There’s more money in comedy: Shreyas Talpade

After dabbling with serious roles in a dozen films, and hilarious roles in just six projects, actor-producer Shreyas Talpade believes humour sells better in Bollywood.

After Golmaal 3, actor-producer Shreyas Talpade is back in cinemas this week with a comic role in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s Teen Thay Bhai. He plays Fancy Gill, a struggling Punjabi film actor who thinks Hollywood is his ticket. “I went through crazy wardrobe changes with the stylist before settling on bright polyester shirts,” he says. “It’s crazy stuff, but I really enjoyed it.”

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In a career spanning over 20 films, this is Shreyas’ seventh ha-ha project. Considering he’s had more success with humorous films than the serious ones, would he say comedy works better? “Definitely. In Bollywood, there’s more money in comedy. I’m convinced,” he says. “In fact, I took on Comedy Ka Maha Muqabla to improve my comic sense and timing. And I can see the improvement every week.”

The comic breakthrough, he recalls, was Nagesh Kukunoor’s Dor in 2007 that opened the doors of laugh-a-thons for him. Co-incidentally, Nagesh had also directed him in his Bollywood debut, the critically acclaimed Iqbal. “It has really worked in my favour. That character was a lot of fun. After that, I had a fair share of drama and comedy films. They’re equally satisfying but if I still have a soft corner for comedies,” says Shreyas.

After Teen Thay Bhai, the actor will be donning the avatar of a village simpleton in Shirish Kunder’s Joker, for which he slips into dhoti-kurta. He plays Babban, Akshay Kumar’s youngest brother, who has lived all his life in a small village, away from technological advancements.

The actor also plans to produce more films but only after he completes his current projects, of which Chemistry is his home production. But will they also be comedies? “Yes, I’d love to produce comedies,” beams Shreyas. “I’m revisiting my theatre days with my comedy show. Getting the scripts right is a task. And I’m really enjoying this at the moment.”