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Soap hero dies, a star is born
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RAJEEV
MASAND
If the
death of Mihir Virani on Kyonki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu This has
shocked viewers all over, then the 27-year-old lad who plays
the character is equally surprised by the reactions to his
character's exit from the serial. Amar Upadhyay -- television
actor who has featured on such shows as Dekh Bhai Dekh in
the past, and who made his feature film debut in the Satish
Shah-produced comedy Dhoondte Reh Jaoge -- says he is baffled
by the extreme reactions. ``I would never have guessed that
people would get so attached to the character,'' he confesses.
A conversation
with the young actor...
According
to the grapevine, your character was killed off because you
opted out of the show as you're getting ready for a movie
career...
That's
not true. Mihir getting killed was very much part of the original
plot. It had been decided long ago that Mihir would die around
the 125th episode.
The
death of your character has upset hundreds of viewers. Was
Mihir immensely popular when he was alive?
Yes. Viewers liked him a lot. He was a model son and a model
husband. When I was on holiday in Delhi recently, I met lots
of people who seemed to love Mihir, because they kept telling
me how wonderful they thought I was on the show and how much
their families enjoyed watching me. It's strange, because
I knew the serial was doing well, but I could never have imagined
that people would react so strongly to Mihir's death... Old
women all over the country would give me their aashirwaad
saying I was doing a very good job. Somewhere along the way,
people began to think of me as Mihir, and not as an actor
playing Mihir.
There are reports of some people being very upset, others
even being hospitalised because of the shock they received
on finding out that Mihir was dead...
People have been calling up at the producer's office and even
at my home to make sure that I'm fine. Some of them are under
the impression that Mihir has been killed because something's
happened to me. I feel terrible about the people who became
unwell and those who have been hospitalised. I'd like to go
visit some of them if I can.
Do you think the popularity of the show might be affected
now?
I don't know. I hope not, although several people have been
threatening to stop watching the show if Mihir isn't brought
back.
Are the producers likely to bring you back into the show,
judging by the strong negative creaction to your death?
I don't know. Nobody has told me that they're going to write
me back into the show.
How do you feel about being bumped off, especially since people
seem to love Mihir so much?
I'm feeling a little sad now... I'd love to be back on the
show. But I guess I'm also a little happy somewhere, because
I might have never realised how much they loved my character
had he not been killed.
Does your family follow the show too?
They do. The night they aired the episode of Mihir's death,
I was watching the show at home with my parents. My mum began
crying when they announced that Mihir was dead, and although
I was sitting there with her, she was deeply affected. Even
my dad, who's really a tough guy, had tears in his eyes. I
guess the show -- and Mihir too -- seems to have touched people's
hearts deeply.
Have you personally spoken with any people who are upset over
Mihir's death on the show?
Yes, yes. The other day I was in my car rushing from one shoot
to another when a family in the opposite car spotted me at
a traffic light. They got out of their car and began screaming
out to me. The women began abusing the producers of the show
for killing Mihir, and the little children jumped onto the
bonnet of my car and began shouting: ``Mihir uncle, we love
you.'' Some people are still not convinced that Mihir is dead.
They feel that perhaps he's been kidnapped.
Won't the show get dull now, without Mihir?
The four episodes to be aired this week are very heavy and
emotional. In these episodes, the news of Mihir's death is
conveyed to his family. I'm quite nervous about how viewers
are going to react to these episodes, because they are even
more emotionally charged than the one about Mihir's death.
So where do you go from here?
Earlier I wasn't very particular about the serials I'd take
up, but after this entire incident I feel I have a responsibility
to do good roles and to play positive characters. I'm very
much like Mihir, and I guess in future I must make sure I
play good characters so people continue to love me. I'm also
doing one major film which I'm not allowed to speak about
yet, but which will be announced sometime next month. I'm
excited because Ekta Kapoor has promised me a film, and Rakesh
Roshan who's on the board of Balaji Telefilms (the company
which produces Kyonki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi) remarked at
a board meeting that I'm likely to go places in my career.
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