No more fiction TV for Sharad Kelkar

After appearing in films like Laxmii (2020) and Bhuj: The Pride Of India (2021) and web show The Family Man, Sharad Kelkar is back to television, as a host. Talking about his reunion with the small screen, he says, “I’ve worked for a good seven to eight years in the TV industry. It’s like my home ground. People expect certain seriousness and a stern voice while I’m hosting. Maybe they wanted me back.”

But he has no qualms in admitting that he has no plans of going back to doing a fiction show. He shares, “Even if a good show comes my way, I don’t think I will be able to do it because my dates won’t permit me. I don’t want to be an actor who over commits and is then unable to fulfil the demands of the producers.” Kelkar feels that doing a daily soap would be quite hectic. “TV is too demanding. It requires a lot of time and courage. I don’t think I’m in the space right now where I can do justice to a TV show,” he says.

Looking back at his TV days, the Black Widows actor says, “I used to be one of the rebels who refused to be tagged as a TV actor. I don’t believe in this belief system where we compartmentalise actors as a comic, a serious, a negative or a character actor.”

The only label Kelkar believes in is that of “a good or a decent actor”. “Labelling an actor narrows down their space which I don’t want for myself. I don’t want to restrict myself, be it in terms of mediums, subjects or directors. However, if an actor wants to limit himself, that’s a different debate. As for me, I’ve never approached any medium differently,” he ends.