Though it was with the comic TV show FIRthat Shiv Pandit rose to fame, his debut film was the psychological thriller Shaitan. Shiv's next release was the action flickBoss. But it's his upcoming film Solid Patelsthat will see Shiv going back to the genre that made him popular. "It's strange that though I was known for my comic timing in FIR I wasn't approached for a comedyfilm so far. Saurabh (director Verma) was the first to offer me a comedy irrespective of the image that I had got in films withShaitan and Boss," says Shiv.
Loosely based on the cartoon characters Tom & Jerry - Shiv is even called Tom and Ketan Singh, the voice behind the 'actor calling actor' vignette on radio plays Jerry. Shown to be Gujaratis, the duo who is staying together in a house are always tyring to pull a fast one on the other a la Tom & Jerry and also on the other characters they encounter. Says Shiv, "Saurabh is fascinated by comic characters. Though Solid Patels has no connection to cartoon characters the film has the essence of the cat and mouse game. Both Ketan and me are good-for-nothing and always up to mischief in the film." He assures that unlike the recent spate of comedies which had dollops of double entendre dialogue, Solid Patels is clean family entertainer.
Ask him whether he's closed to TV, now that he is doing films and Shiv, who started his acting career with theatre says he has kept all his options open. "Some projects are in the offing, let's see how it pans out," says the actor who never thought he would be doing films. "I have no links in the industry. I was doing theatre in Delhi when I got an offer to be a RJ. After two years of being a radio jockey, I got FIR and later the opportunity to host IPL. I didn't think of doing films simply because I didn't know whom to approach. I went for an audition which was liked by Bejoy and I ended up with Shaitan," smiles the actor.
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