Sunil Pal to step in Annu Kapoor’s shoes

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Posted: 17 years ago
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Sunil Pal to step in Annu Kapoor's shoes


The latest funny man of television will be the host of Antakshari

RESHMA S KULKARNI


Funny man Sunil Pal is all set to change gears early next year. The comedian will be hosting the upcoming season of the popular programme Antakshari, a move that has surprised many in the industry! Talking about this surprising switch of tracks, Sunil elaborates, "I had never planned to do anything of this kind but basically I love singing songs and used to intersperse my gigs with popular numbers. The producers of Antakshari happened to like my voice and I believe for this season, they were on a lookout for an anchor who the audience could immediately relate to and who could also sing well. That is why I believe they approached me. I happened to like the concept because I believe a performer should always look at experimenting with something new and so, here I am."
However, Sunil confesses to have been nervous about stepping into Annu Kapoor's shoes. "Annuji is a veteran artiste and he had been the face of Antakshari for such a long time. So, obviously I was petrified of how the audience would accept me in his place. But the production people have managed to remove this fear out of me, albeit not entirely! It still looks like a daunting task to me" remarks Sunil, who has been reading up on a lot of music related stuff and has been actually doing riyaaz to keep himself ship-shape for the programme. "The programme's format is such that I need to be abreast about miniscule details about Bollywood music, which spans over a decade or so. Also, I need to know the lyrics of numerous popular numbers, in case I need to fill in for the participants. So, these days, rather than practising my standups, I'm more into doing my musical riyaaz."
What Sunil finds all the more daunting is that he will be facing the audience in an all-new serious avatar in Antakshari. "Till now, the audience had enjoyed my comedy side but now that I will be donning a serious face for the programme, I hope they appreciate that too."
However, Sunil's fans still have his upcoming films to look out for if they want to enjoy his comedy. After Phir Hera Pheri and Apna Sapna Money Money, the actor will now be seen in a comic role in Fool & Final and Bombay to Goa, albeit he wishes that he gets a chance to perform other genres in films too.
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