Exclusive! ‘Ghanshyam Nayak never imposed his seniority in Sarabhai v/s Sarabhai,’ says JD Majethia

JD Majethia and Ghanshyam Nayak

Veteran actor, the late Ghanshyam Nayak, played Vitthal kaka in JD Majethia's show Sarabhai v/s Sarabhai before he became the lovable Nattu kaka from Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah. Sharing memories of the actor, JD told mid-day, "Ghanshyam bhai's passing away is not just a loss for television but also for theatre. There is a Gujarati art form called ‘Bhavai'. Lily Patel and Ghanshyam bhai used to perform curtain comedy, he would perform in front of the curtain while sets were being changed behind. He played Ranglo and Lily played Rangli, they performed while dancing and the dialogues were recited in a musical manner. He was among the senior most actors who performed this art along with Lily ben. It's a dying art form now and he was one of the few actors who still performed. He used to live in a very small apartment back then and struggled to make his way up. Today, his son holds a high position in an international company."

Speaking of his first meeting with the late actor, JD recalls, "I had watched his play as a child at Vile-Parle's Bhaidas hall. From being his fan as a child, I got to share the stage with him in a play titled ‘Shirrachhed' which also had Paresh Rawal, Sejal Shah, Harsh Chhaya and others."

Speaking about his role as Vitthal kaka, the house help in Sarabhai…, JD recalls, "We cast him in Sarabhai v/s Sarabhai and he was the most disciplined, no nonsense actor. He never imposed his seniority on younger actors. His character became popular, so we retained him and he would add his own improvisations to make the scene funnier."

Recalling his last conversation with the late actor Majethia says, "I spoke to him few days ago. He told me all is well and he will soon recover. Nobody expected him to go so suddenly. He suffered from a cancer relapse despite undergoing surgery and it became difficult to save him."

Also Read: Ghanshyam Nayak's last rites: Munmun Dutta, Dilip Joshi and others pay their last respects