Meet Smirti Irani's 'Mere Apne'...

One of the most awaited 9x shows is Smriti Irani's, 'Mera Apne'. This daily has super star, Vinod Khanna essaying the lead role of Kashinath Pandey. Unlike popular perceptions, this is not Vinod Khanna's first television venture. Infact, he had worked in Maharana Pratap some years back . Unfortunately that project did not take off.

Coming to Kashinath Pandey, this Gurdaspur MP says, "My character is a very strong and positive man, who cannot tolerate any deviation from the old Indian way of life. He even wants all his children to tread the same path as well."

Talking about her character, Smriti says, "Sharda Pandey is a typical housewife, for who the whole world revolves around her husband and children. I act as the glue which binds this joint family together". How did Vinod Khanna figure into the story? "When I thought of Kashinath Pandey, the only person who came into mind was Vinod ji. Hence I told the channel and they immediately agreed, and set the ball in motion."

The show is set in Benaras and some of the initial scenes have been actually shot in the above holy city. Any talk with Smriti is always incomplete without mentioning Balaji. So we asked about competition with Ekta Kapoor, since she is also doing two 9X shows. " I never believe in competing with others. My only aim is to better previous attempts", she said.

Any Indian TV show always has to have a poison spreading vamp. Here there is Kashinath's widowed sister, played by Kishore Shahane . She and her son in law Shakti(Akhil Ghai) conspire to destroy the family unity. They also join hands with the main villain, Bhanupratap Singh (Shahbaaz Khan) who has a old history with Kashinath. Talking about her looks, Kishore says, "It's of a typical vamp. I will wreck big havoc, just wait and watch", she grinned.

Now we come to the children. The role of Vrinda Pandey, the mirror image and apple of Kashinath's eye is essayed by Gauri Nigudkar. She says, "Although Vrinda loves her father, conflict will happen as she will fall in love with Bhanupratap Singh's son Vikram(Rohit Bakshi)."

Next in line is US returned doctor Aditya, played by Amit Jain. His father wants him to set up a hospital in Benaras it self. This difference of opinion leads to big drama. Amit says that he has met people who are like Aditya. " Such people have a tremendous burden of just being their father's son.", says the actor.

Sidh Makkar plays Shankar, who according to his father, is good for nothing.

Aaskha Goradia plays Aditya's love interest Sanya. Although she wears western outfits, Sanya wishes to be the ideal daughter-in-law of the family. Kashinath and her jell very well.

Smriti Irani has always given good content, and Telly Buzz wishes her more success with this project. Mere Apne, seems to be really gripping, but we hope that the storyline continues to entice the audience for a long time..

Author: Anil Merani