Shreyas didn't want Sindhi caricature for 'Housefull 2'
- IndiaGlitz, [Friday,April 06 2012]
When Sajid Khan was putting together the cast for 'Housefull 2', he was sure about one thing that each of his actors would have a unique characteristic to him. While Akshay Kumar and Riteish Deshmukh have already been a part of this franchise and share a great tuning with Sajid, even John Abraham is being seen in an altogether different avtar. Next task was to ensure that the junior-most of the lot, Shreyas Talpade, too would have something unique that would make him stand out. This resulted in him turning into a Sindhi character though he was quite scared to put on this hat as he didnÂt want to hurt sentiments of the Sindhi community.
Since I came at the last moment (Rahul Khanna was originally slated to do the film), there had to be one characteristic trait which was unique just for me. Sajid was sure that the Jolly number three which I was playing couldn't be full on slapstick or mad. This is when we came with this characteristic about playing a Sindhi, informs Shreyas.
This pretty much worked out in Shreyas' favour since there were unique characteristics already defined for the other actors and he couldn't be left out.
Well, it is nothing less than a weapon that came my way, smiles Shreyas, Initially I was as a little concerned that yeh teen diggaj log hai (Akshay, Riteish, John) so how would I be noticed. I was scared. Darr lag raha tha ki kahin film ko gira naa doon. Also, I was playing a Sindhi character for the first time. Thankfully Sajid stood by me all throughout and ensured that I kept it all balanced instead of underplaying it or going overboard.
Another factor kept in mind was to not make the Sindhi characterisation seem like a caricature.
We wanted to go beyond the 'chadiyaas' and 'arre bappas' that have been heard time and again for decades now, says Shreyas, I have tried speaking proper full blown sentences in Sindhi. Of course it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience, more so since my character has a lot of shades. There is a certain portion of the film where I get emotional and then there is also this strong friendship along with slapstick and over the top comedy. It all worked for me.
Now that the film has released worldwide, we too are gearing up to see that unfold today.