Playing doctor
Niki Aneja on new actors and her soaring popularity as Dr Simran
Swati Anand
Ludhiana, October 14: A cloudy day on an outdoor shoot is one of the worst things that can happen, as Niki Aneja will tell you. ''I've been sitting inside my room all day with my makeup on,'' she says gloomily. She's draped in a pink chiffon sari—the kind that Yash Chopra would surely approve of. The pancake's in place, down to the lipstick. At Goregaon's Film City, Astitva: Ek Prem Kahani is readying for the completion of its third year. The sun peers out and Aneja's toggling between being herself for us and Dr Simran for the camera.
As she runs back an forth between shots, it is obvious that interaction between her and her co-star, Yuvika Chaudhry, is non-existent. Aneja was recently in the news for spats with her co-actors. Young actors have called her temperamental and overbearing on the sets. Aneja reasons it out—''It's true that Varun (Badola) and I have yelled at these kids, but we were only helping them learn. I've lent my expensive make up to them at times, sat with them on their lines and this is what I get. This new generation is an undedicated lot." Her grudges with new actors range from late arrivals on the set to not being able to remember lines. After Aneja made her resentment obvious, Chaudhry will be out of the serial soon. But Zee has granted Astitva...an extension.
Rumours of Aneja's problems with co-star Badola are also doing the rounds, but she is quick to rubbish them. ''Varun and I know each other socially—he's married to my friend Rajeshwari Sachdev—and we have high regard for each other's talent. We were waiting for a show together. Why would we have problems?'' Aneja says, her steely face softening. She misses Alok Nath, her on-screen daddy, who's absent from the sets today—''My first shot was with him for in Mr Azaad in 1993. We share an amazing rapport.''
The seasoned TV star can vividly recollect her first day on the sets. ''It was September 17 and I had come down from London at Ajaiji's (Sinha) insistence. Thanks to all the readings, I was so prepared, that every shot got okayed on the first take. Strangely, that made me nervous,'' she recalls.
But if the novelty of a younger man-older woman romance caught the initial eyeballs, the restrained performances and the real storylines kept the audiences glued. The high point in the serial, according to Aneja, was when her character, Dr Simran, lost her baby in London. ''Until then, it was the time she confronts Abhimanyu about his infidelity.''
The popularity of Dr Simran has its crests and troughs. Aneja has inaugurated countless hospitals in India and USA and has had people walking up to her complaining of ailments. But being a Page 3 regular is not something everyone's willing to accept. ''Everytime someone catches me with a mug of beer, I get such disapproving looks,'' she laughs. ''But I can miss my sleep, not my parties.''
As Aneja changes into her track pants, she tells us that she hasn't signed up for another show yet. Looks like Dr Simran will be getting her audiences in for some time to come.
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