Man, woman and sister
A new traingle

Nagi Villa. February 5. Excitement is running high. Kaise Kahoon is being premiered this afternoon on Zee TV and everyone is hoping to wrap up work as soon as possible so they can catch the first episode. The camera is trained on Arun Govil and Sudhir Mitto. It’s a dramatic moment in the serial’s life and the two actors are looking appropriately serious and intense. A few feet away, producer Satte Shourie and “star” actor Rahul Roy who is making his debut on the small screen with kaise Kahoon are engaged in an animated discussion. It seems rude to interrupt so we cotton on to the associate producer, Mona Kapoor for a chat.

Mona informs us that kaise Kahoon was born six months ago when writer Nawab Arzoo came to her with an interesting story. It starts off with a man leaving for work. When he returns home in the evening he is drawn into a family quarrel with the wife, sisters and his children all offering their versions of what had happened in his absence. She was instantly hooked by the concept because though new to television it was so real. “Jhagde to har ghar mein hote hain. I thought it was interesting to see the situation from the man’s point of view. A man who was not on the scene when the quarrel happened. A man who gets cornerned and then has to make judgements based on what he hears from different family members, making sure that he doesn’t hurt anyone in the process. It was a tricky situation and it aroused my curiosity immediately. I decided I had to make this serial,” she recalls.

Ninety per cent of the women in the country will identify with my role because they go through similar problems and sufferings

She immediately went to her mother, Sattee Shourie with the idea. Sattee was just as intrigued. And together mother and daughter decided to produce it.
Mona had just one moment of apprehension and uncertainly. Henna was the only serial at the time that revolved around a Muslim family. Would the viewers be able to identify and empathise with another Muslim family, she wondered. But then, on reflection, she realised that the story had substance and a novel approach, and decided to take the plunge.

Kaise Kahoon comes on air at 3.30 p.m. and is tragetting women and senior citizens. “Men prefer news and game shows while children like cartoons. So we’re left with just women and we’re not complaining,” Mona smiles. “Yug which was telecast on DD on the same time slot got amazing TRPs of 10 and 11 which was unheard of in those days. That’s the time women are relatively free from their household chores. And if the men want to watch it too they can always tune into the repeat telecast at 11 p.m.,” she invites. “They have their share of tensions and traumas too where families are concerned. So I’m sure they would be relate to the serial too.”

Sattee Shourie who’s finished her discussion with Rahul, joins in to point out that the man of the house has an important role to play in covering up for everyone’s mistakes and keeping the family together. It’s no different with Zaheer who is eternally grateful to his sister who’s brought him and his brother up after their parent’s demise. How can he quarrel with such a sister, he tries to explain to his wife who can understand his point of view, but at the same time can no longer take the kind of ill-treatment and humiliation being dished out to her by his apa. “It’s an intricate web of relationships,” Sattee sighs completely sympathetic to the plight of her heroine and relieved that she never had to face such a situation in real life. “My mother-in-law used to worship me and my two sisters-in-law thought I was a goddess. But not everyone is so fortunate,” she admits.

I’m glad I’m making my debut with such a serial and to my surprise I’m enjoying working on television

Sattee is very confident the serial will find a lot of takers not just amongst women who’ll find it easy to identify and empathise with the women but the men too who, she says, will wonder how they would react to a similar situation in their lives. “Normally people make love triangles. I’m also making a triangle but this one involves a sister, brother and his wife,” Sattee smiles.

The film is being directed by a famiy friend, Javed Siddiqui, the director of Henna and Rehnuma who fell in love with the story.

Another family friend, Arun Govil is playing the older brother, Zaheer who looks like he’s bearing all the brunt of this family war.

Rahul Roy is Feroze, Zaheer’s younger brother, who returns from abroad after completing his studies. He loves and respects his sisters but doesn’t always agree with them. He can see that things in the house are turning unpleasant but can’t do anything about the situation till his elder brother brings up the subject. According to Mona, he looks like an achcha bachcha who would love his sister and his bhabhi too. “I signed him six months ago and he’s been a dream to work with. He’s so much a part of our family now that he even treats my mother like his own,” says Mona looking affectionately towards her star actor.

Jayanti Bhatia is Feroze’s bhabhi and Zaheer’s wife. “I liked her in Kanyadaan. She’s very talented and her Urdu diction is perfect. She’s someone who can make you cry easily with her,” Mona maintains.

