“My Name Ijj Lakhan Depicts The Fight Between The Good And The Bad” Archana Puran Singh

Jyothi Venkatesh

What is the concept of the show My name Ijj Lakhan?

My Name Ijj Lakahan to go on air on Sony SAB shortly depicts the fight between the good and the bad depicted through the story of a son and his father where the son is ‘bad’ and the father is ‘good’. And then there is a ‘grey area’ which is me, the mother, who sees the point of view of both the son as well as the father. The series demonstrates whether it’s the good that wins at the end, or the bad.

What is your role in the show?

I play a character called Pammi, mother of Lakhan, who is born and brought up in Punjab. Although settled in Mumbai with her husband, since many years, they have retained all their cultural and ethical values. My husband is a teacher in the show and I share a very wonderful relationship with him but when it comes to our son, we always clash. In the show, I adore my son a lot and I am quite biased towards him. I look at him with rose tinted glasses, even though he is a goon. On the other hand, my husband sees him from the point of view of “My son has gone wrong and I must set him right.” My character tries to be the balance between the son and the father as she loves them both.

How excited are you working with your husband on the show?

Honestly speaking, sometimes it’s a little scary that we are in such a close relationship in reality, of a husband and wife, how would it be in the reel life! However, Parmeet and I do so much of our other creative work together, like writing, and make a very good team off-screen. I’m sure it’s going to translate the same way on screen. We are, both, looking at the workspace as two professionals where just because he is my husband doesn’t mean that I will take him for granted in a scene and vice versa. When we are on the set, it is all very professional; but once the “Cut” is announced, we go back to being husband and wife like having food and chai together in our vanity van, which is like a little house for us. So overall, it’s a very nice mixture of having that comfort of our personal relationship. It is also very exciting as we are exploring a new area, together.

You have worked on many reality shows and now working for a fiction show. What is the difference between the two?

I actually started my career with fiction shows like Mr. Yaa Mrs, Shriman Shrimati, Junoon, Aasmaan Se Tapki, Saamne Waali Khidki Mein and many more. Fiction is something I love as it gives me the chance to perform as an actor. The creative juices that flow doing a fiction series is something that really excites me about working in My Name Ijj Lakhan as I can portray a character, specifically a comic character, which I love to do. So, I’m very excited about doing this show.The difference between the two is that in reality shows, participating is very stressful and judging is not as much fun as acting in a fiction show. For me, a perfect combination is fiction with comedy and that is what My Name Ijj Lakhan is about.

What do you prefer- Television or Films?

For creative satisfaction, it is films and for the money, it’s television.

Which is your favorite character amongst all the characters of MNIL?

I love Lakhan’s character. I think it’s a brilliant character to play and Shreyas is extremely lucky to be getting a wonderfully comic and complex character. What I noticed during the promo shoot is that he is a very disciplined and dedicated actor and I have no doubt that he is going to do justice to the role. So, I’m very excited to see the character of Lakhan being portrayed on the screen by Shreyas.

Why should the audience watch a show like My Name Ijj Lakhan?

My Name Ijj Lakhan is differently formatted. It’s a 1 hour comic fiction series, which is not very common in India. Also, this is not a sitcom where the issue is resolved at the end of the episode as our story continues, giving the audience a hook to come back for each subsequent episode. With a star cast like Shreyas, Archana, Parmeet, Sanjay Narvekar and I , it’s going to be a very good weekend watch, something that is going to be exciting for the audiences and as exciting for the actors to do something so new.