TV content not improving: Sharad Kelkar

By Sandeep Sharma

New Delhi, Oct 7 (IANS) In a career spanning over a decade, he has struck a balance between television shows and films. While Sharad Kelkar feels he gets a platform to showcase his versatility on the silver screen, the actor says content on television is not showing any improvement.

"The content on TV is not improving because things which I used to do eight years back... maybe 20 to 30 per cent people are trying something different, but rest all is same which was earlier," Sharad told IANS when asked about the change he has witnessed in films and TV shows based on content.

"In films, you have to finish a full story in two and half hours. So, there, you get a completely different set-up and have more time. But as an actor, I don't like to differentiate between the two mediums and always try to give my best shot," he added.

Sharad has played various shades of characters in TV shows like "Saat Phere - Saloni Ka Safar", "Uttaran", "Agent Raghav - Crime Branch". The actor was last seen on screen as the villain Dhauli in Sanjay Dutt-starrer "Bhoomi".

He feels an actor should be ready to play all types of roles.

"I don't think any actor would make himself image-bound like being a villain or hero or a character artist. We all are actors. We have to do different stuff and learn more. If I will stick to one particular category, then I am not learning anything new and doing the same thing," Sharad said.

"To play a role, you try to come out of your skin and get into somebody else's skin. That's why I am not very image-bound. If you see my TV career, I have been playing a good husband. In 'Kuch To Log Kahenge', I was playing a very sweet guy who doesn't speak much. I have done a lot of these kind of roles.

"I have played positive characters a lot. Recently, I have done a Marathi film, where I played a simple character. I accepted the role of Dhauli because there was a lot of homework that I had to do. My funda is don't be image conscious as an actor. If you see Paresh Rawal or (late) Om Puri, they have played both negative and positive roles," he added.

Besides acting, Sharad has also made a name for himself as a dubbling artist. He gave voice to actor Prabhas's roles of Amrendra and Mahendra Baahubali in the Hindi version of filmmaker S.S. Rajamouli's "Baahubali: The Beginning" and "Baahubali 2: The Conclusion".

"I am a huge fan of S.S. Rajamouli. When I gave the audition -- the voice test -- for 'Baahubali', the only point I had in mind was to meet him," said Sharad ahead of the TV premiere of "Baahubali 2: The Conclusion" on Sony MAX on Sunday.

"I saw the film first to see the graph of the character. Then I had to module the voice to make the two characters - Amrendra and Mahendra Baahubali - look different from each other," he added.