Rehman's new challenge in Papad Pol

Ace comedian Rehman Khan is back in business. But not with a stand-up comedy show. This time he is playing a key role in the show Papad Pol on SAB. Rehman, who started his journey with Great Indian Laughter Challenge3 few years back, has already established a strong foothold in Mumbai with his perfect sense of timing and humour. Now with a serial in his kitty, he wants to prove his acting skills as well. "I have been offered many show prior to this, but my laziness was stopping me from taking them up. I am a very lazy person and to do a daily, you have to work really hard and always be on your toes. I have been avoiding that, but could not any more," he says in his characteristic sense of humour. But was life easier when he was doing Laughter Challenge? "Of course," says Rehman. "When we were doing the show, we had ample time. Apart from rehearsals, we had to shoot only for two days in a week!" But was it just laziness that stopped him from saying yes to serials. He laughs before opening up, "Jokes apart, I was keen on doing a film. But when Optimystix, with whom I have had a very faithful association, offered me Manu Patel's role in Papad Pol, I could not say no. He is a typical roadside Romeo of Mumbai and is an expert in shady monetary dealings. He is also a conman." Playing such a role is nothing new for Rehman because once he had enacted something similar in Laughter Challenge and Shekhar Suman had mentioned that he was the best in the genre. "People say that I am good in Mawali and Qawali," says the actor who started his career as a theatre artiste 10 years back. "From my name, a lot of people think that I am from Pakisthan and often ask me about my return date. I always smile and say -Let me explore my options here first!" So where is he from? "I belong to a place near Lucknow but have been living in Mumbai for many years now." "Comedy happened by chance," says the actor who follows Mehmood, Kader Khan and Omar Sharif. Khan has a strong dislike for double meaning words and the usage of them in stand- up comedy shows and feels there should be a line which one should not cross.