After a five-year hiatus, veteran actor Varun Badola is returning to television in Sony SAB’s ‘Itti Si Khushi,’ playing a deeply flawed and complex father who is far from a typical antagonist.
Key Points:
- The Comeback Kid: Acclaimed actor Varun Badola is ending a five-year television hiatus, making a highly anticipated return to the small screen.
- The Role: He will star as Suhas Diwekar, a deeply complex and flawed father, in the new Sony SAB show, ‘Itti Si Khushi’.
- Beyond Good and Evil: Badola describes the character not as a villain, but as a man whose failures have profoundly damaged his children, forcing the actor to strike a ‘delicate balance’ between frustrating and heartbreaking the audience.
- The Unanswered Question: The show shares its title with a 2014 series, sparking intense speculation about whether this is a remake, a sequel, or an entirely new story.
The End of a Five-Year Exile: Why Varun Badola is Finally Coming Home to Television
In the notoriously fast-paced world of Indian television, five years is an eternity. It’s long enough for stars to be made, for trends to die, and for audiences to forget. But some actors are impossible to forget. Varun Badola is one of them. After a deliberate and conspicuous five-year absence from the daily grind of television, the veteran actor is making a seismic return, and he’s not coming back for a run-of-the-mill role. Badola is set to headline Sony SAB’s new prime-time drama, ‘Itti Si Khushi,’ stepping into the shoes of a character so emotionally intricate it demanded he end his hiatus. This isn’t just another job; it’s a calculated return to the medium that made him a household name. An actor of Badola’s caliber, known for his nuanced performances and intelligent script choices, doesn’t re-enter the arena lightly. His return signals that ‘Itti Si Khushi’ offers something rare in today’s television landscape: a character with depth, flaws, and the potential to challenge the very definition of a family patriarch on screen.
Deconstructing Suhas Diwekar: ‘One Moment He Frustrates You, the Next He Breaks Your Heart’
Forget the archetypal loving father or the mustache-twirling villain. The character of Suhas Diwekar is designed to live in the uncomfortable, complicated grey area in between. This is the challenge that lured Badola back. He’s not playing an antagonist in the traditional sense, but something far more potent and realistic: a father whose personal failures have become the defining tragedy of his children’s lives. In his own words, Badola peels back the layers of this fascinating character. ‘It’s a delicate balance to portray someone who isn’t a typical antagonist, but whose failures have had a deep impact on his children,’ he revealed in a statement that has electrified fans. ‘It’s a very layered character; one moment, he frustrates you, the next, he breaks your heart.’ This single quote is a mission statement. It promises a performance that will force viewers to confront their own definitions of love, responsibility, and damage. The narrative will revolve around his relationship with his daughter, Anvita, who bears the brunt of his emotional neglect. Badola’s task is to make the audience understand Suhas, perhaps even empathize with him, without ever excusing the pain he has caused. It’s a tightrope walk of performance, a deep dive into the psychology of a broken man who breaks others, and it’s precisely the kind of complex, mature storytelling that has been Badola’s signature throughout his career.
The ‘Itti Si Khushi’ Mystery: A Ghost of 2014 Haunts the New Series
Adding another layer of intrigue to Badola’s comeback is the show’s title itself. A quick search through television archives, specifically on IMDb, reveals that a show named ‘Itti Si Khushi’ already aired back in 2014. This has sent the industry and fan forums into a frenzy of speculation. Is the new 2025 series a direct remake of the decade-old show? Is it a sequel, picking up years later? Or are the creators simply reusing a title they believe in, with a completely original story? The silence from Sony SAB and the production house is deafening. They have offered no clarification, allowing the mystery to build. This ambiguity could be a clever marketing ploy, generating buzz and discussion long before a trailer even drops. It also puts the new show in a unique position. It must both honor the memory of the original for those who remember it and establish its own unique identity. For Badola, it means his performance will be judged not just on its own merits, but potentially against the backdrop of a pre-existing narrative, adding yet another layer of pressure to his much-hyped return.
A Bet on Nuance: Can Badola’s Complex Father Reshape TV Tropes?
Varun Badola’s return is more than just a casting coup for Sony SAB; it’s a powerful statement about the direction of mainstream television. In a landscape often dominated by simplistic, black-and-white characters, his choice to embody a morally complex figure like Suhas Diwekar is a bold bet on the audience’s intelligence. It’s a wager that viewers are ready to move beyond one-dimensional heroes and villains and embrace characters that reflect the messy reality of human relationships. This role has the potential to be a disruptor, challenging the long-standing tropes of the infallible patriarch or the purely evil schemer. Badola is not just an actor; he is a craftsman, and by taking on Suhas Diwekar, he is signaling a desire to craft a new kind of narrative. His comeback is poised to deliver not just a compelling drama, but a masterclass in character study, reminding an entire industry that the most powerful stories are often found not in grand gestures of heroism, but in the quiet, heartbreaking failures of an ordinary man.