Apara steals the show in Saath Phere

Several roles were offered to Apara Mehta after her exit from Balaji's Kyonki. She plays Nahar Singh's aunt in Saath Phere

For six long years she played Mihir's mother and Tulsi's mother-in-law in Kyonki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi. She was the cause of friction between television's most popular couple. But Savita is dead now and in all probability her death will be a cause of major conflict between Tulsi and Mihir.

However, Apara Mehta who played Savita (and who recently saw her sudden exit from the show with the character's death) has moved on to playing Saloni's bete noir in Zee's Saath Phere. The veteran theatre actor has taken her sudden exit from Kyonki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi as well as from Balaji Telefilms in her stride without any regret and has started shooting for her new assignment. Or so it seems.

Eyebrows have been raised and questions are being asked. Why did Savita's character come to a sudden and unexpected end? Was someone behind the character's exit? After all, there was no indication of Savita's character winding up. On the contrary Ekta had talked about Baa's character ending a few weeks after the soap goes for yet another generational leap that has been delayed till June.

"My role has ended," says Apara who wasn't aware of her exit from the daily well in advance. "I wouldn't like to read too much into it except the fact that my death was very important for the story to move to another level of a major conflict. "Primarily Savita was the cause of conflict between her son and daughter-in-law. Now her death due to mercy killing will trigger a major conflict between Mihir and Tulsi who will eventually leave the house. This is how I have analysed Savita's death and my exit from the serial."

There have also been rumours about friction between Apara and Smriti Irani that lead to their friendship hitting a new low while the serial was gaining TRPs. Apparently Smriti's ambition of making it big on Gujarati stage where Apara has been ruling the roost for 25 years didn't go well with her. It was Apara who convinced Smirti to do theatre a year ago. "I wanted her to do Hindi theatre which needs a lot of support from popular actors to bring it to the level of Marathi and Gujarati theatre. I thought Smriti would bring in the crowds to watch Hindi plays," elaborates the veteran actress.

But after doing a few shows of Kuch Tum Kaho Kuch Hum Kahein Smiriti moved on to Gujarati theatre where the popular television actress got higher ratings. "I wanted Smriti to help Hindi theatre to flourish like the Marathi and Gujarati stage. But she chose to move on to the Gujarati stage," says Apara rubbishing talks of her rivalry with Smriti who is said to have played a role in throwing her out of Kyonki.

"I don't think that's true," denies Apara. "People are reading too much into it because nobody expected my exit. Smriti and I share a cordial bond." Till Apara was doing the Balaji daily there were no offers from other production houses. However, once she left Kyonki, loads of roles were offered to her on a platter for serials and films. "Among several offers I chose to do Saath Phere because it sounded very interesting," says Apara who plays Nahar Singh's aunt who comes to India every year for a holiday.

But this times she has come for a longer stay. "She is funny, grey, likes to have her way every time and wields power. From day one she has had problems with Saloni. But I guess eventually she will stand by Saloni. That will be a surprising twist," says Apara who hopes to be back in the Balaji camp in the future. "If there is a role for me I am sure Ekta will remember me," she hopes.

"I have been doing Gujarati television since 1985. Ek Mahal Sapno Ka was my first daily that I did for five years. But Kyonki was a different experience, very big, larger-than-life. I don't think anything I do in the future will match up to Savita. All through my career I never planned anything. Things just happened to me. I have also never believed in making and breaking images. I only like doing good work. I have come a long way, from the DD days and regional serials to the center-stage of satellite television.

But I don't find today's glamorous shows better than what I did during the old DD days. It's pure business now. There's no commitment to art and creativity. But then I have to move with times, evolve myself but without losing my commitment to art and creativity," she concludes.