Everyone is familiar with the fan-following of Taarak Mehta ka Ooltah Chashmah. The characters of the show always remain in the limelight. Dilip Joshi, who plays the role of Jethalal in the show, has worked with Salman Khan in Bollywood films like Maine Pyar Kiya and Hum Apke Hain Koun. But he received widespread recognition only from Tarak Mehta. Today Dilip is one of the most loved actors on Indian television but there was a time when he would not be given even the most frivolous roles in plays let alone movies or shows.
Joshi, in his latest interview, revealed that he has done theatre to get Rs 50 per role and he can’t forget those days in life.
The actor was quoted as saying, “I started as a backstage artiste in the commercial stage. No one used to give me roles. I used to get Rs 50 per role. But the passion to keep doing theatre was there. I didn’t care if it was a backstage role. The big role would come in the future but I just wanted to stick to the theatre.”
Many of you might not know how Jethalal stepped into the world of acting. For the unversed, Bollywood movie Maine Pyaar Kiya was not just the debut movie of Salman Khan and Bhagyashree as your favourite Jethalal too made his debut in the industry through the film.
Joshi is one of the most talented actors in Bollywood today with a fan following of millions. The actor witnessed many ups and downs in the begning of his career. He initially did small roles in films like Hum Aapke Hain Koun (1994), and Maine Pyar Kiya (1989). However, he got his big fame with Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah which is running for over a decade now. However, Joshi still misses his theatre days. He said that he likes to work on camera but the theatre gave him another thrill that’s rare to experience today.
The actor talked about doing Gujarati theatre and revealed that he performed his last play in the year 2007 and after that, he got busy with television. “For more than 25 years, I was continuously doing Gujarati theatre. My last play was Daya bhai do dhaya which got over in 2007. In 2008, Taarak Mehta started and we shoot for 12 hours daily including Sundays. For theatre, you need a different kind of discipline. You have shows on weekends as well as weekdays. So it becomes difficult to manage both theatre and TV. I miss the theatre very much,” he explained.
