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`We have been fooled in real life'
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Pratap and Sunil pull off some outrageous gags in their television programme Kurigalu Saar Kurigalu. They are as funny off screen too
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LAUGH RIOT Pratap and Sunil have even broken a few bones in their effort to keep the viewers entertained PHOTO: MURALI KUMAR K.
They have made scapegoats (kuris) of thousands people all over the State. That too on camera. Yet, the two notorious men, who can change guises and con even the savviest dude, were apprehensive when we asked for a Take Two as they thought MetroPlus was pulling a gag on them! The duo kept calling to "double check" if the interview was "really" happening. Pratap and Sunil of the Kurigalu Saar Kurigalu, aired on Udaya TV every night at 10.30 p.m. believed it only when the Take Two happened, in which they tell Shilpa Sebastian R. about the good, bad and the ugly side of fame and reality TV.
Pratap: Fame has its negative side to it, Sunil. Especially for us as we play gags on so many people.
Sunil: But we have been fooled in real life and that's a shame. Remember when someone called us saying he was the director of a film and wanted to meet us?
Pratap: We waited, waited and waited and no one turned up!
Sunil: Who will ever believe that we were fooled like that? Tell me, how were you chosen for this show?
Pratap: I was selected after an audition. But the director was not sure about you. You looked so scrawny in the picture he was apprehensive to even call you for an audition, as he was worried you would break a bone if you ever get beaten up during the shoot.
Sunil: I have many broken bones. I broke these two fingers in my very first shoot, remember? I was pretending to have rabies. Getting too involved I even barked as a dog when I was talking to this man and he dropped his heavy suitcase on my hand. For months I had to work with this rod inserted in the broken hand! (He shows us two disfigured fingers in his right hand.)
Pratap: I told you not to get too carried away being a dog. You asked for it by barking.
Sunil: Man! Sometimes it is so tough not to laugh during the shoot.
Pratap: Though we plan the concept beforehand, the dialogues are created on the spot and no one knows what the situation will lead to while shooting.
Sunil: I'll never forgive you for pulling off my sari when I was pretending to be a woman.
Pratap: How was I to know that you were not wearing your pants underneath! Be thankful that episode was edited. But I had great fun during the shoot.
Sunil: You always come after I get beaten up by the kuri. Why can't you come a bit earlier?
Pratap: Because we get so many fan mails claiming that they enjoy watching you getting beaten up. Why, I still remember how you were hit with a handsome pair of shoes. I also remember it sounded like an iron rod when it came in contact with your head!
Sunil: You bet. It looked lightweight but... I can't describe it.
Pratap: I remember. It sounded just like a horse's hoof.
Sunil: Yeah, thanks (touching his head). But after he got to know we were playing a gag on him for TV, I double-checked if he had placed iron rods in his soles!
(How do you choose your concepts for the gags?)
Pratap: Sudhakar Sahaja, the brain behind the show, cameraman Prabhakar, and production manager Devraj also come up with ideas and concepts. Viewers also mail. But we have to improvise on them. Like the time there was one that just said "snatch a woman's chain".
Sunil: But we can't do that. Instead we created a story that I was broke and needed to borrow the gold chain for a few days to pawn it, pay off my loans and then return the chain to the owner. It is during this process that the comedy is created. And you almost spoil the fun by laughing uncontrollably during the shoot.
Pratap: Yeah, I almost lost it when you were acting as a pujari. But I made up for it by saying, `This puja has to be performed with the reverberations of laughter.' And you also made them laugh every time you chanted a mantra. It was hilarious.
Sunil: Once you broke a tree in someone's garden. And this was a situation where I was supposed to ask the kuri for her gold bracelet claiming that my father had left it there by mistake and I had come to collect it. That woman was so mad she literally chased me for half a km with that broken branch.
Pratap: And how you ran...
Sunil: The branch looked heavier than me! Imagine a fan asking for your autograph or mobile number when you are being chased like that.
Pratap: You kept screaming `nine'. When he asked you for the remaining numbers, you screamed back `come for the next shoot' and disappeared from the scene.
Sunil: Yeah, that episode was also hilarious.
(On how they choose the kuris.)
Pratap: We do a bit of face reading and also see their reactions. If they look really worried then we just let them go. But if they do fight back then we play along. And our aim is not to harass anyone but to make them laugh.
Sunil: Remember that girl you caught asking for her licence pretending to be a policeman?
Pratap: She did not have one and started to cry. To make her laugh I started to dance and told her that even I did not have a licence. Then she turned around and asked me if I was a real policeman! Then I became strict and told her: `I danced to make you laugh. Now that your emotions are under control please present your licence.' Remember when one kuri entered our shooting van and hid behind the cameraman?
Sunil: Yes. I was supposed to be a mad man and that person got so freaked with my behaviour that he was complaining to the cameraman asking him for protection, being totally oblivious to the camera. He did not realise that it was a gag show even when the cameraman dropped the camera and was laughing!
Pratap: How does your family react when you get beaten up during the show?
Sunil: They don't like it and get very upset. They criticise me, especially when women bring out their brooms and chappals. But today when Shivraj Kumar calls us up and praises us. I feel good no matter what I get beaten with.
Pratap: The best compliment was when Rajkumar called us up and praised our performance. Will you ever quit Kurigalu... ?
Sunil: Even if I become big on the big screen I'll not give up this programme. This team chose us when we were mere nobodies. Today we get film offers because of the success of this programme. We got our identities because of this.
Pratap: Kurigalu... team gave us a platform we never dreamt of...
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