Barun Sobti talks about raising daughter Sifat in an unsafe country: 'I shun...'

It has been an intense ride for Barun Sobti with Kohrra 2023 and Asur So the actor is changing up things by taking up a sliceoflife comedy in Raat Jawaan Hai The televisionrsquos heartthrob shares that he is instinctively drawn to fun content and uses them as breaks between his intense roles Wersquore not complaining wersquore always excited to see the actor showcase his versatility with his dramatically different roles In a chat with midday Sobti talks about how the JioCinema show is more about friendship than parenthood and his experience of being father to fiveyearold Sifat and oneyearold MeerEdited excerpts from the interviewWhat made you say yes to this sliceoflife show after fronting dark offerings like Kohrra and AsurLately I have been doing a lot more intense shows So when this came my way I decided to take it up because it was against the grain of what was actually working Everyone seems to be working on dramatic stories murder mysteries and gangster shows Something like this has not been happening much Thatrsquos where I wanted to be and to top it all the show is brilliant In life my inclination is to make people laugh I love doing funny things and being stupid Raat Jawaan Hai is a sliceoflife comingofage show It is about people whorsquove become parents recently and are still trying to make light of itSo is it about parenting or friendshipItrsquos packaged as a comingofage parenting show but at the heart of it it is about friendshipDo you feel that people somehow lose out on friendships when they embrace parenthoodItrsquos hurtful and sad at the same time because this is the time of your life when the responsibility quotient is so high Irsquom 40 now so my parents are getting old and my kids need all the attention I can give them So irrespective of what you may say or do your friendship suffers a bit I have been very fortunate that way All my friends call me a good friend I try to accommodate as much as I can and I keep in touch with all my friendsHowever that scenario would be different for men and women Do you agreeHundred per cent If you come into my house you can tell immediately that I have two kids You have to be blindmdashor a manmdashto be unable to tell but the fact is that the woman is the mother of the child So I agree 100 per cent that itrsquos different for me My wife Pashmeen Manchanda has been doing a good job of being a good friend but it is taxing Your family comes foremost so friendship does take a backseat sometimes It takes great friends like Avinash his character or Radhika played by Anjali Anand to keep the balance intactDirector Sumeet Vyas has incorporated his own experiences into the show Could you relate from your experiences before having a babyI could relate a bit but Irsquom different from Avinash Khyati AnandPuthran is the writer and creator of the show Sumeet brings in a lot of improvisation We didnrsquot do any scene without him improvising something crazy When the whole world is thinking north he thinks west It didnrsquot feel like he was making his directorial debut He was conscious confident and brought the right amount of sensitivity that men need to have in the age in our countryIn a country where women are so unsafe did you feel apprehensive when Sifat was bornI purposefully stray away from that topic whenever someone brings it up I shun that topic This might be stemming from the confidence that I see my daughter has I think she is the kind of girl who will grow up to be someone who can take care of herself So this thought has not crossed my mind because she is extremely confident Deep down in my subconscious Irsquove done all of my jobs to keep us safe I had read somewhere that 99 per cent of the things that we worry about in life never come true We suffer far more from imagination than we do in realityWhatrsquos next for youIrsquoll work on a sliceoflife show called Ikhattey that Dice Media and Civic Studios are making