Smriti
Irani's 'Mere Apne', the gripping Mega family drama series starts
November 12th at 10 PM, every Monday to Thursday, only on 9X. Here is a
First take on the serial and the characters..
One of the most awaited 9x shows is Smriti Irani's, 'Mera Apne'. This daily has super star, Vinod Khanna
essaying the lead role of Kashinath Pandey. Unlike popular perceptions,
this is not Vinod Khanna's first television venture. Infact, he had
worked in Maharana Pratap some years back . Unfortunately that
project did not take off.
Coming to Kashinath Pandey, this Gurdaspur MP says, "My
character is a very strong and positive man, who cannot tolerate any
deviation from the old Indian way of life. He even wants all his
children to tread the same path as well."
Talking about her character, Smriti says, "Sharda
Pandey is a typical housewife, for who the whole world revolves around
her husband and children. I act as the glue which binds this joint
family together". How did Vinod Khanna figure into the story? "When
I thought of Kashinath Pandey, the only person who came into mind was
Vinod ji. Hence I told the channel and they immediately agreed, and set
the ball in motion."
The show is set in Benaras and some of the initial scenes have been
actually shot in the above holy city. Any talk with Smriti is always
incomplete without mentioning Balaji. So we asked about competition
with Ekta Kapoor, since she is also doing two 9X shows. " I never believe in competing with others. My only aim is to better previous attempts", she said.
Any Indian TV show always has to have a poison spreading vamp. Here there is Kashinath's widowed sister, played by Kishore Shahane
. She and her son in law Shakti(Akhil Ghai) conspire to destroy the
family unity. They also join hands with the main villain,
Bhanupratap Singh (Shahbaaz Khan) who has a old history with
Kashinath. Talking about her looks, Kishore says, "It's of a typical vamp. I will wreck big havoc, just wait and watch", she grinned.
Now we come to the children. The role of Vrinda Pandey, the
mirror image and apple of Kashinath's eye is essayed by Gauri Nigudkar. She says, "Although
Vrinda loves her father, conflict will happen as she will
fall in love with Bhanupratap Singh's son Vikram(Rohit
Bakshi)."
Next in line is US returned doctor Aditya, played by Amit Jain. His
father wants him to set up a hospital in Benaras it self. This
difference of opinion leads to big drama. Amit says that he has met
people who are like Aditya. " Such people have a tremendous burden of just being their father's son.", says the actor.
Sidh Makkar plays Shankar, who according to his father, is good for nothing.
Aaskha Goradia plays Aditya's
love interest Sanya. Although she wears western outfits, Sanya
wishes to be the ideal daughter-in-law of the family. Kashinath and her
jell very well.
Smriti Irani has always given good
content, and Telly Buzz wishes her more success with this project. Mere
Apne, seems to be really gripping, but we hope that the storyline
continues to entice the audience for a long time..
Author: Anil Merani
