Acting becomes quite mechanical in a serial : Milind Gunaji

Milind Gunaji returns to the small screen after a long gap with a crime thriller serial titled SID- Faarz. Gunaji plays the character of an intelligent, sharp, quite and brave officer Ankush Gokhale. The serial will go on air on 10 September every Thursday and Friday at 8.30 PM on DD1. The actor was seen in Kurukshetra on Zee wherein he got noticed by Mahesh Bhatt who offered him a role in Fareb. His role in the film was critically acclaimed and he never had to look back. Speaking on his return to the small screen Gunaji gets in a conversation with TellyChakkar and talks about the new serial, his character in it and lots more What is your character in SID-Faarz? I play the main character of Ankush Gokhale. He is a senior investigative officer. Just like Mr. Shivaji is doing in CID, I'm heading a team of 4-5 officers who investigate the various crimes with their expertise. I play the role of a brave and competent officer, who helps his team to reach a conclusion in every case. Is SID similar to CID? Except for the fact that SID is also a crime thriller like CID there is no other similarity. Each case story runs into two episodes. Only the genre ‘crime thriller’ is similar. SID has been shot in more advanced way. It is more investigative and actual forensic methods have been used to solve the problems. It’s very scientific. The director has also tried his best to give it a very different look. I think people will like the thrill and suspense of the serial more. And then DD does have a much larger reach and base, creating a brand new additional audience. How did you get this offer and what prompted you to accept this serial? I've worked before with SID's producer, Mrunalini Dayal in her films like 'Dhuaan' and 'Manthan'. I always believed in her kind of work and also the director, Rajesh Gupta is a well known face for DD channel. So, I can’t refuse to work with such experienced people. In fact it’s been an enjoyable experience. How did you prepare for this role? I made no extra preparation for this role. As I’ve done a lot of roles in my career and each role has been a learning curve. Now, I don’t need to do anything extra to perform. It all comes naturally now. The serial is about investigating the crime. Is it based on real life stories or they are fiction? The stories are not real but very close to real ones. It’s the same kind of crimes that our society is facing today. But to make it more authentic, it’s a mix of both real incidents and fiction. It’s based on today’s crime situation in the city. They are little more dramatised for value, but the way they are solved, are very scientific and calculative. When you were shooting for this serial, the situation on the set must be close to the real one. Is it comparable with the real life crime scenario of today? As I said earlier the story is similar to the real one. Whatever crime we’re facing in the society today, we are showing them on TV. We have followed the same pattern of how investigations are done in real cases. So, it somehow resembles with today’s scenario. Viewers will not be able to differentiate between real and reel. And it shows the intellect and determination of our forces, not the usual buffoonery showed in films and television. You have done films and television both. What are the differences between both mediums? There is not much difference, but as you have said only the medium differs. Acting is acting, you have to perform at your best. But concentration level is high in cinema, compared to serials. For a movie, you do 1-2 scenes in 2-3 days, while it takes just 1-2 days to shoot 10 -12 scenes for the serials. Acting becomes quite mechanical in a serial. Would you like to share any memorable incident or moment while shooting for SID? As the serial has been shot indoors I don’t remember any particular incident.