“Travelling is in my blood ” says Deepti Bhatnagar

Deepti Bhatnagar has been successfully hosting and producing religious travel shows on Star TV like Musafir Hoon Yaaron and producing shows like Main Kab Saas Banungi? (SAB), which took a dig at the saas-bahu soaps. She was then offered a package of laughter gags by director Shaikh Nasir, who has spoofed Bollywood in his shows. So now, Deepti and Nasir have joined hands for SAB’s latest silent comedy, Malegaon ka Chintu. Excerpts from an interview with Deepti: How did the idea of producing a silent comedy come to you? After watching my travel shows, people call me up and offer their scripts and concepts for shows and stuff. So similarly there is a team in Malegaon headed by director Nasir Shaikh, an amazing person who directs Bollywood spoofs. He and his creative head Akram Khan with their fantastic team of actors, who are originally from Malegaon, approached me with a ready concept of gags related to Malegaon. I loved the concept, which was so fresh. As I have earlier done a comic show with SAB called Main Kab Saas Banungi and since the channel had launched a silent comedy, Guturgu, I approached Anooj Kapoor, the business head. He too loved the concept and gave the go-ahead. Travel shows have been your forte till now and now a silent comedy… Yes, it would be a altogether different experience for me, as it would be a comedy without words, but I can’t forget travel for sure as it is in my blood. I am crazy about travelling and have travelled along with my kid to many different places that now even my kid loves travelling to a great extent. And yes, when it comes to a comedy show like Guturgu and Malegaon ka Chintu, I am sure people will love it, as SAB is an upcoming channel for pure entertainment. Do you think that Malegaon ka Chintu will cater to kids? For sure because I had premiered the first episode of Malegaon ka Chintu in my son’s school, and the kids simply rolled with laughter and they loved the character of Chintu. So, it’s surely for the kids. What is so special about Malegaon and Malegaon ka Chintu? As I told you it’s a special team from Malegaon and the director Nasir loves that place so much that he has even made successful films like Malegaon ka Superman, Malegaon ke Sholay … so he doesn’t want to leave that Malegaon ka tag even for this show. Also, since the whole team is from Malegaon we wanted to maintain its identity. Any other shows coming up? I would like to make a cookery show if I get a chance as my aspirations are endless (smiles). Have you visited Malegaon before or for the shoot of the show? No, I have never been to Malegaon before but I have heard it is a sweet and fun place, so I am definitely planning to visit soon. Tell us something about the show… Chintu is full of life and goofs up in situations all the time, so it’s going to be a relaxing watch for viewers.