Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah actor Shyam Pathak acted in a Chinese film before the show. Watch

Actor Shyam Pathak featured in a Chinese film before he began playing Popatlal Pandey in the popular sitcom Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah. An old video of his scene from the film, titled Lust, Caution, has resurfaced online.

Directed by Ang Lee, Lust, Caution is an espionage drama set in Shanghai during World War II. It is the story of a young woman who becomes involved in the plan to assassinate a powerful political figure but then becomes emotionally involved with her enemy.

Shyam Pathak shared a video from Lust, Caution on Instagram and wrote, “One of my old Act in the past. #movie #hollywood #act #anupamkher #olddays.” The scene also featured actor Anupam Kher.

“First time popatlal didn’t excited for marriage to see a girl,” one fan wrote, making a reference to Shyam’s character in Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah. He plays Popatlal Pandey, a crime reporter for the local newspaper, Toofan Express, whose endeavours to get married provide comic relief.

“Who knew this man’s is gonna rock after a few years,” another fan commented on the post. “Kya baat h (Wow)...great to see both actors in one frame @anupampkher,” a third said.

Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah has been running on Sony SAB since 2008 and continues to be one of the most popular shows on television even now. Last year, actor Dilip Joshi, who plays Jethalal, admitted on stand-up comedian Sorabh Pant’s podcast that certain episodes were ‘not up to the mark as far as the humour is concerned’.

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Dilip said that the writers of Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah are under pressure to deliver episodes every day, which has had an impact on the quality of writing. “Abhi yeh almost like a factory ho gaya hai (now it has become almost like a factory). Every day the writers have to find new subjects. After all, they are also human beings. I agree that all the episodes cannot be of that level when you are doing a daily show for such a long time. I do feel that certain episodes are not up to the mark as far as the humour is concerned,” he said.