TV stars in Sabse Badi Hera Pheri

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sheetal

@sheetald

Rocker

Posted: 19 years ago

Rushali and Muni Jhaah in his new theatre production, Sabse Badi Hera Pheri

Telly actor Muni Jhaah (that's his numerologically correct spelling) essayed the character of J D in Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, and will next be seen in Balaji's new offering, Kya Hoga Nimmo Ka, as Nimmo's father, Anand Mathuria.

New comedy

Jhaah, a well-known name on the Gujarati circuit, is also a theatre actor-producer. He opens his latest venture, Sabse Badi Hera Pheri, this weekend. This Hindi comedy is co-produced by Jhaah, along with Rushali (Maya of Sonpari; Aarti of Kyunki).

"I now know what it takes to be a producer. I am tearing my hair out in agony. But at the end, there is immense satisfaction," says first-time producer Rushali. The drama opens at Ravindra Natyamandir, Prabhadevi, this Sunday.

Magic reality

Jhaah describes the play as "magic with logic". The plot revolves around a Canada-based NRI girl, who is sent packing to India to get some sense knocked into her head. Adds Rushali, "I play the character of Sapna. She is thoroughly spoilt, wild, and lives life in the fast lane. In desperation, her father tells her to spend time in India.

However, once she arrives, some impostors turn up as her grooming teachers. There is another twist when she declares her real reason of being wild — an opportunity to arrive in Mumbai to find her long-lost mother."

The play is written and directed by Harin Thakar. The cast includes Jhaah and Rushali, along with Sharad Vyas (who is seen in comedy shows like Yes Boss), Sanchi Peswani, Narhari Jani, Kukul Tarmaster, Sanjivni and Hitesh Parekh.

Sequel trouble

It may be recalled that Jhaah had originally planned Sabse Badi Hera Pheri as a sequel to his earlier play, Sabse Bada Rupaiyyah, which was also written-directed by Thakar. This play was the love story of a widower and a pop singer fit to be his granddaughter.

He opened the play in June 2004, with his Kyunki co-stars, including Rushali, Ritu Chaudhary, Jiten Lalwani, Jaya Bhattacharya, Jitendra Trehan, Khyaati Keswani and Sudhir Dalvi. Jhaah announced the sequel, with Imitaz Patel as writer.

But Patel got busy writing-directing the Gujarati play, Maniben.com, starring Smriti 'Tulsi' Iraani. For the sequel, except for Rushali, the rest of the cast could not be together on stage due to other commitments. As a result, Jhaah decided to stage it as a new production, with a fresh set of actors.

Jhaah's next

Though Muni Jhaah is better known as an actor on the Gujarati floorboards (Best of Luck, Chaal Reverse Ma Jaiyye), he is in the process of preparing a script, which he will produce and direct. It will star him, along with his actress wife, Sejal Shah, another regular in Gujarati theatre.