TV HAS ENDLESS SAGAS, NO ADVANCE PLANNING: RAJIT KAPUR

Actor Rajit Kapur is a known face in the Indian television and theatre circuit. He has also been part of films such as Baar Baar Dekho and Ki & Ka in 2016.

However, it’s his portrayal of the popular sleuth Byomkesh Bakshi on TV in the early ’90s that made him a household name. But he hasn’t essayed as lengthy a role since then.

Ask him if that’s a conscious call, and he says, “Partly, yes. The whole structure of TV is very different today. We have endless sagas, with 100-400 episodes, and the script is so shoddy. It’s boring! I don’t have another word to describe it. People are now waking up to finite series such as 24 (TV series starring Anil Kapoor, Tisca Chopra and Mandira Bedi). If I’m not excited, why should I do any show?”

Rajit goes on to rue the fact that due to rushed production, the final product is weak.

He says, “People compare our TV shows with shows abroad. But there, they plan scripts a year in advance. In the gestation period, everything else is looked at. Yahaan, scripts aaj bhi aati hai, raat ko likh ke and subaah shoot hoti hain. Channels are calling the shots. Someone, who is not even on the floor, takes the decisions.”

Explaining how Byomkesh Bakshi’s creation was different, he says, “It was planned nine months before. Now, people plan shows just two months before, which I can’t understand. We have got to get better with time, but we haven’t.”