Can’t wait for family-set stories to explode on streamers, says Cyrus Sahukar

New Delhi, Feb 17 (PTI) Problems like a geyser not working and other “small disappointments” of day-to-day life make for a good web series, says actor Cyrus Sahukar, who believes there’s a growing need for family-friendly content on streamers today.

According to the actor, “Gullak” and the upcoming second season of his show “Potluck” — both on SonyLIV — fall under the slice-of-life space, which is an “important” genre.

“‘Gullak’ is a good example of a feel-good family drama. There’s a need for some of that content which must be made available because it’s so close to our daily lives. I can’t wait for it (family content) to explode into really interesting stories, cultural stories or stories from people’s childhoods because it’s amazing how similar so much of our life is,” Sahukar told PTI in a virtual interview.

As a fan of crime thrillers, the actor said he experienced massive fatigue from constantly feeling “a sensory overload” from such shows, especially during the pandemic.

“I missed looking at my day-to-day problems. I feel that it will eventually be the toaster which suddenly pops or the geyser not working that will drive me absolutely insane. Our day-to-day lives come up with these small, bizarre disappointments, and ups and downs that can almost be an episode in a series.

“These genres are important. They are difficult to write because there is no mega holding point like a murder or a dead body in a room. It’s a slice-of-life of people’s families,” said Sahukar, who also stars in family drama “Mind The Malhotras”.

Season two of “Potluck”, directed by Rajshree Ojha, will see the actor reprise his role of Vikrant. This time the eldest Shastri sibling has bitten off more than he could chew when it comes to juggling work and home.

“At the end of season one, Vikrant and his family had moved into a new home. Now, the expenses have risen. My character’s wife, played by Ira Dubey, has got a new job. Vikrant, who considers himself to be a bit of a maverick, has taken on more than he can handle.

“He was always the fun dad, coming up with fun stuff. Now, he has to do the logistics work. Like homework, dealing with the tantrums of the kid, dealing with his own work schedules. It’s a lot of reinventing and understanding that ‘I got to do two things differently and not everything I do sort of works’,” he added.

Sahukar, who started his career as video jockey on MTV, said while hosting events is his favourite job, going forward he wants to give more time to acting.

As an actor, his credits include films such as “Rang De Basanti”, “Delhi 6”, “Aisha”, and “Khoobsurat”.

“Hosting is the plain favourite, I’ve done around 3,000-4,000 live events. Every two or three months, I get some hosting work. We just meet all kinds of people when we go around the world. But my first love is acting.

“In school, I used to do theatre. I’d like to explore more of that, get better at it, and hopefully get varied roles. That’s something I was interested in as a child or when I was working at MTV. But then, I never really got a chance to work on or to explore that part of my life,” he said.

Also starring Harman Singha, Jatin Sial, Kitu Gidwani, Saloni Patel, Siddhant Karnick, Shikha Talsania, Sonali Sachdev, Myrah Rajpal, Aashvi Negi, and Mikaeel Bootwalaalong, season two of “Potluck” will start streaming on SonyLIV from February 24.