Jokes on Me Have Helped Me to Get a Role: Alok Nath

Alok Nath, a well known actor in Bollywood industry for over four decades was in the news around three months ago for the jokes about him trending online on social networking sites.

Actor, who was in Lucknow on Saturday said, "I am not at all net savvy and I am not on social networking sites. My kids told me about these jokes. They were in splits after reading them and I was like 'Tumhe sharam aani chahiye apne baap pe hanste hue."

"I am absolutely okay with jokes on me now, but initially, yes, I was perturbed ki why me? I am not a personality on whom jokes are made randomly. Later, I was like, if everyone is enjoying jokes on me, even I should laugh it off instead of opposing them," added the actor.

On asking whether he has read those jokes, "Oh, yes! I have read almost all the jokes on me and have many favourites too. But I specially like the one in which it is said that my dogs too have sanskars and they don't bark but say, 'Bauji Bauji'," replies actor with laughing.

Actor thanks to these jokes, as it had helped him to get a different role rather than his usual serious sanskari he had played. "Because of these jokes, today I am getting offers for different genres in acting. I am getting work which is absolutely different from the kind of work I have done till now. I am enjoying it! After acting in a music video as a cool rapper and a video on Arvind Kejriwal, I have now got a role in a comedy serial Nadaniyan," says the actor.

Alok answered on playing the same old 'serious father' role for a long time, "As an actor it somehow gets monotonous to play the same role again and again. But I can't say no to them as I earn my bread and butter from this. So, within the periphery of those kind of roles, I tried making them as different as possible. I have tried making the roles that I have played in my career look different with my attitude, diction or my behavior. That's what I could do. Also, I have never been image conscious. I have been quite comfortable in whatever roles I have done so far."

And Alok seems to be quite happy with his television career, as it helps him earn good money. "On television, I have always been paid a better sum than the main leads to play a babuji. Any serial in India is incomplete without parents and so mine is quite a prominent role. Saas-sasur ke bina serial nahi chal sakta India mein."