I want to explore roles beyond comic ones: Siddharth Randeria

We were the first to report that a Gujarati remake of popular Marathi play

Natsamrat

was in the offing in 2017. Recently, when we posted on our social media page that veteran theatre actor Siddharth Randeria is likely to essay the lead role in the film, Randeria’s son Ishaan, who is an acclaimed filmmaker, had interacted with fans about it on our Facebook page, dropping enough hints about his father’s involvement with the film. And now, after much speculations, Siddharth Randeria has confirmed the news about playing the lead role in the film. Post the success of the sequel of the

Gujjubhai

series, Randeria is happy to push boundaries. Excerpts from an exclusive chat:

NOT A REMAKE OF MARATHI MOVIE

Many people in the industry have been asking me if it is a remake of the Marathi movie. But this is actually inspired from Marathi play Natsamrat that was written over 50 years ago. Almost 25 years back, we staged the Gujarati version of the same play with the title

Amari Duniya Tamari Duniya

. This play has been staged over 450 times and even on a popular broadcasting site, it has over 6 lakh views. Now, as we are filming it, we have ensured to adapt it to suit today’s times, instead of a set up that looks 30 to 40 years old.

BREAKING THE COMIC IMAGE

I feel it is high time that I should take up something beyond comedy. While I love donning comic roles and am in love with my character Gujjubhai, I don’t want to be trapped in one character as an actor. I have to explore new horizons, just the way I did with plays like Amari Duniya…, Gurubrahma and many more. So, in my next few films, audiences will see me doing some different roles. Also, I keep getting messages from young viewers about when they will get to see me performing serious roles. I have some interesting characters lined up for them!

GUJJUBHAI 3 IS ON THE CARDS

Given the good performance at the box office and the popular demand of viewers, we are flooded with requests to come up with the third part of Gujjubhai. I am thankful that the audience wants to watch the third part of this series, considering sequels are not successful all the time. The third installment is surely on the cards but Ishaan will take one-and-half to two years on the same.