Hunt is on for a character who will play

Astitva to be revamped

Hunt is on for a character who will play Kamya Punjabi aka Kiran's son

Nishi Malhotra

The makers of Astitva are currently auditioning for a young 'negative' male lead who will enter the show as the son of Kiran (the vamp, Kamya Punjabi). He will presumably add to the problems of lead protagonist Dr. Simran (Niki Aneja) and her troubled daughter Aastha (Yuvika).

The serial writers will apparently try to hook viewers by creating a mystery regarding the parentage of this young man.

Is his father Dr. Simran's husband Abhimanyu (Varun Badola) who was once married to Kiran? Or is it Arun Shourie, the boyfriend Kiran left Abhimanyu for?

On and off the sets, Astitva revolves around the strong personality of Niki Aneja who plays the protagonist Dr. Simran on the show. Often, the contrast between her superhuman and unbelievable strength makes the other characters, both male and female, appear tame and weak in comparison.

The current foil to the 'good' Dr. Simran is 'bad' Kiran. Kamya, who plays Kiran, says that her character had shades of the 'negative' even in its earlier avatar on the show but has off late, since her re-entry, become outright vampish, "Earlier I could at least identify with some aspects of Kiran's character. Now I find that I don't agree with anything she does, like going around sleeping with men for money." Does she enjoy doing the role? "Yes, I do," says Kamya," but I'd love to play some positive roles as well. I play a negative character on Reth also."

What does she feel about the controversies surrounding Niki Aneja and her interfering personality - issues that youngsters on the show like Yuvika and Abbas have a problem with? "Niki is a mother hen on the show to everyone. Whether her advice is solicited or unsolicited, she only tries to do what is right for the show. Her comments should be taken in the right spirit," says Kamya.


* Niki is a mother hen on the show to everyone. Whether her advice is solicited or unsolicited, she only tries to do what is right for the show
—Kamya Punjabi