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| Edited By: Nayandeep Rakshit |Source: DNA |Updated: Sep 22, 2016, 12:10 AM IST
Sajid Khan and Riteish Deshmukh’s new show Yaaron Ki Baraat that begins airing in October is going to be a laugh riot. Anyone who has seen these two friends together, can vouch for that. Whenever they are in a room together, you can bet everyone around will be cracking up. Before the interview starts, Riteish puts out a disclaimer: “I’m not responsible for what Sajid says. My rubbish is my rubbish. His rubbish is his. And his views are mostly rubbish and has got nothing to do with me.” Sajid, known for his quick wit immediately responds, “I just want to say that my views... are the views of the nation.” And we all burst out laughing. Over the next thirty minutes, there are jokes, laughter and banter. Excerpts from the interview:
Sajid: This idea was developed by Parth and Kailash Gandhi from Essel Vision. We were in discussions about this concept. They asked me if Riteish would be game. I said we should definitely ask him.
Riteish: (Cuts in) And then they said, without Riteish the show can’t happen. They told Sajid, we can do it without you but not without Riteish (bursts out laughing).
Sajid: Then when we heard the entire idea, we both instantly said yes.
R: Of course, yes! Because you see primarily, it’s against the formula that there are two hosts. Here, it’s not a host supported by a group of other talented people. We usually have one person leading the show and they are also doing great. Even I enjoy watching those shows. But it’s the first time we have two guys who know each other really well. Also, more than anything else, chats are so much fun with their friends.
S: What he’s saying is completely right. But it would be difficult to pull off if the two guys didn’t respect each other’s space. We both have that understanding. If I know I’m falling, I also know Riteish will catch me and vice versa. That’s how much we care for each other. Also, I can ask him any time to give me a punchline and he won’t say no. I, too, try to give him the better punchline. Somewhere, it’s also because I have directed him in all my five films, so I know all his strengths and his weaknesses (Riteish makes a face).
R: We are friends and the world knows it. The people making appearances on the show are friends, too. Obviously, that’s why they are coming. But they are good friends of ours, too. It’s not like we are talking to two strangers. Sania Mirza and Parineeti Chopra are two people we have hung around with, so we know them in a space that’s not professional, but more private.
S: It will never be that we are meeting our guests for the first time and we have the formal hi-hello sessions. There has to be chemistry.
S: The hardest thing is not what they will do on stage. The hardest is... (after a little pause) to get their dates!
R: Obviously, people know about Sania and Parineeti. And even if there are people who don’t know them, they will come to know about the kind of friendship they share once they watch the show. It’s interesting to see two popular women, who have achieved so much in their own spaces, to come together and show the world their fun side.
R: What’s this new idea about?
S: Ab samjha main! You want it to be called Dushmano Ki Baaraat? This show is about friends, celebrating friendship. It’s not a platform to get two celebrities to patch up.
S: Yes.
R: (Cuts in) How could I forget that unfortunate moment?
S: That was the darkest day of my life!
R: Uss din poorey Mumbai ki bijlee chali gayi thi. (Both start laughing)
S: Actually, I initially thought that he’s got a lot of attitude but once I started talking to him, I realised that ‘Hey, I was... so right!’
R: When I spoke to him for the first time I felt, ‘Why am I talking to him?’ After talking to him, I felt, ‘Why did I talk to him?’
S: I first thought he’s like Pitbull. But then I understood that no, he’s... Baba Sehgal! (laughs)
R: And Sajid’s the bull in the pit! (laughs)
S: In 2002, my then-girlfriend — now, my ex — told me she was at a party in town and saw a guy dancing there. She said party and you won’t believe he belongs to a political family. And that’s the time I got to know that Riteish is a damn good dancer. Then I met him at a coffee shop. I had lost my wallet and Riteish had paid with his credit card. That’s how we became friends.
R: I didn’t have a credit card back then, Sajid!
S: Oh then, it was his friend’s credit card who had lost his wallet! (Laughs) Okay, on a serious note, we became friends because of our love for movies. I thought I was the filmiest kid till I met him. This guy is more filmy than anybody else. And that’s when we instantly bonded.
R: I said, I love Mithun, he said he loves Mithun. He said he loves Jeetendra and I said I love Jeetendra. And we said we both loved Kader Khan. And we said we’re best friends.
S: Then I would just test him to check if he knows their dialogues. So I said, ‘Itihaas mat puchho...’
