People will get bored if you keep focusing on just one track in a TV show: Sharad Kelkar

After an eight-year break, Sharad Kelkar returned to TV with Tum Se Tum Tak. In a chat, he talks about discovering a connection between the TV show and a childhood memory of his daughter, and also how he has been balancing different mediums. Excerpts:There has been talk that despite playing the lead in Tum Se Tum Tak, you aren’t able to give enough time to the show. Is it because you are busy with other projects?It’s a contractual thing, not about my commitment. From the beginning, I had a clear agreement with the producers about the number of days I would shoot. Those terms remain the same, although sometimes I shoot for more days, never fewer. Also, if you keep focusing on just one track, people will get bored. The wedding track was important, but you can’t have weddings or birthdays every few months, or take a Kashmir trip every month. The stories have to be divided among the cast. In a 23-minute episode, the lead will appear for some time, while the rest of the time will be shared by the other characters. You can’t have one person throughout an episode. That’s how television works.What made you return to television after eight years?I work across mediums — films, series, television, hosting and dubbing. Television was one of the first mediums I worked in, and I know there is an audience that wants to see me on TV. There’s also a special connection with this show. When my daughter Kesha was three or four, she and my mother used to watch the Marathi show Tula Pahate Re. She couldn’t pronounce the title properly and called it Tula Pate Re. I later discovered that it starred Subodh Bhave and was a very popular show.And years later, you were offered its Hindi remake...Yes. Tum Se Tum Tak is the official remake. When producer Prateek Sharma offered me the Hindi adaptation, I initially didn’t have dates. After I finished Taskari, I agreed. It was quite a coincidence.There were also reports that your wife, Keerti, was approached for a role in the show.Yes, she was offered the role of Rajnandini. But she has her own priorities. She has our daughter and also her business, so she wanted to focus on that.