Veteran actor, Jiten Lalwani, who was playing the main negative in Star Bharat show, Papa by Chance, is a bit disappointed that this limited series did not last long. “In my personal opinion, based on years of working in the TV industry, I feel that the makers (Full House Media) failed to get the right balance between the main crux of a young man Yuvan (Zebby Singh) forced into fatherhood, with other essential masala elements. The romantic angle with Amrita (Sana Saeed) also came in late. They could have played more on the mother (Mansi Savli)- son equation. Ditto, when Yuvan comes to my rich wive’s house and my villain character acts very sweet.”
Jiten, who has done all kinds of genres (Kyunki Saas Bhi, Kasam Tere Pyaar Ki) likes the comic variety the most. “In any group, the person who keeps everybody in splits is always in demand. I have had this comic bone since college, and my presence in our WhatsApp group is a must, as I help to lighten up their otherwise mundane day.”
When asked about how gen-next treats senior artists, he says, “We were more respectful to our seniors during our time. I still remember being very nervous when my senior, Mohan Bhandari, called me to his room. But today’s kids sit with their legs up, joke and even fag. Having said that, you can’t pin this on actors alone, for this is generation gap. Forget seniors, kids are very casual with their folks as well.”
Unlike other actors, Jiten is not very upset about web series going overboard with nudity. “This was bound to happen with lack of censorship. Don’t boys go crazy in class, if there is no teacher? But this phase will also pass when some kind of censorship kicks in.”
We ask him about his Life Ok show, Laut Aao Trisha, where his character had a gay touch. “That show was originally based on a very sexed up Spanish Telenova show. But in India, we ran into trouble with the extra marital affair and incest tracks.”
“I had been informed of the homosexual angle right at the start, but it was never developed properly. All that was shown was that my character made a mistake in a weak moment.”
Among all his shows, Jitin regards his stint with Sasural Genda Phool as the best. “Working with great co-stars such as Bhairavi Raichura, Sudhir Pandey and Suraj Thapar was great. There was such great give and take that working became a breeze.”