Hum Paanch's 'Radhika' goes on to KBC 2

Hum Paanch's 'Radhika' goes on to KBC 2

Sujata Sangamitra, who once played the lead role on the Zee show, works behind the camera now, on Star

Sapana Patil

She convincingly essayed the role of the partially deaf daughter, Radhika, of the Mathur family. Not many may remember, but she played this role for two whole years (1999-2000) after she replaced Vidya Balan, who earlier played the same character. After few more acting assignments the lady disappeared from the limelight for a while, until we traced Sujata Sangamitra behind the camera on the sets of KBC 2, now as the show's executive producer.

With Hum Paanch making a comeback, do old memories come back to mind? She laughs, "We had such a blast on the sets. I remember we used to eat a lot, and sleep on the sets. We girls used to chat, chat and chat. But we also did a lot of hard work. We finished shooting one episode in a single day."

Sujata began her career by directing TV shows. "I was into directing shows for TV 18 and also for Siddharth Basu's production house," she says. Besides directing, she has also acted in serials like Itihaas, Hum Paanch, Kanyadaan, Ghar Ek Mandir, X Zone, Nazdikiyaan, before she took on the production of non-fiction shows.

"The last time I acted was in Kutumb, as Hiten Tejwani's second wife, and then in Krishna Arjun," she continues. "After I took a break from acting, I got an opportunity to work with Siddharth Basu once again. I worked with him on the last schedule of the first season of KBC. Then I got into the production of Kamzor Kadi Kaun and I was also the creative head of Sanjeevani." Incidentally, she has also shouldered the responsibility as the executive producer of the Star One show Bluff Master. And not many know that she has also anchored a live news-based show called City 60 on Star News.

So will she miss seeing herself as part of the Hum Paanch gang? "That was a different phase. I have grown up now." Having said that, she says, "My passion for acting has not been stemmed by production. I do miss acting. I miss the camera being focused on me. I still love to act and I shall to return to it sometime. Nothing really challenging has come to me lately. In fact, I would like to do dailies – they would give me a greater chance to perform something that would revolve around me. Now I am also open to the idea of acting in films – something I have never done before."

"But the best way for me would be if I could balance both, acting and production. I have enjoyed every moment of production. There are so many small things that go into the making of a big show. I feel really nice at being able to handle all the things. It keeps my brain ticking. It keeps me on my toes. Amitji speaks to me very often and we discuss things. It feels very nice. It has given me a lot of exposure and earned me a lot of respect," she continues. Incidentally, Priyanka Mehra, who essayed the role of the youngest daughter, Choti, in the first season, also followed in Sujata's footsteps. She has given up acting for the moment and has joined her father in producing serials for TV.