huge fan following from where he marked his place and later was seen in other popular shows like ‘Half Marriage’, ‘Piya Albela’ and ‘Silsila Badalte Rishton Ka S2’. Farukh is loved for his warm personality and the characters that he has been seen playing are very relatable which makes him one of the favorites in daily soaps.

1- Tell us something about your character in Anupama
In Anupama, I am playing an upmarket businessman who has come from an average background and loves his wife and daughter. He is connected to his roots as he is Gujarati and that’s the reason he likes the simplicity of Anupama’s family.

2- If you had to share any particular role that you played in any of the shows in past which is your favourite
I enjoy playing the character which is opposite to what I am in real life. One of the shows naming ‘Piya Albela’ where I played the character of Rakesh, the damad of the family who is very positive and the whole sasural  respects  him when he is there  and the entire family will sit around and discuss things with him. Also to share that Mr Suraj Barjatyaji explained to me about this character and the importance of it in the show who is the whole and sole decision maker of the house. My character went to the extreme switch from positive to negative.
3- How do you guys balance to not miss out on the fun on the sets since now the new normal is different
We are not missing any fun on the sets of Anupama, the team is fun to work with and after the initial hiccups, they all came across friendly. If I had to talk about my co-actors then I would like to mention Sudhanshu Pandey where we just connected as we spoke from where we belonged from and coincidentally the same native place ‘Bareilly’. We bonded well on this topic as we recollected the places, culture and people of Bareilly. The most surprising thing was we also had a few common friends from there as we spoke more about it we realized and as it is said the world is so small where people are connected. Also, he is a fantastic actor and I am looking forward to having scenes with him.

4- Your take on nepotism and have you faced it ever?
I don’t think there is any kind of nepotism in the TV industry since most of the actors are not from the producers or the directors families. The major difference in film and television is that in television you really need to show your craft since characters change in a short duration so one needs to be a well versed actor.

5  If given a chance any particular character that you would have loved to play if you would have got an opportunity can be a tv show character or a film
My answer would be very similar to many of the actors who dream to play the character of Mr Amitabh Bachchan from the film ‘Deewar’. The angry young man as I mentioned I love challenging roles that are different to what I am in real and the most famous dialogue “Mai Aaj bhi pheke hue paise nahi uthata”.

6- Do you think it’s difficult for a known actor to keep going in the longer run since there are many aspiring actors who are ready to work in a low budget
Yes I agree it is very difficult for a known actor to work today because there are aspiring actors who are desperately waiting for a chance at this point. Here it totally depends if one is looking for an actor who knows his job for which they do not mind paying him his fees but the other side is if the show is being made on a small scale they need to work around on the budgets as well for which they end up going for a new talent to fit in their bills. This works both ways as many times if the character is so strong and if I feel there is a scope to make a mark then negotiating on budgets is not an issue.

7- Whom do you look upto as an actor or you are inspired by?
It is difficult to name one since in India there are not many institutions to learn acting. I have grown up seeing Mr Bachchan, Dilip Kumar sahab, Pran sahab, Nasir Sahab and there is a long list since each of them has a different thing that one can learn from. In recent times I would say I admire Irfaan khan and all the characters that he has played so far.

8- When did you get your first chance and for what it was a tv show or a film
I got my first break with a DD show called  ‘Aankhen’ and I was doing theater in Delhi as well with ‘Jan Natya Manch’. I used to meet a lot of people from Mumbai at that time.  I had a friend named Anupama Varma who was doing the lead in DD’s show Aankhen and she told me that they are looking for an actor where I would fit but at the same time it completely depends on the director. I want to meet the director thats Rajesh Ransinghe and I was given the script for an audition for which I prepared in 20 minutes. After seeing my shot I immediately got finalized and was told that we are rolling from the next day. It was pure luck and hard work pays.

9- How does it feel since Anupama is in top 5 trp charts
Anupama is number one on Star and 2nd across all the TV shows. It feels great to be part of such a hit show. Getting recognized by people whom I meet for my daily routine work makes me feel good about it as that’s what an actor works hard for. The Story is great which has taken the show this far as it is easy to connect and television content is the king.