Making people laugh is a very satisfying: Vandana Pathak

Feels actor Vandana Pathak, who was in Lucknow recently. She also emphasises a TV character’s need to form a bond with the audience
Doing Her Own Thing
While some actors are constantly in news more for giving their creative input rather than their acting skills, actor Vandana Pathak begs to differ. The “Khichdi” veteran was in the city recently and got candid when we asked her about her creative inputs in the making of her other serial, “RK Laxman Ki Dunia”. “See, the storyline of the serial is as such that there is unlimited scope of taking inspiration from real life situations. But then, when the writer has already written the script, I think it’s best for an actor to perform on the script and give your best. Rest should be left to the creative heads,” she avers.
Laughter The Best Medicine
H aving tickeled people’s funny bone with her antics as Jayshree, Vandana feels that making people laugh is a very satisfying experience. “To make people cry is easy but to make them laugh is hard. If you succeed in making your audience smile, you can consider your job half done and go home satisfied, if not elated,” says Vandana, adding, “Also, some roles are caricatures, harder to play than others. “Khichdi” was easy as it was all about depicting an overactive household.”
Evergreen Shows, Changing Seasons
The Indian television industry has struggled with introducing the ‘season’ concept to the audience. “A few channels had tried to bring in this concept like in the West with a six mahine ka season, like “Friends”. Par woh nahi chala. On the contrary, “Khichdi”, was relaunched with a second season as “Instant Khichdi”, and both were hugely appreciated. I think apne yahan seasons isliye nahin chal sakte because you have so many similar kinds of serials running that until and unless the audience develops a bond with the character, it always remains unpredictable ki chalega ya nahi. Otherwise people forget and once you are gone, it’s an out of sight, out of mind like situation.”
Manmohan Singh