On TV, quality is going to be the only criteria for success: Namit Das

Actor-singer Namit Das says that Indian TV is going through a big change.
Son of famous ghazal singer Chandan Das, actor and singer Namit Das was in Lucknow on Thursday for a music performance. Though Namit has worked in various ads and movies like Wake Up Sid and 'Ghanchakar', in an interview with us, the actor-singer says he has tasted fame only after his TV show 'Sumit Sambhal Lega', an official Hindi adaptation of Everybody Loves Raymond.
In the past too, Indian TV shows have been copied from the West, but the rights for 'Everybody Loves Raymond' were officially bought for its Indian remake. What difference does it make if one does remakes officially or unofficially?
I think the most beautiful thing about the ‘official’ process is that shows in the West have a soul. Now if you are adapting the show, and you are in touch with the original writers and directors, and they come and take a workshop – not that we need to learn anything from them – there is an essential soul of that product which is kept alive. If (the show) has worked in the West, that essence is kept alive in the remakes too when done officially.
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While Sumit Sambhal Lega garnered good reviews from critics, it's TRPs were rather low (under 2). Do you think the Indian audience is still hooked to slapstick comedy like 'Comedy Nights Bachao' and 'Comedy Nights With Kapil'?
In India today, there is so much diversity, entertainment today exists in bottles, and you have to decide which bottle is yours. It is kept for you, you just have to pick it up. Having said that, if we keep saying that shows like Sumit…are too intelligent for the Indian audience, this will work, this will not work, then it is a wrong way to see things. Jo achhi cheezein hoti hai, woh time leti hai. See, '24' has come back! Entertainment is going to change on television now, where quality is going to be the 'only' criteria for success now.
Your father, Chandan Das, is a well-known ghazal singer and your maternal grandfather, K Pannalal, was a musician too. Do you think your visibility on TV will now help you with you first love, singing?
I will be very frank with you, yes! Television as a medium is very big. And I can't run away from that. I realized that after the first week of the telecast of Sumit…. Ab TV aapke bedroom mein hai. Main aapke gharon mein aa raha hoon. Every television actor is like a family member to Indian audience. Even superstars like Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan have become like that because of their appearance on television.
Are you open to doing a saas-bahu serial?
Definitely, I am open to doing saas bahu shows as well. But I don't plan anything in life.
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Meet Sumit of 'Sumit Sambhal Lega'
You got married to actress Shruti Vyas last year. So, how has life changed post marriage?
After getting married, I tell everyone to get married too. It is important. I have changed a lot. For one, marriage makes you more patient. To live with one person and to decide that you are going to be with this person for the rest of your life, you experience love in a different way.
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