R: ‘Jo main kehta hoon woh suno’.
S: See, he knows it! And that’s how we became friends.
S: No! We have never fought.
R: Not at all.
R: Maybe while working, he must have asked me to do some scene and I didn’t want to. Then he would be like, ‘No, you have to do it’. Then he pulls the cut that ‘I am the director’. So I have to give up.
S: But he doesn’t listen even then! Then you have to emotionally blackmail him. After some time, he would do it. And then, after half-an-hour, when he sees it on the monitor, he bursts out laughing saying it’s very funny. He does that.
S: I like the way he’s maintained his lifestyle. Also, I love it that though he’s from such an affluent family, he and his brother have always been very grounded and don’t have any airs or snooty noses. Sometimes, you meet a person like that and you feel this is all an act and this will have to come off soon. How long can he hold his breath? Till you realise that he’s actually like that. He’s very much a people’s person. And he hasn’t changed. When I met him in 2001, that was the same T-shirt.
R: One thing about him is that Sajid is a friend who will always be there. Without any doubt or questions. He wouldn’t want to understand if you are right or wrong — ethically or morally. He would be like, ‘You are a friend and I’m going to support you’. Irrespective of whether you are right or wrong. That’s something really good about him.
S: I think sometimes he becomes a little boring. Too correct, too moralistic, he does that sometimes. He would be like, ‘No Saj, don’t do this’. Though he’s younger than me, sometimes I feel he’s my elder brother. What he says is right, but I feel one shouldn’t stop having fun. He’s naturally a great husband, father, son, brother and friend. Sometimes, there’s a bit of role-playing too. Sometimes, he wants to curb someone else’s enthusiasm including his own. He wants to have fun, but he can’t do that.
R: See the problem with Sajid is that he’s great when he talks rubbish. And when he’s trying to make sense, you know he’s talking rubbish. (Sajid makes a face and starts laughing) He’s got a great sense of humour. But what I don’t like about him is that ... (Sajid says he has to think) he gives too much importance to things that are not important. So things that you need to let go off and move on, which won’t bother anyone, for some strange reason will bother him and it will be like a calamity that has happened to him.
S: He’s hit the nail straight...
S: Obviously, me. He’s gone into the whole family-man zone.
R: Definitely Sajid. He’s crack.
S: Riteish takes time to open up and chooses his people who he wants to open up to. I am an open book from the word go.
R: According to him? We haven’t said all that.
S: Contractually, we are not allowed to take any names. Essel Vision has asked us not to take any names before they cut a promo and put it out. Now, you know about Sania and Parineeti, because she tweeted about it.
R: It wasn’t that I didn’t want to do it. Obviously, it’s the first time for me. And I do have a bit of jitters, but that happens to everyone, I believe. I said I am more comfortable because Sajid’s around. Eventually, what happens is the show came to me with a choice I liked. There were no discussions there. But yes, I am definitely going to be more comfortable with the TV space.
S: You know Farah and I have been offered a lot of shows together in the past and I think we’ll be superb as well. But this format doesn’t allow that. It’s about friends, not siblings. Also, I host shows alone normally. But over here, the host takes a back-seat and the dost takes a front seat. The word host-and-dost was coined by me way back in 1992 but by now, at least 20,000 people have used it. When two people work on the same lines, then there’s a sense of competition. It’s not the same with Riteish.
R: Because Sajid is no competition to me. (Smiles)
Who from Bollywood do you think has the craziest sense of humour, apart from you two?
R: There are different people with different kinds of humour. I think Karan and Farah are extremely funny.
S: Sundi (Akshay Kumar), Nadiad (Sajid Nadiadwala)...
R: Akshay is poker-face funny while Nadiad is incredibly funny. Boman is Parsi-funny.
S: There are a few other actors who aren’t funny, but you have to stand beside them and laugh because they are big actors. Otherwise these people are really funny because they can make people laugh.
S: Bollywood!
R: Most of the people we know are people who know how to take a joke.
S: Or at least pretend to do it!
S: That’s okay. At the end of the day, we come from the industry and we do have a sense of humour. Other people get offended for other people.
R: No. What we are looking at now is what we have in hand. Once we start having fun on the show, the audiences will automatically start having fun. Whatever happens later, I don’t know.
S: We are concentrating on Season 1. But on a parting note, I would like to say, ‘No job is too big and ... no fee is too small (Screams)’.
