’Veeranwali was bold and modern’

http://in.news.yahoo.com/060214/32/62ifa.html

Wednesday February 15, 02:52 AM

It's not often that a female character other than the heroine in a drama series stays on in public imagination. Kiran Joneja as Veeranwali, the spirited sister of Haveli Ram and best friend of Lajoji perhaps is the third most memorable and important character from the Ramesh Sippy directed epic TV series Buniyaad, which recently made a comeback on Sahara One.

Her character stands out for its non-linear growth and interesting life journey compared to the serial's lead characters, starting as a young and spirited girl in Lahore in the pre-Partition days who convinces her brother to remarry a widowed Lajoji, has a love affair with royalty, courts unwed motherhood and eventually becomes a sanyasin. While Veeranwali established Joneja as an accomplished actress, personally too she got close to her director during the shooting of the serial and they eventually married in1990, four years after the serial's launch in 1986.

Kiran Joneja: "Veeranwali was a bold and modern character and still remains very close to my heart. The character goes through a range of emotions and events, starting as a young and bubbly girl with modern views in the pre-Partition era to becoming a sadhvi in the end. I was signed in as a replacement since Rameshji wasn't happy with the performance of the original Veeranwali. It just happened by chance, perhaps my earlier work in the serial Wah Janaab convinced him about my acting abilities. We used to work seven-eight hours a day. Even today with the re-runs on Sahara One I am receiving compliments from an altogether different generation.