Arjan Bajwa an Architecture Graduate made his debut in movies with Mani Ratnam’s Guru but his big break came with Madhur Bhandarkar’s Fashion and was appreciated for his work. Recently, seen in Tell Me O Khuda, Arjan certainly is one lucky actor who got to share screen space with Bollywood’s three biggest superstars, Vinod Khanna, Rishi Kapoor and Dharmendraji. Arjan shares his experience as well as his views on TV in this exclusive interview with GR8! Read on…

A lot of Bollywood actors are seen on TV, if given a chance will you like to feature on TV?

Of course yes, why not? TV is a huge and a powerful medium and I also have got many offers but nothing really excited me. 

What will you like to do, judge, participate or host a show?

Hmm… I would really like to host a show but not a game show. I would like to host a show where the host is the face of the show, it’s his show. I would also like to judge a talent show; TV is an interesting medium and I hope I get interesting offers too. 

How is TV different from Bollywood?

Definitely TV and Bollywood are different. Although TV has become a very big medium, the shows and serials on TV are stretched for so many episodes or you can say years. It becomes monotonous to do the same serial, play the same character for so long, the creativity fades off gradually. On the other hand, movies are made on a larger scale; they are very different from TV when it comes to the creativity and you move on to next film thus it doesn’t become monotonous.

If you get a good script, will you be comfortable doing a TV serial?

No. I don’t think I would like to do a TV serial at this stage of my career.

Are you a TV buff? 

No, not at all.

Which shows do you watch regularly?

Well, given my profession I really cannot follow any show as every day you are shooting somewhere else. I sometimes used to watch KBC and have a glimpse of Comedy Circus. 

The hottest TV personality according to you is…

There are quite a few pretty looking actresses on television; Rakshanda Khan, Mrinal Kulkarni and a few more are quite appealing. 

The most adorable Bollywood Star on TV?

Salman Bhai.

As a kid the shows that you never missed were…

Star Trek.

Do you believe television in India has progressed over the years?

Hmm… I wouldn’t say television has progressed entirely because there definitely is a progression in quantity with so many channels, so many shows coming up and also there is a progression in the technicalities. But on the other hand, TV hasn’t progressed in quality, in creativity, and the concepts and stories generally are of saas-bahu types and everyone follows that concept which gets good TRP’s. We still need to have better quality shows. 

If you could change one thing on Indian TV, what would it be?

There are two things that I would like to change on TV. Firstly, the NEWS. The News at least should be worthwhile to have a glance, but what you these days see on News Channels is very embarrassing. There are so many things happening around the world and still all you get to watch is stories on babas, ghosts- pret and aatmas, khunders and if there is any proper news story that one news is repeated again and again. Another thing is that these days, the titles of the serials are so unoriginal, they are kept on the movies, Bollywood songs and even dialogues. I think at least the titles of the serials should be original and not copied from Bollywood. 

In one word, Indian Television is…

Mass entertainment, 24/7. 

How was it working with three Superstars in Tell Me O Khuda?

It was a memorable experience to act along with three biggest superstars of Bollywood, Vinod Khanna, Rishi Kapoor and Dharmendraji. Every day was precious as very few actors get the opportunity to share screen space with such talented and senior actors. 

- Dharmishtha Dagia