Dilip Joshi: “I Used To Get ₹50 Per Role” Reminisces His Initial Career Days

Dilip Joshi is popular for his role of Jethalal from the show ‘Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah’. This character of a Gujarati businessman has acquired a large fan base.

Dilip Joshi

Dilip Joshi started his acting career way back in the year 1989. Recently in an interview, he revealed how the initial career days in Gujarati theatre weren’t a smooth ride for him. He said, “I started as a backstage artist on the commercial stage. No one used to give me roles. I used to get Rs 50 per role. But the passion to keep doing theatre was there. I didn’t care if it was a backstage role. The big role would come in the future but I just wanted to stick to the theatre.”

Dilip Joshi

Dilip Joshi says, “I worked in Gujarati theater for 25 years. My last play was ‘Daya Bhai’, which was completed in 2007.”

Dilip Joshi reminisces about his excitement for theatre, calling the experience like no other. He further added, “The live reaction of the audience is priceless. 800 or 1000 people clapping on laughing at your jokes at a time is priceless.”

He also told why he isn’t continued with theatre. He said, “For more than 25 years, I was continuously doing Gujarati theatre. In 2008, Taarak Mehta started and we shoot for 12 hours daily including Sundays. For theatre, you need a different kind of discipline. You have shows on weekends as well as weekdays. So it becomes difficult to manage both theatre and TV. I miss theatre very much”.