MUMBAI: One character in Rajan Shahi's "Anupamaa" that will make you fall in love with himself is Shekhar Shukla, who plays the role of Jignesh. Mamaji, as he is lovingly called, is quite an interesting character, especially when he says "mane remember che". The actor, who has worked both in films and TV, feels that the storyline of the show has connected well with every household and credits the lead pair Sudhanshu Pandey and Rupali Ganguly for this.

He said, "It is the story of every household. In every culture it is there that a daughter-in-law either gets very good in-laws or they get this type of in-laws, who are orthodox or have a conservative mind. Daily soaps need this kind of content and Sudhanshu and Rupali’s performance also has connected well with the audience, and the story writing and dialogues are written in such a way that strikes a chord with the audience." 

Talking about his character, who is funny yet very supportive and understanding, he said, "In real life also I am like this. I am a happy go lucky person and I am always happy. I don’t take too much stress about anything, like even now with  Covid I am not taking too much stress, but yes I am taking all the precautions to keep myself safe."

And what about your catchphrase "mane remember che", he said, "Actually this is tagline which is also known as takia kalam. I did it first in the show 'F.I.R.'. In my career so far, I have used different tagline with different characters. The fun part about using this catchphrase is that it appeals to the people as I am a Gujarati and it comes naturally. Since I have used taglines in 'F.I.R.' also, I have a specific target audience who likes to listen to this type of tagline from me."

Sharing the response he is getting for his performance, he said, "It is very good. People are messaging me from abroad also, and people are saying 'kya baat hai?' People have seen me in this type of character before also and now they are liking this character too, so they are assuming that Shekhar Shukla prepares the character and performs it, but it is the writer who has given me this tagline. I am very much comfortable with it."

Talking about the bond he shares with Arvind Vaidya and Alpana Buch, who are seen as Hasmukh Shah and Leela Shah, respectively, he said, "The three of us are Gujaratis and Arvind ji is senior to me, while Alpana ji is junior to me. Her dad was very well known in the theatre industry, he is no more now. We understand very small things about each other and we do our improvisation immediately. It feels really good to work with them."

Shekhar has earlier worked with Rajan when he was directing a show. He said, "This is for the first time that I am working with Rajan Shahi's production house Director's Kut Productions. Previously I have worked with him when he was a director. On the set it feels really great because Rajan ji knows how to give respect to artists and other people on set and he gives very good narration too. He is very transparent about everything, he does what he says."

And sharing details about the precautions taken on the set, he said, "On set Rajan ji has taken so many precautions to keep everyone safe. Proper sanitisation, checking of oxygen level and body temperature, hot food is served which is catered from a hygienic food centre and the food packages are also sanitised. Only the person who wants to eat their food will unpack his food container. Plates, spoons, everything is sanitised and washed in hot water only. Our make up rooms and washrooms are sanitised three times in a day." 

"Since the day shooting started doctors have visited our sets and we all have got our tests done, and we get results within 15 minutes. Everyone on the set is safe and this is because of Rajan Shahi. Everyone on set is continuously wearing a mask, except the actors as they need to perform and their make up might get affected, but as soon as the shot gets over, we immediately wear our masks. We all also keep ourselves protected. After pack-up when we reach home we immediately sanitise ourselves and take bath," Shekhar signed off.