Juhi uncle making a movie without her

Karnad's Hayavadan

Says Parmar, who is TV actress Juhi Parmar's (Kumkum on Star Plus) uncle, "Draupadi is a modern story, based on the journey of a woman's life from Shimla to Delhi, from a young age to her 30s.

There is a reference to Draupadi and also to Girish Karnad's play Hayavadan, where a woman loves two men — one is handsome and the other intelligent, but she wants both qualities in one man.

So she wants to cut off the head of one and put it on the other's body. The mythical Draupadi didn't have a choice when she was forced to take all five Pandavas as husbands — their mother told them to share what they had. But she found each brother to have unique qualities — she didn't find all qualities in a single man."

Why Pak actress?

Why has a Pakistani actress been cast for the role of an Indian mythological character? "Meera suited our commercial demands; she is saleable and has the right kind of body language to play this role," says the director.

Commercial viability

Why didn't Parmar, who had directed 100 episodes of Tara, choose niece Juhi for the title role? "We have to take commercial viability into account. Juhi may be well known on TV, but in distribution circles, that has zero value.

Audiences will not spend Rs 150 to go and see her — she doesn't have commercial viability.

A big director like Sanjay Leela Bhansali or Subhash Ghai or Vidhu Vinod Chopra can make a star out of a TV artiste, but I am not famous yet. Chopra has made a star out of Vidya Balan, who started out as a TV artiste in Vinta Nanda's Caf 18. Nobody will come to watch my film."

Draupadi will be shot in a start-to-finish schedule from November to January 2006.