Sony SAB TV: Interview with Sushant Singh (Joginder Singh Phogat) from Namune
Author(s): City Air NewsSushant Singh. Namune – Sushant Singh (Joginder Singh Phogat) Q: Tell us about your role as ‘Joginder Singh Phogat’ in Namune? Sushant: My role in Namune is based On P. L. Deshpande’s character ‘Babdu’ who appears...
Namune – Sushant Singh (Joginder Singh Phogat)
Q: Tell us about your role as ‘Joginder Singh Phogat’ in Namune?
Sushant: My role in Namune is based On P. L. Deshpande’s character ‘Babdu’ who appears in his novel called ‘Vyakti Ani Valli’. ‘Babdu’ was basically a childhood friend of PuLa (P. L. Deshpande) and circumstances were such that he became an underworld don - a very notorious one, but at heart, he remained the softy. He used to be, in a nut shell, what we are promoting in our promos also - ‘upar se sakt, andar se naram’. He is called Jogi in this show.
Q: What made you say yes to this role?
Sushant: I was approached by Dashami for this episodic role – 2 episodes - but the moment they said that this show is based on P. L. Deshpande’s characters, I immediately said yes. The narration was just a formality. I believe in Swapna’s credentials and Dashami has been producing some class stuff in Marathi cinema and television. So, P. L. Deshpande, then Dashami and the character was a light hearted one, a softy who looks tough on the exterior and no intensity per se is involved. I am bored of playing those intense positive or negative characters, so this sounded like a good deal, something my children would enjoy and me too. It was a good break from my usual characters. Those were the reasons to say yes to this project and the character.
Q: Are there any similarities between you and your character ‘Joginder Singh Phogat’ in Namune?
Sushant: My character and I sound immodest but I think few similarities are the willingness and eagerness to help others and to always try and raise my voice whenever I see any kind of injustice being committed. I am not a don for sure.
Q: Have you read P. L. Deshpande’s creations? What do you think of them?
Sushant: I have read a few of Pu La’s creations but I have not read as much I would love to. Currently, I am looking for some Hindi translations of his work. If anybody has some knowledge please let me know, because I could not find any information on the internet about the same, which was very surprising. I would love to read it more extensively and only after that, can I form any kind of an opinion. From whatever I have read, there is a keen insight into the social structure, circumstances, politics and the politics of relationships and of course a multi-dimensional personality. He is a musician, writer, singer and what not. Yes, I think from Maharashtra and Indian literature per se, we are very fortunate to have been graced with Mr P. L. Deshpande’s presence.
Q: Have you worked with anyone from the cast, before this? How was the experience?
Sushant: The cast was fantastic, the direction, the production and you could see that everybody is trying to do something beautiful, not just a regular television soap. So the honesty was pretty visible. Farida Dadi, she is such a senior and veteran actress, it was pleasure to work with her and the rest of the cast. So I hope we live up to people’s expectations and most importantly, I hope we live up to PuLa’s expectations.
Q: How do you divide your time between films and television?
Sushant: I have been selective about movies since the very beginning. I do not do more than 1 or 2 movies a year and now, I am not even doing that. We had taken a break from my crime show so fortunately, I had some time and could give dates for Namune. Yes, with that and a Kannada movie, my schedule seems to be tied up. Hopefully, something like Namune will come up once again when I have some time. I would love to do it again.