Raj Gupta, Executive Producer (EP) of Bani- Ishq Da Kalma, is one man who has always been fond of the entertainment world. So much is his love for it that he can’t imagine staying away from it. In a conversation with Tellychakkar.com, he talks about his journey and much more… When and how did you begin your journey in the entertainment industry? (Pauses) Well, since two of my brothers, Sanjay Gupta (lighting department) and Bablu Gupta (art director) had already been a part of the industry, getting into the TV world wasn’t that difficult for me. I started as an assistant director with Rajeev Mehra in Shararat, but since I wasn’t too fond of TV, I got into Bollywood. I worked in films like God Tussi Great Ho and Lage Raho Munna Bhai as the eighth assistant director. However, since it is a fact that money lies in the TV world, I stepped back into the TV domain and went on to join Balaji Telefilms for which I did Kya Dill Mein Hai and later did Dahej with BAG Films as a scheduler. I also worked on Kya Mast Hai Life and Yahaan Main Ghar Ghar Kheli as an Executive Producer and a Scheduler. And only after that Bani happened. I have been a part of all my shows from the start till the end as I do not believe in moving out of any show mid-way. You’ve worked with different production houses. How different are they from one another? See one must know very well that things are different from place to place. One has to be very calculative in the way he or she should behave with different people. But I must admit that I haven’t seen a production house like Rajshri Productions. And according to me, Ravi Ojha is another production house that’s very close to my heart though I did not get the opportunity to work on a show with them. Initially I was associated with them for a one hour feature film (love story) for a channel. Did you ever feel the need to be in another profession? (Smiles) See, I am a thorough Mumbaite and have known the television industry all my life. I always wanted to be here. Even when I wasn’t associated with it, I used to make it a point to watch the light men and the spot boys work on the sets. Nobody understands how much of hard work they put every single day to complete a day’s schedule. I salute these people who start working on the sets much before the director says ‘action’. Yes, the artistes and the other crew members do get breaks at times, but these are the people who work non-stop without throwing any tantrums. I learnt to respect them from when I was with the Rajshris. Have you ever had to handle tantrums of actors? (Pauses) Yes, a lot. Most of the actors have tantrums, be it on issues of leave, call time et al. But, I feel that one needs to know to handle them well. Hence be it Alok Nath or Pankaj Berry, they will never tell me ‘no’ to me when it comes to putting in an extra hour on the sets. In fact, I have some awesome actors on the sets of Bani who do not even have an issue on putting more than 12 hours; we all work together as a family. Were you ever out of work? (Pauses) Yes, when the industry had a lot of workers going on strike during the strike of 2006-2007, I was thrown out of job. I did not have any work but then luckily a friend of mine got me a job as an EP in Lage Raho Munna Bhai. What’s next for you? I’d like to direct a film someday but there is no going away from TV. And like Raj Kapoor said in one of his movies Jeena Yahan Marna Yahaan, I’d like to live and die in the TV industry.