Mohan Kapur, who appeared in this week’s release, IIZ: Indian Institute Of Zombies, will complete 30 years as a film actor later this year. His debut venture, Beqabu, was released in cinemas on October 11, 1996, where he was seen in the role of an antagonist. In an exclusive interview with Bollywood Hungama, Mohan Kapur went down memory lane and opened up on fascinating trivia about Beqabu and also his hit TV Show.

EXCLUSIVE: Mohan Kapur recalls his Saanp Seedi days; reveals his fee jumped by a WHOPPING 1900%: "From Rs. 500 to Rs. 10,000 per episode!"

EXCLUSIVE: Mohan Kapur recalls his Saanp Seedi days; reveals his fee jumped by a WHOPPING 1900%: “From Rs. 500 to Rs. 10,000 per episode!”

Mohan Kapur began by saying, “People still remember me for the TV show, ‘Saanp Seedi’. That was 33 years ago. I was getting a lot of film offers at that time. N Chandra was a big name and he had come on my show. I also used to work as an advertising professional. One day, I was at work when he called me and asked me to meet him. His office was next to the office of Wadilal Ice Cream, one of our clients, in Juhu.”

Mohan continued, “I met him and he offered me Beqabu. I agreed to do the film, but before leaving, I asked what made him choose me. He remarked that he liked the fact that I hosted ‘Saanp Seedi’ without a script. A lot of people don’t know that it had a five-camera setup. For the first time in India, something of this sort was attempted. The entire episode would be shot in one take. Everything that I was blurting out of my mouth was mine, as there was no script. I had to take charge if something would go wrong and if someone talked back to me. In fact, the participants were briefed, ‘Tum log Mohan Kapur ki band baja do as he’s very good at one-upmanship. He won’t mind it as he’s a cool guy’ (laughs)!”

Mohan Kapur further said, “Hence, I had no clue who was going to say what. Being natural was the fun of the show. N Chandra remarked, ‘When I saw you operating without a script, I wondered, ‘Agar yeh script ke bina kaam kar raha hai, toh yeh toh kamaal ka banda hai, yaar. Aur agar yeh script ke saath kar raha hai aur woh bhi itna naturally, toh bhi yeh toh kamaal ka banda hai, yaar! In both scenarios, tu mere kaam ka aadmi hai’.”

When asked how much he was paid for ‘Saanp Seedi’, Mohan Kapur revealed, “I was paid Rs. 500 per episode in the first year, that is, 1991. The next year, my fee increased to Rs. 10,000 per episode!”

He explained, “I was into advertising and I would get research data. It was my job to tell clients, ‘Put money and advertise on programs with high viewership’. Earlier, there was only Doordarshan, but later, Zee TV came into existence. It was started by Subhash Chandra of Essel Group and Ashok Kurien of Ambience Advertising. The latter was my boss. Hence, I had inside information and television rating numbers. It was embarrassing for me to go and tell the client to put money on ‘Saanp Seedi’!”

Mohan Kapur added, “As per the research, the show didn’t blow away the viewers. Yet, the reason why people were tuning in to watching it regularly was because of this mad fool (referring to himself)! They didn’t know what he was going to say and that worked. Since I knew I was the biggest draw, I could ask for a good raise. And it was a damn good raise!”

Also Read: 30 Years of Beqabu EXCLUSIVE: Mohan Kapur reveals Boney Kapoor increased his role after seeing the rushes: “Mamta Kulkarni’s villain track was removed, causing continuity flaws!”; adds, “Amrish Puri did naamkaran of my debut character Zanjhar Singh”