Ashiesh Roy, who returned to his theatre roots after a gap of nearly two years recently, was in for a huge surprise when he landed up in Kenya for his Hindi play “Teen Bandar’ earlier this month. 

Not only are the Kenyans keen watchers of Star Plus, but also massive fans of him and his serial Mere Angane Mein airing on the channel. Posing happily for selfies at the airport, he was quite amused to be constantly referred to as ‘Sarla Ke Pati’.

“It was quite amusing to be referred to in this fashion. One woman even said she wished more men were like I am in the serial,” laughs Ashiesh. 

Ouch!! So did that hit him hard? “On the contrary, I was elated. Only a giant egotist will have any issue with his name being linked to his wife! I think of it as a huge compliment to my acting that people have begun to identify my character in the correct context in the serial. In a way, I do play the wife in the show, with Sarla (Ananya Khare) taking up cudgels with the outside world at every turn.”

Talking about his play ‘Teen Bandar’, Ashiesh says it is a laugh riot in which he plays a double role, that of a corporate head honcho who gets murdered, and a hyperventilating Bengali cop who investigates the murder. 

Joining him on stage were actors Paritosh Painter, Jayesh Thakkar, Deepshikha Nagpal, Shweta Gulati, Tanya Abrol, Balwinder Singh Suri and Nasirr Khan.

“To say that I was nervous would be an understatement. Retuning to a live audience after two years is never easy, especially when it’s a play with no takes or retakes. Plus I had been shooting non-stop for Mere Angane Mein and Ek Rishta Saajedhari Ka back home, and had not rehearsed for the play with my co-actors. So, naturally, I was on edge.”

But there was nothing to worry about!! Once the arch lights came on, he was back in his elements, and the play was a runaway hit. The Kenyans clapped and asked for numerous encores. “Like I said, the play is a laugh riot, and I was not bad myself,” he chortled, grinning from ear to ear. 

Meanwhile, there was disappointment in store for him as he had to give the great Kenyan Wildlife Safari a miss and return home immediately to shoot for Ek Rishta Saajedhari Ka. “Of course I am disappointed. Coming to Kenya and not doing the wildlife safari is like going to Siddhi Vinayak and not doing Ganpati Darshan! I had informed them a month in advance, before I even signed the serial! Still, a daily soap is a daily soap. I have always held my work as worship. So my “Darshan” shall be at work.”

But in the half day that he had, he went and adopted an orphaned elephant at the David Sheldrick Orphans’ Project, fed some giraffes and did some street photography. “The African skin tone is like coffee. It’s beautiful. It’s unbelievable that they have been persecuted for their skin colour for centuries.” 

We like the way you think, Ashiesh. And we wish you, ‘Sarla Ke Pati’ all the best for your future projects!!