Karamchand had a strong brand identity that you’d managed to shake off. How is it to revisit it?

For me, it’s just a job, something with which one has to experiment.

Are you excited about the re-play?

There is excitment but also apprehension about how it will be received. Two decades ago, there was only one channel, Doordarshan, today there is a plethora of them.

Will Karamchand retain all his peculiar characteristics?

Of course he will continue to be a carrot-chewing detective. There are no major changes except for the fact that, like me, he is older by 20 years.

You will have a new ‘Kitty’...

Yes but it’s not fair to compare Sushmita (Mukherjee) with the new girl (Sucheta Pavase). Sushmita is a trained and seasoned actress while Sucheta is a young talented girl. Both are different personalities.

How do you take the serial forward?

Ideally, as an actor I would have liked them to give some explanation about what had happened to the detective, where he had disappeared for 20 years and why he has made a comeback. But that hasn’t been addressed in the serial. The channel (Sony) and the director thought it better to bring it on as a fresh series.

You must remember that there is a whole section of viewers that is ignorant about the earlier Karamchand. This will be a new show for them.

How keen were you to play the role when the director approached you?

I confess I don’t believe in re-runs. But I have a long-standing relationship with the director (Pankaj Parashar). In a way he was instrumental in making me popular.

... contd.