“Humor Is My Second Nature” Amitosh Nagpal

Jyothi Venkatesh

What is the concept of Band Baja Bandh Darwaza?

In the show, one side there is Band Baja and on the other side, a Bandh Darwaza. On one hand, preparations for marriage take place while on the other hand, a ghost is trying to stop the wedding. To know the reason behind his actions, you will have to watch the show. There is one more angle in the show, a matchmaker, Sneha, who is trying her best to make this marriage happen but the ghost making sure it doesn’t happen in any way.

Tell us something about your character, Rocky?

Rocky is a very shy guy, who gets nervous while talking to girls and the matchmaker tries to get him to meet girls for marriage. However, all of these girls have some or the other wacky stories and funny backgrounds. Eventually, Rocky starts getting comfortable in these situations and learns how to talk to girls but the ghost never leaves a chance of meddling and ruining things.

You are a lyricist in real life and a singer in the show. So how has this helped you to portray your role as a singer on screen?

I come from the world of theatre. I used to write, compose, act, sing and a lot of other things. I wrote for Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! and a lot of advertisements as well. However, I approached this role like any other role. It’s fun and I can use this skill of mine at various places in the show considering the fact that I have also written the show. Like it has advantages, there are also difficulties at times because you start getting a little too much familiar with your role and you then have to recreate a surprise element for yourself.

At a point, you are singing in a male as well as a female voice in the show. Did you take any special training for that?

It is just my character, in reality it’s a dubbed voice. I am not the one singing in the female voice.

There have previously been some horror comedy shows on television. How is Band Baja Bandh Darwaza different from any of those?

It’s difficult to claim that your show is different. Everyone is saying that it is different but I don’t know how different it is as I am not much aware of the other shows. However, one different thing about our show is how we work. I don’t know how other shows do but according to what I have been hearing, there aren’t scripts and proper schedules till the last minute whereas, in our show, we have already written and locked all the scripts and actors are very well aware of the nature of their characters. No TRP or anything would change how the character develops. We have written the script like a film and we plan to follow that, making our approach different.

Apart from being an actor, you are also a dialogue writer and a director. Do we see you donning this role for Band Baja Bandh Darwaza as well?

 For this show, I am not directing but my very close friend, Maqbool Khan is and that’s primarily the reason I said yes to the show. I am one of the producers along with him as we both wanted to work together on something, for a very long time. Maqbool is the reason I started writing as he once suggested that I should be writing for films. Here, it was a tricky decision to be writing something for TV because I had couple of other films but I wanted to work with Maqbool and decided to take up this show.

What are your expectations from this show? What will the audience like in Band Baja Bandh Darwaza?

I always think that a message reaches the audience if you feel it while working on it. Half of the time people sense that there is something wrong, but I have no such feeling for this show. I feel that we have written this show with a lot of love, the artists enjoyed listening to it, we enjoy working on it and the channel has been very kind to us. I just want our story to reach to our audience so that they come and watch the show.

It is a general belief that making people laugh is difficult. What are your views on this and how do you tackle this as an actor, writer and director?

That’s how I live my life! If I’m surrounded by problems in life, I start laughing. Humor is my second nature and that’s what I love doing. I feel amazing if I make anyone laugh during the day. According to my friends, I am good at portraying things in a funny manner and I hope this reaches the audience with Band Baja Bandh Darwaza as well.

Do you believe in ghosts or have had an encounter with a ghost/ spirit?

I don’t believe in ghosts but of course I was afraid of ghosts during my childhood. I haven’t had any encounter as such but there are some things in my life that take place and confuse me. For example, I get to know about something that is going to happen or someone I am going to meet and that sometimes becomes scary.

How has the experience been so far, shooting on the set of Band Baja Bandh Darwaza?

I am thoroughly enjoying it. The actors including Mukesh Tiwari, Amardeep Jha and Neelu Kohli are my seniors and great performers. In addition, our recurring cast is extremely talented and hard working. Everything is really organized and everyone is enjoying working together.

Do you watch Sony SAB? Which is your favorite show ?

I don’t watch television much however, I do watch Sony SAB because of comedy, which I like. My favorite shows were FIR and Office Office but currently I like watching Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashma.

What is your advice to people who get easily scared or spooked of ghosts?

I don’t really have any advice for anyone. It’s natural to get scared.

Is there any similarity between you in real life and your character in BBBD?

 With me, it’s like, if someone says “Amitosh, be yourself” then I ask “Which one?” Life has been like that for me as I was doing theatre since I was 5-6 years old. Hence, it becomes a little difficult for me to differentiate between the character I write and what I am. Although, what you write is somewhere an extension of your personal life and yes, I am a bit shy with girls like Rocky is in the show.

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