Not looking for a boy for Ekta Kapoor: Samir

Samir Soni and Neelam Kothari have completed close to six months of their marriage and queries like ‘When are you giving us the good news?’ and ‘When are you planning your family?’ from relatives and friends have already begun to pour in, much to the couple’s amusement.
He says, “We are asked these questions a lot. But that’s perfectly understandable. When you are not married, people ask you about your plans to get hitched and after that your plans to start a family.At times, a newly-married couple doesn’t even know what to say in return. We have begun to take it with a pinch of salt.” But then how does he answer such questions. “I’m quite spontaneous. If someone is hell-bent on the question, I simply say, ‘Yeah, may be soon’. And sometimes I say, ‘Let us just enjoy our married life for now’, but to a different set of people. But we’re still getting congratulatory messages for our wedding, so that is comforting,” he says, laughing.
Recently, there were rumours that the couple was looking for the right man for Ekta Kapoor. But Samir has a different story to tell. “I know there were rumours of Ekta’s parents getting jittery for their daughter when we got married. Frankly, I don’t even know where the reports emerged from. We are carrying out no man hunt for Ekta. And if anyone else is, then we aren’t aware of it. Ekta is smart enough to take decisions that concern her life. And as her close friends, we will always sssupport her decision. She is independent and successful and works according to her mind. We always respect her decision,” he says.
He will now be seen in the lead role in Ekta Kapoor’s next serial. Does his personal equation with Ekta affect their professional relationship? He says, “No. In fact, when Ekta offered me the show, I didn’t give an instant yes. I was narrated the story and explicitly told about my role. Since I’m doing fiction after a long time, I wanted to be sure of doing something good. I didn’t let the protocol, which every actor follows, be affected by the personal bond I share with Ekta. Even though I play an advocate in the show, viewers shouldn’t expect it to be some kind of a legal drama.”
He had recently judged an LGBT film festival, Kashish, with Sai Paranjpye, Shernaz Patel, film critic Khalid Mohammad and John Badalu, international festival director from Indonesia. He believes that if lessons on the LGBT community are imparted to school kids, it can be instrumental in changing people’s thought process. “I remember watching a documentary by a gay student that detailed his school administration’s uncouth attitude. This student won the legal battle against his school for not being offered a safe environment. And now this student has been invited by various organizations to discuss his experience. These measures can be taken to introduce a change in India too. But people here should not have any qualms in expressing their viewpoints. It’s the idea of being ostracized by the society that works as a deterrent,” he says.