Sudha Chandran has been cast as the sister. She’s loud with negative streaks to her career. “Only Sudha could have done justice to the role. I just love her,” Mona raves.

There are two other sisters. The docile one is Phalguni Parekh while the “happening” one is Sadiya Siddique. Mona describes her as a “phataka and hopes that that serial will keep viewers entranced for the next year and a half. “In fact, I’m hoping for an extension,” says Mona with optimistic self-confidence.

Just then lunch is announced and Rahul Roy is ready to share some tidbits with us. “I signed the serial only for Satteeji, she was so persistant,” he laughs. Rahul admits that he’s rushed on the sets but treated like a star. And that obviously makes him happy. So does the script. “What is good about Kaise Kahoon is the way relationships within and between families are dealt with and interwoven. I also like the way each character is etched out. More importantly, the situations in the serial are so real that people can relate to them easily.

I love emotional dramas. Kaise Kahoon will definitely work because it has all the ingredients

We’ve tackled sensitive issues taking care not to hurt anyone’s sentiments. I’m glad I’m making my debut with such a serial and to my surprise I’m enjoying working on television.”

Another actor who has a significant role in the serial is Sudhir Mittoo. He’s Zaheer’s best buddy, Sudhir. And Sudhir is enjoying playing his namesake. “It’s a major role,” he says happily. “The production house is good and so is the director and the rest of the cast. No one is compromising on quality.”

Just then director Javed Siddiqui walks in looking dashing in a blue shirt. He’s ribbed mercilessly by his unit. “Yeah, I’m getting hep too,” he blushes and insists that Kaise Kahoon is a very different serial from Hennadespite its Muslim ethos and family orientation. “This is a joint family,” he points out. “And is about how families can help each other in times of crisis irrespective of cast or creed.”

It’s time for a photo shoot. But where’s Sudha Chandran? She’s still upstairs doing her make-up. It is a good 15 minutes before Sudha makes her appearance. Shoot over she returns to her make-up film. We follow and get her to talk about Tahira who having grown up in poverty is unaccustomed to her bothers’ new found wealth. She starts wearing tons of jewellery, walks around with a purse and a paan ka dabba and makes her presence felt, instigating one family member against the other. When Zaheer instructs everyone that her word is law she uses the power she has been given to further her own self-interest, her main traget being Nasreen, Zaheer’s wife. “I have never played such a character before. It was a challenge and I trusted Satteeji because the role of Sakina that she had given me in her earlier serial Yug was one of my best roles. I had no idea what the character was all about till I got the first scene. It’s only then that I realised that the role had negative shades to it. It’s like the character Ketki Dave plays in the popular soap, Kyonki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi and I think it’s shaping up really well,” Sudha smiles turning back to the mirror.

Tahira’s victim Nasreen is a challenge for Jayati Bhatia too. She is a woman who has everything—a beautiful house, a good husband, money, status, a lovely child and a life that would be blissful without her sister-in-law. Tahira is a terror but Nasreen keeps wondering how she can complain against her own people and so the title Kaise Kahoon. “Ninety per cent of the women in the country will identify with her because they go through similar problems and sufferings. I’m thrilled to be working with people I’ve grown up watching in films and TV. It’s a great honour,” says Jayanti softly.

“I’m hungry. Get me some food,” says Arun Govil. His lunch is brought to him and digging into his food he talks about Zaheer, a man who wants every family member to be happy and suffers while trying to resolve all their problems. “I love emotional dramas. I know they’re my forte,” he says with quiet confidence. “We have many such dramas on air today and I think it’s healthy competition. Kaise Kahoon will definitely work because it has all the ingredients.”

Lunch is over. It’s time for the artistes to get back to work and for me to return to Mona. She has her hands full with many other projects being made under her banner Future Comunications. Astitva based on a husband-wife relationship, will go on the air from August on STAR. In queue is also Kab Aayega Mera Number, a whacky comedy, Vidhaata and Badi Didi with the national Award winning actress, Kiron Kher in the lead. All these serials will soon be shot in her five-storeyed studio in Goregaon. “It has all the amenities like lights, camera and sound systems. You can just walk into it and start shooting. It’s called Future Studios after my banner. And is most definitely my future,” Mona asserts.

Namita Nivas

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