This time you may have to use your mind: Sharad Kelkar on Housefull 4

Actor Sharad Kelkar who has successfully graduated from television to films, has been roped in by producer Sajid Nadiadwala for Housefull 4. His fans will get to see him be part of a comedy film for the first time. 

“I’ve been choosy in my work for the last few years. I’d never worked in this genre [comedy] yet. So, it will be a different experience altogether. It has three fantastic actors — Akshay Kumar, Riteish Deshmukh and Bobby Deol. It will be fun,” Kelkar told us in an interview.

Given that this will be his first stint at comedy, was Kelkar confused whether to take up the project or not?

“No, there there were no grimaces. It’s a big franchise. I’ve worked with Sajid sir and Deshmukh in [Marathi film] Lai Bhaari (2014). That was a super-hit film and we are hoping the same for this one,” replied Kelkar.  The actor is  looking forward to reunite with Nadiadwala and Deshmukh.  

“It’s amazing to reunite with them. I am very fond of Riteish. We have worked together earlier and we also play for the same cricket team. It will be great fun,” said the Bhoomi (2017) actor.

We’ve largely seen Kelkar in the role of an antagonist. The actor refused to divulge details about his character in Housefull 4 but said he will join the film's team during the second shoot schedule in September. 

While Housefull is a fairly successful franchise, critics have often labelled the films as mindless entertainers. Kelkar, though doesn’t agree to this categorization. “It is very difficult to make people laugh, this franchise has always done that. They have managed to produce different content in all the three previous films. They have fulfilled audience expectations each time. If you see all the three films, one or two characters have changed, but the combination, the drama has always been interesting. This time though you may have to use your mind.”

Television artistes are slowly making their way into cinema with the likes of Sushant Singh Rajput, Vikrant Massey, Ronit Roy proving their mettle in Hindi films. One of the problems television artistes faced before was being typecast in accordance to their daily soap characters.

“Earlier, if you pick up any old newspaper articles, we used to be mentioned as TV actor or film actor. Why can’t we just be called actors?” Kelkar questioned.

“It is tough, but you really need to be persistent. You have to sacrifice lot of things, your fame [as a TV star], even money to get a break in films. However, the reward for the price that you pay is ultimately satisfying,” he added.

Housefull 4 marks Sajid Khan's return to the franchise as the director. He has reportedly twisted the fourth instalment into a horror-comedy. The multi-starrer film also features Kriti Sanon, Pooja Hegde, and Kriti Kharbanda.