A. L. Chougule
Posted online: Friday, September08, 2006 at 0000 hours IST
Does karma shape one's life or does every individual chart out the course of his or her own destiny?
Ekta Kapoor's latest show Karam Apna Apna on STAR Plus delves into this very aspect... Actors struggle for days, weeks and months to reach their photographs inside the precincts of the successful soap house called Balaji Telefilms and wait for months for a call. Many are never called for an audition. Others do give auditions but never get roles. But some, like Pallavi Subhash, had never visited Balaji. Two months ago, the actress of Marathi theatre and serials made an entry in Zee's Tumhari Disha and Ekta who was scouting for a new face to play Gauri in her new show Karam Apna Apna (KAA) saw Pallavi in a scene and decided to cast the young girl in the coveted role. Call it destiny or coincidence but Pallavi believes that it was destiny that brought her way the big role in a big show of the biggest production house. At least that's what she says and believes when you meet her on the sets of KAA at Balaji Studio in suburban Mumbai. "I had never visited Balaji to leave my photos and out of a blue I got a call from there asking me to audition for the role. Things just took off from there," says the young, and confident actress admitting that it took her time to digest the fact that she was doing a lead role in a Balaji show. "It's not only a challenge but a big responsibility to live up to everyone's expectations because it is a big show and for the first time in my career I am working in a big set up. Of course my director is helping me a lot." Working in a big set up and with well-known co-actors can easily dent a young actor's confidence. That's probably the reason why she was intimidated by co-star Iqbal Khan's presence on the sets. But Iqbal doesn't think Pallavi felt nervous working with him. "I don't think she was intimidated by my presence. Pallavi is not only a good-looking girl but also a very confident actress. She is also very hard working," says the handsome hunk who plays Shiv in KAA which is a story of a middle class and not-so-ambitious girl from Kolkata who wants to see her family happy. But destiny has something else in store for her. Shashank who works in her father's friend Mahen Kapoor's company as an accountant is her fiance. Mahen too wants Shashank to get married to Gauri. But a twist of fate changes the course of her life. "Shashank is a nice and straight-forward guy, quite unlike Gautam that I have played in Kyunki...," says Sumeet Sachdev who plays Shashank. "Mahen feels I am the ideal guy for Gauri and wants me to marry her. After that something happens which can't be revealed because it will kill the suspense." Iqbal who plays Mahen's youngest son Shiv, a flamboyant, party-hopping and charismatic man with good communication skills also declines to talk about the sudden twist in the story that changes Gauri life completely.
"Shiv knows Gauri since her childhood. After her marriage to Shashank a major twist happens that results in a triangular relationship," says Iqbal who describes Shiv as a mixture of three-piece suit and denim. What's for sure is that KAA is a story of an extra-marital affair, two families and many characters that include Sugna, a socialite and a successful writer famous for writing on scandalous and taboo subjects like sex and other issues, played by Roopa Ganguly, Rana(Rajiv Paul), an adopted child in the Kapoor family, Rana's wife Shibani(Delnaz Paul), Mahen's brother Daksh (Vinay Jain), a philanderer, Daksh's wife Shyala(Jaya Bhattacharya) who is upset with her husband's extra-marital affair, Mahen's sister Maya(Geetanjali Tikekar) who lives in her parents house with her hsband Ayush and many more like Vivan, Prasanjit and Josh.
Maya, according to Geetanjali, is a self-centered, attention seeking and always smiling woman. "She is a typical bitchy nanad. She thinks that like sons, daughters too have equal rights to their parents' house and property. Behind her sweet smile is a smart tongue that's always waiting to let out a barb. When she speaks it is difficult to make out whether she is complimenting or insulting someone," says Geetanjali, better known as Apo*na of Kasautii Zindagi Kay. "Maya is a gray character unlike Apo*na who started as a positive character and turned totally back."After Tulsi, Parvati, Prerna, Kashish and Kumkum, all popular prime time faces of STAR Plus, the channel is all geared up to launch Gauri as its new prime time star. What remains to be seen is whether Gauri reaches that iconic status and moreover, like Mihir, Om, Anurag and Bajaj, whether Shiv and Shashank will also enjoy similar success.
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