| | | | Apo*na (Gitanjali Tikekar, left) comes back to haunt husband Anurag (Cezanne Khan) | Ekta Kapoor has pulled off a casting coup — she's brought back Anurag's (Cezanne Khan) wife Apo*na Basu (Gitanjali Tikekar), from the dead, to take her revenge on him and Prerna (Shweta Tiwari) in Kasautii Zindagi Kay (Star Plus).
"Yes, we are bringing Gitanjali back in about five to six weeks. We had left a loophole in her death; we showed her disappearing in a car accident, but now we will show that she escapes and comes back to haunt Prerna and Anurag. Apo*na is a scary, psycho kind of character," says Ekta.
Gitanjali confirms that she has been contacted by Balaji to return as Apo*na, and that she has accepted. "Apo*na made me what I am today; I can never forget that." Off-screen soap opera
Says a Balaji source, "There were a lot of ego issues earlier, when Gitanjali had been acting in the soap. She and Cezanne were going around, and to upset Shweta (she had been friendly with Cezanne earlier), they would openly coochie-coo on the sets. And during meetings, they would only stare into each other's eyes… it was becoming very irritating.
"Then Shweta told Gitanjali that Cezanne was two-timing her with Urvashi (Komolika in Kasautii), and one day, Gitanjali caught him red-handed. They had a showdown and Gitanjali and Cezanne split up.
After that, Gitanjali and Shweta became best friends! They partied together in Pune on New Year's eve last year, while Cezanne and Urvashi were in Bangkok. Anurag and Urvashi are still more than just good friends; she calls him Bubu and gets food for him from home."
Says Gitanjali, "The rivalry between Shweta and me was blown out of proportion. Maybe because my character became so big, people thought Shweta and I were competing and said she was insecure.
But it was nothing like that. We share a very cordial relationship today. In fact, her daughter and I are very close."
As far as her relationship with Cezanne is concerned, she says, "It could have happened, but I have moved on since then. For me, he is just a co-star today." upala@mid-day.com |
| Is Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki going off air? "No way!" says Ekta. "As far as TRPs are concerned, Kyunki is 15, Kahaani is 13, Kasautii Zindagi Kay is 12 and Kahiin To Hoga is 10. Why would I be mad enough to pull out my No 2 soap?
People feel that with Om's (Kiran Karmarkar) death, the serial might lose popularity. I am touched by their concern, but the serial's not going off air for at least a couple of years. Let us not forget that the protagonist is Parvati Agarwal.
"When Om dies, for good, the serial will go into its second phase without a time transition. The whole show will take a 360 degree turn, with a fresh beginning for Parvati. In our society, when the spouse dies, the woman's life takes a complete turnaround.
There can't be a bigger drama for Parvati — people's perception, her personal life, social responsibilities — everything changes for Parvati. From a married woman, she becomes a widow wearing a white sari."
What about Amarr Upadhyay — will he play Mihir's (Ronit Roy) grandson, Mayank in Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi? "Definitely not. Nobody like Mayank exists. I can't speak of tomorrow, but as of now, there is nothing like that planned for Amarr." | |
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