An actor par excellence, Pankaj Kapoor is renowned as one of the giants of parallel cinema and more so as the king of comedy on television. His genius lies in the balancing act that he does by picking intense roles when it comes to films, while delving into the comedy genre (and displaying his enormous talent) in the television medium.
The powerhouse performer has been around since the nascent stages of the Indian television industry and has displayed his impeccable skills in a number of shows including Karamchand, Office Office among others. The extraordinary talent that he is, the actor has regularly shunned mainstream cinema for the fear of being typecast, and has also regularly stayed away from limelight which adds that mystery factor to his personality.
A method actor who lets his work speak for himself, here’s taking a look at the television journey of one of India’s finest actors who has served as a huge inspiration to the country’s aspiring actors and performers.
Karamchand (1985–1988)
https://youtu.be/gCIuweXqChw
Renowned as one of India’s first detective series, Pankaj Kapur played the titular role in Karamchand, who (often plays chess with the police inspector) helps local police solve murders in his inimitable style. The popularity of the show was so high, that a certain channel revived the TV series in the year 2007 where Pankaj Kapur reprised his role as the carrot chewing detective.
Zabaan Sambhalke (1993)
Directed by Rajiv Mehra, this was the Indian version of the popular British sitcom, Mind Your Language, and the show featured other ace actors such as Tom Alter, Viju Khote and Shubha Khote. Pankaj Kapur, in the show, plays the role of an engineer who is forced to teach Hindi in a language school.
Philips Top 10 (1994)
This show was a first of its kind on Indian TV and led to the beginning of a new genre in that medium. Various TV shows such as Superhit Muqabla, BPL Oye, Ek Se Badhkar Ek and Hum Aapke Hain Kountdown definitely took inspiration from the success of Philips Top 10 where Pankaj Kapur was responsible for the comic interludes in the show.
Office Office (2001)
Today’s generation definitely knows him as Musaddi Lal from Office Office. The popular series was based on the rampant corruption and bribery scene in public offices and where Musaddi Lal is often treated harshly by corrupt officials.
