NotSeEn Yani ShAstRi...ArTicLe.

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Posted: 18 years ago

'Notseen'yani Shastri
By: Shaheen Parkar
February 16, 2007

Narayani Shastri

When Narayani Shastri stepped onto the floorboards with Mad About Money, it was a homecoming of sorts for the actress. Before television came her way, Narayani had dabbled in theatre. But this homecoming has not exactly been a warm one.

For the past several weeks, Narayani has been missing from Ashvin Gidwani's English play directed by Mahesh Dattani (Morning Raga, Mango Souffl). Suchitra Pillai, who features in the Hindi version of the play titled Arre! Mad About Money, has been playing Narayani's role of a shrewd marketing executive called Kiran.

The cast of Mad About Money includes telly names like Jayati Bhatia, Smita Bansal, Amar Talwar and Gaurav Sharma.

Busy bee

It is learnt that Narayani was not keen to be part of the project after a few shows. She claimed she was extremely busy and hence could not perform or tour with the troupe. Which makes us wonder what exactly is it that's been keeping the actress busy, since she isn't part of any TV show that's currently on air.

Says our source, "There are rules and regulations in theatre, besides timings to be followed; you cannot be on your own trip. No cast member gets any special preference. Everyone is on the same level and Narayani just could not find herself doing this."

When asked about the change in cast, producer Gidwani says, "Narayani said she had prior commitments so could not give time to Mad About Money. As a result, we had to replace her with Suchitra."

Narayani's version

After the end of her Zee show Piya Ka Ghar over a year ago, Narayani was briefly seen in reality shows like Fear Factor and Paisa Bhari Ho Gaya, besides CID. She now features in the weekly Doordarshan show, Sanskar.
Presently, Narayani is shooting for a cameo role in Aahat. She says, "It was a mutual decision to opt out of Mad About Money. There were too many last-minute cancellations of shows, as a result of which, I could not devote time to other things.

Moreover, out-of-town performances are very time- consuming. I did not want the rest of the team to suffer because of me."

When Mad About Money opened in February last year, Narayani appeared excited about doing theatre again. She claimed she had done plays with celebrated names like Ebrahim Alkazi and Habib Tanvir, and was aware of how exacting theatre's demands are. However, she is now singing a different tune.

Says Narayani, "When you are not comfortable doing something, it is better to opt out. Moreover, theatre does not pay so well, so cancellations mean losses for me. But this does not mean I will never do theatre again. It was I who told the producer to take on someone else."

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NotSeEn Yani ShAstRi...ArTicLe.

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