Aashif Sheikh of hit & TV show Bhabhi Ji Ghar Par Hai (Edit II) was mobbed recently when he went to an opening of a salon in Ghaziabad. “The public went crazy seeing me; the cops had a real tough time controlling the crowds. Eventually we had to be whisked away to safety. One police man said that even superstars don’t generate so much frenzy.”
“I credit this success to the entire team of Bhabhi Ghar Pe Hain, especially the writer (Manoj Santoshi) and the director (Shashank Bali). As actors, it is our job to add value to the script; I always make it a point to read the lines before going on floor, and make required additions. We all brainstorm together before the take and the results are there for all to see,” the experienced actor avers.
Reasoning out more, Aashif says, “One more reason for the continuing success of Bhabhi Ji Ghar Par Hai is the great chemistry and bonding among the entire unit. There is no room for ego, controversy and other useless issues to rain in our parade.”
Here Aashif who is very fluent in Hindi and Urdu laments the fact that today’s actors don’t have command over Indian languages. “Command over language is a very important weapon in an actor’s armory. They just mug the given lines, attempting no improvisations. Vibhuthi’s (character name) classical Urdu flirting which goes over Angoori Bhabi’s (Shubhangi Atre Poorey) head is real fun.”
Aashif who has always batted for clean comedy will never be a part of below the belt stuff currently selling online. “Abuse and s*x might attract for a short period, but not for long. We are very careful in not crossing the thin, but very important line in our adult concept (married men desiring their neighbors wives), as people of all age groups are our audiences. I will ever want my grown up kids to ask, dad what are you doing?”
Looking ahead, the biggest challenge according to Aashif is to maintain the freshness of the narrative. “For as long as we keep the viewers entertained, we are in business. Luckily for us even after 800 episodes the excitement is still there. Even now when Manoj pens an interesting scene, he calls me up to discuss even if it is late at night.”
Ask him about the current ghost track and he says, “Yes it had been repeated before, but the graph was different. I really enjoyed the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan story; it is quite tough to find comedy in this concept. Hence we added the ‘Men In Black’ theme. It is very important to spread the message of cleanliness and sanitation across the length and breadth of the country.”
Aashif, you simply rock in your role and so does the show!!
