An actor, director and now a producer, Dharmesh Mehta co-produced R K Laxman Ki Duniya on SAB TV, post his 500 episodes long stint as director for Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah. Now that he has started his own venture Namanraj Productions in an attempt to offer something which would entertain the audience in its truest sense, his latest launch Chandrakant Chiplunkar Seedi Bambawala on SAB TV is all set to enthrall the viewers with its unique story of a fire man. Here is the man in conversation with Tellychakkar.com. Tell us something about your show, Chandrakant Chiplunkar Seedi Bambawala? How did the idea of churning out a show based on a fireman come about? Knowing that the format of what people can offer in comedy cannot change much, I started wondering what different can I offer the audience. That is when the concept of basing a story around the life of a fire fighter came about. I visited fire stations and learnt more about their lives. When I told them I was planning to produce a show based on their life they were more than excited and offered their support too. I can promise that the viewers will have a great visual treat watching the show as we have shot at real fire stations. We also have a van which is well equipped with all the facilities, a real fire van would have. The actors cast for the show are fresh faces from the Marathi and Gujarati theatre industry we believe… The genre of comedy is difficult and I believe theatre artists understand the timings of action and reaction better. That is when I thought of getting an extremely polished actor and a theatre artist from the Marathi industry, Prashant Damle on board. Similar is the case with majority of the theatre artists cast in the show. Prashant had announced that he would never be a part of television and would focus only on theatre. How did you convince him to essay the protagonist, Chandrakant Chiplunkar? When I approached Prashant, he was adamant on not doing the show as he had openly spoken about not wanting to do television in 2001. But when I narrated the concept, he was kicked about the same. That is when I told him that he would have to leave theatre. I still remember when I accompanied him for his last stage performance, the audience was extremely emotional on learning that he would no longer be seen performing on stage. Prashant has an amazing caliber and I am sure he will take the audience by storm. I am blessed to have an actor like Prashant as a part of my show. Considering maximum participation from theatre artists, do you think television actors cannot pull off comedy? I feel television actors do not have the capacity to hold on to scenes consistently for long, while theatre artists can do it comfortably given the fact that they perform for two and a half hours with spontaneous reactions without any retake. It does not mean that actors cannot perform well, but theatre artists are much more polished. Lastly, Chandrakant Chiplunkar Seedi Bambawala is based on a protagonist’s family living in a society where there are varied happenings. Doesn’t it resonate to something similar to the mega hit Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashma on the same channel? You can say it is a similar show with a distinguished storyline. Look, earlier, there were shows like Dekh Bhai Dekh which were weekly. It is very difficult to pull off a comedy show daily with the same characters, as the reactions would get monotonous over a period of time. We need reactors to pull off the show and present equally hilarious episodes every day. With Chandrakant Chiplunkar Seedi Bambawala we would focus more on treating and presenting the characters well.