Pankaj Kapur will opt for TV only if need be

Veteran Pankaj Kapur, who is busy promoting his upcoming film Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola, is not too enthusiastic about returning to television. “Around eight to nine years ago, I decided to stay away from active television for its face was changing and I was not comfortable with this new grammar then. Also I found that given the long hours involved, the working pace very hectic and strenuous,” he avers. “What is really disappointing is that our output on the idiot box gets lost in twenty minutes. The hard work we put in there is as similar to films where the stress is lesser as it is a more long drawn out process. Hence I find the latter to be more satisfying. For, at the end of the day, irrespective of whether your film does well or not, it will be seen by certain people through different forms of media,” he adds. Finally, Kapur says that he prefers to wait till he is offered something on the small screen where the director and actor is given the required amount of independence to nurture something creative. "Having said that, let me be honest to say that if things get bad and I need money for survival, I might have to embrace the current scenario as well,” he observes. Over the years, Kapur made a big name for himself on the small screen by his portrayal of the carrot munching detective Karamchand, then the Hindi speaking teacher in Zaban Sambhal Ke and last but not the least, the poor common man in the long running SAB TV show Office Office.