He was the maverick detective who lived on raw carrots and had a dumb secretary, Kitty, who cooed, "Sir, you are a genius", every time he spotted a wrong clue. These were his trademarks, the little things that made Karamchand a household name. Now, after hibernating for 11 years, Karamchand has grown up to become Mohandas B.A.L.L.B.(Zee TV starting Monday, 5th)."No, it is not Karamchand Part II. The yarn of our thriller is different. The way the two series are made - everything is different,'' says director-producer, Pankaj Kapur, sounding a trifle like himself in the Maggi Tomato sauce TV commercial. ``Our desire was that Mohandas. shouldn't be anything like what was made earlier." Kapur in a clipped, nasal voice introduces the Detection Squad (DSQ) of Mohandas B.A.L.L.B. It consists of a team of five experts who march around in double-breasted suits under the leadership of Mohandas (Pankaj Kapur). The five officers are played by Smita Kalpuriksh, Sukhwinder Chahal, Ashutosh Rana, Amit Behl and Geeta Nair. They specialise in different fields, like psychology, forensic science, handwriting and explosives. Mohandas is in his late-forties and opts to be a detective because of his emotional reactions to crimes perpetrated around him. And he studies law so that the criminals don't get away with their foul deeds due to a lack of proof. Mohandas is firm and unrelenting at work and completely naughty at home. His domestic life revolves around his wife Mohini (Supriya Pathak) who treats him like a child. "It is not a deliberate attempt at comedy. But it makes him more life-like and humane. For instance, Mohini doesn't allow him to eat sweets as he is diabetic, so he steals them," explains Pathak, who is also the executive producer and of course Kapur's wife.Mohandas is constantly trying to get away from work and manages to run off to the hills for holidays. Where, invariably, he is once again caught up in some case or the other. Written and conceptualised by Kapur, the character of Mohandas ends up getting a touch of the real Kapur. "This craze of going to the hills and mountains is something that Pankaj really likes to do. But then these sort of holidays are so expensive, we cannot afford them very often," says Supriya. "Though the characters are fictional, somewhere they have to ring true. So there is a conscious effort to make the characters look like real people - in terms of performance and relationships," reveals Kapur. Thus Mohandas is a lawyer because, technically, the audience loves oratory - and there are lots of courtroom scenes. One other reason for the court scenes, is financial: "I had to compensate, somewhere, for Mohandas' outdoor trysts. How can a detective earn so much as to run off on holidays, every three episodes?" When the team is not solving mysteries, the serial digresses to sub-plots revolving around the lives of the squad officers. Here comes the social angle to the story: all the DSQ members are children of criminals who have decided to expose the baddies.In his own words:How was your company, Grace Films, formed?"Initially, there was a desire to direct, so I started working on scripts. Since both Supriya and I were actors, the only way we could spend more time with each other was by working together. And home production was the obvious solution."What is it like being a producer?"I hate it. I will never become a producer again. It was only for the creative independence, that I chose to be a producer. Initially, we got into this with the sole purpose of making a serial, saving money and then making a film. But it just doesn't work that way. All the same, I am happy with the way it has turned out."Is Mohandas.. a revival of Karamchand?"The only resemblance is that Mohandas was Karamchand's father. And Karamchand inspired me to this name," (he laughs).Are you doing only Colgate Top Ten besides Mohandas..?"I would have ideally preferred not to act in Mohandas at all. It is very difficult to manage both the acting and directorial aspect. When you act, you need someone to look at you."I gave up all my acting assignments for directing. But the series got stuck and I suddenly realised I was out of work. Rumours had spread that I had quit acting. Now I hope people will know I am still into it."
