His portrayal of a helpless man caught between two women in Jeete Hain Jiske Liye had struck a chord but that did not stop Ayub Khan from doing a disappearing act from the small screen after the Sony serial wound up suddenly. The nephew of Dilip Kumar is now back on the small screen with Zee TV’s afternoon series Rakhi. A chat…

On his role in Rakhi:

I play Bhai Raja, the head of the family. I have a younger brother and sister and since we are orphans, I am both an elder brother as well as a father figure to my siblings. I have brought them up with a lot of love and affection and I am often accused of being partial to my sister over my brother — something which leads to a lot of conflict later on. My character is conservative, but not negative by any means. It is an interesting role.

On what made him take up the role:

Rakhi is one of the rare serials on Indian television which is not centred around a female protagonist. That is the main reason why I took up the role, because such serials are few and far between. Here, every character has a well-etched role and the script is given importance above everything else. Secondly, as I mentioned earlier, my role is an interesting one, with a lot of shades. It is in stark contrast to what I did in Jeete Hain Jiske Liye. In fact, the role of Bhai Raja has a lot of similarities to the characters I essayed in Mrityudand (opposite Madhuri Dixit) and the television series Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam.

On Rakhi being screened in the afternoon slot:

Rakhi is being shown at 1.30pm on weekdays and I have been given to understand that this is the time when housewives finish their lunch and household chores and sit to watch television. If that’s the case then I am quite comfortable with the time slot allotted by the channel.

On not taking up any other television assignment:

Shooting for a daily serial doesn’t leave me with the time to take up any other project. Rakhi started airing from August 27 and I am planning to concentrate on just one serial at present and gauge the audience’s response to it.

On his big-screen projects:

I have just completed work on a film called Daughter which deals with the issue of adoption. My co-stars are Vikram Gokhale and Reema Lagoo while Padmini Kolhapure plays my wife. The film is scheduled for a November release.