The Mishra family is back! Season 4 of Gullak is poised to release on SonyLIV on June 7. The smash-hit series revolves around the Mishra family, exploring the dynamics between parents and children and the impact of their interactions with the people around them.

The upcoming season of Gullak (meaning ‘piggy bank’) will focus on Anand (Vaibhav Raj Gupta) and Aman (Harsh Mayar) as they navigate adulthood and their evolving relationship with their parents. The season promises to deliver a blend of laughter, nostalgia and slice-of-life drama, as it has done over the last three outings.

The principal cast of Gullak returns, led by Jameel Khan who plays Santosh Mishra, the loving and understanding head of the family. The Telegraph chatted with Khan to know more.

Apart from the relatability factor, what do you think it is about Gullak that has made it popular across so many seasons?

I think it is the simplicity and honesty of the show. It is the honesty in the relationships and the honesty with the writing. It is the honesty in the way they have dealt with every little issue, incident and with every little anecdote and the way they have picked up the lives and the characters from the middle-class milieu.

It is very real and truthful, it is honest and genuine and sincere. It has struck a chord with audiences across the board. Relatability is thereby a byproduct of all that.

When you first started working on the show, did you ever imagine it would become so big?

Not at all. I did not think in my wildest of dreams that this would be such a huge success story. No no one can ever predict these things. The people who made Sholay and Mughal-e-Azam, Godfather and all the other cult films — Gullak is also beginning to acquire some kind of a cult status — didn’t know too, I am sure. I thank my stars and count my blessings that Gullak has become such a huge success story.

In what ways does the character of Santosh Mishra resonate with you?

Santosh Mishra and Jameel Khan’s ideologies, to a large extent, are very similar. I am someone who likes to value things. By that, I don’t mean things that have their worth in money. I mean things that God has given us. I believe that there should be conservation of energy, water and all of that. I believe that people should value what they have in life and not waste them. That is something I teach my children.

Santosh Mishra also does that. He lives by the ideology of honesty, sincerity, truth and of not living a life which is false or fake. Nothing synthetic, whatever there is is real. Like a typical middle-class family, you learn to live within your means and that is how I think one should lead one’s life.

One should not live beyond their means. I remember my father telling me that if your life is worth one lakh rupees, don’t show the world that it is worth five lakh rupees. If you do that, you will be worried all your life. If your life is worth one lakh rupees, you need to show it is worth ₹50,000.

By all means strive to become more successful, bigger and make more money, make your relationships more successful. Care more for people, care more for what nature has given you, what the society is giving you. Respect each other, irrespective of who the person is. Every person has a right to respect and love. And that is what I take from Santosh Mishra.

What’s been the best thing anyone has told you about Gullak?

I am yet to meet a person who hasn’t liked Gullak. Also, people identify with Santosh Mishra. They want every father to be like Santosh Mishra. They want to see a Santosh Mishra in their own fathers. In fact, I have had people reaching out to me on social media and asking me to speak to their father or brother and to advise them about certain things that are not going a particular way. They say things like: ‘My parents are not as understanding or helpful as you are’.

That is a big compliment not only for Santosh Mishra but also for Jameel Khan because somewhere down the line, that is what I aspire to be. If people look for their fathers in Santosh Mishra and somewhere find some solace in that, it is a great sense of achievement, fulfilment and happiness for me.

The Mishra family on the show is such a compact unit. All of you are good actors but does interacting and bonding with each other off camera also account for the kind of lived-in chemistry we see on the show?

Absolutely! The off-camera chemistry reflects on what is seen on camera. The camaraderie that we have is phenomenal. There is a lot of give and take, a lot of improvisation and a lot of help also comes through from the director as well as many suggestions from co-actors. It is a very collaborative environment and there is no one-upmanship, there is no attempt to steal the spotlight from someone else. We help each other better our scenes. This kind of camaraderie is very rare to come by and it is phenomenally present in the Gullak team.

Growing up, did you have a gullak aka piggy bank?

Yes, I do have memories of a piggy bank. During Eid, we would get a lot of Eidi when relatives or friends would come home. That money was put into the gullak. I used that money to buy VHS tapes and watch movies. I was in boarding school and didn’t have a gullak there, but at home I did. I have some wonderful memories.

What kind of roles are you keen on playing now and over the next few years?

For one, I would want Gullak to continue as long as I live! Also, I would like to play all kinds of characters — be it romantic, negative, positive, the protagonist.... But I will definitely like to play only primary roles and among those, any kind of role that challenges me, whether it is good, bad or grey, whether it is dark, a psychopath, whether it is a killer or a romantic part, whether it is a simple life of a middle-class man or one who belongs to the elite.

Fortunately, I am quite comfortable with Hindi, English and Urdu, so I have an advantage there. I hail from a privileged family. I have studied in an elite school. But I have also seen middle-class and lower-middle-class life. I have a wide gamut of experiences from all strata of society. I think, over the years, I have picked up enough material and I have enough experience to play different kinds of roles.

I played (former president) APJ Abdul Kalam in my last release (Srikanth). It was a small part, but it was lapped up by the audience. Given the opportunity, I am sure there will be lots of gems that will keep falling out from my repertoire of experiences into my work.

What do you like about Gullak?

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