We caught up with Nitesh Pandey, who has done a fair amount of television, played assistant to Shah Rukh Khan in Om Shanti Om and also a bit role in Khosla Ka Ghosla. Armed with a solid theatre background, the 32-year-old actor has discovered a funny bone in his latest outing as Jaankhilavan Jasoos in Sab’s new detective show by the same name. You have done shows like Saaya, Astitva, Justajoo, Hum Ladkiyan; played some serious, senior characters too. What made you opt for a comic role? I had started off with a comedy show which somehow didn’t work for me. Also some of my shows were a blend of serious with a hint of comedy. But I was looking out for a full-fledged comic role to play as I wasn’t satisfied with what I had done so far. I sat at home for almost a year and a half to get a role like this and given the current scenario, I knew only a comic character would appeal to the common man. Why were you not satisfied with your earlier roles and how’s this different from them? Daily soaps are mostly women-oriented. Somehow it feels a little unsatisfied doing them, it’s a drag, with all the rona-dhona. But this show was fresh from day one as at the end of the day I was happy doing it. How did you mange with the low period then? I tried to produce a show but things didn’t fall into place. Then I just was waiting for a strong title role like JJ, with a solid production house like Fireworks and a strong channel like Sab TV. So I have the best and now the challenge is to do my best. Your role in films like Khosla Ka Ghosla and Om Shanti Om were brief but noticeable… How does it feel? It feels nice as my roles in these films were kept short but my work was noticed especially in Om Shanti Om, in which I shared screen-space with Shah Rukh Khan. How did you bag Jaankhilavan? I knew BP Singh and Pradeep Uppoor since a long time. I have earlier done episodics of Aahat and CID. They had conviction in me. So I tried to put in my best since day one of my audition. I had no clue how I would do it. I just played with my innate sense of humor and the experience I had, given my theatre background. Also this moustache of mine worked wonders for me (Smiles). Tell us something about your theatre work… I began doing theatre in 1990. I am from Kumaon in Uttaranchal. I do theatre whenever I find time. A very important thing I learnt from theatre is that humour is always based on truth. This is what keeps tickling the audience. One has to walk a tight rope between not overdoing it and keeping it subtle. How did you work on your characters and the look? I asked frequently if it’s based on the Pink Panther but no, it’s not. I think it’s a cliché which works for the movies and shows. Similary, a detective too has a clichéd look. He has to have a typical funny look. We tried various round caps and also different moustaches of different sizes but they didn’t look good on me. Then finally I got it which looked fit for Jaankhilavan. As heard, the show is inspired by Pink Panther; did you draw anything from Peter Sellers or Steve Martin who played the detective? Of course, not. The show isn’t inspired by Pink Panther as to make a subtle show like that for the Indian mass is not possible. They have tried to shape the show keeping the taste of the desi audience in mind. They have kept it as subtle as possible as making people laugh isn’t easy. According to you what works for any show and what is the USP of your show? TV has its own sense of programming. Basically how to fine-tune the show according to the changing demands of public, whether to keep it loud or subtle and to maintain the masala in the show is what works for any show. JJ is a different concept. How the character being a totally non-detective type still ends up solving every case accidently is the USP. Understanding JJ is not easy. It was his childhood desire to be a detective. JJ has neither talent nor intelligence as a detective; he failed in everything till he stumbled upon solving a case and that’s how it took off.