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At a media briefing hosted by Mukerji at 'The Club' (Andheri) last
evening, Concept & Creative director Mukerji said that the show
had been inspired by the late Tara Shankar Bandopadhyay's Bengali
literature Protima. His mother Krishna and wife Jyothi are
producing this Sahara show under Concept & Creative banner.
"It's a story about Prratima (essayed by Jyothi Mukerji),
a dutiful daughter-in-law of the Sen household, set in old Kolkata.
While Prratima is her father-in-law's choice for his son Amol (Anuj
Saxena), her mother in law Sunanda (Kirron Kher) despises her immensely,"
Mukerji said.
So, what's new? Another saas bahu saga? Mukherji defended, "Saas
bahu sagas work in our country! But my show is different from the
existing ones. The mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law do not
come face to face at any point of time."
"I had no hassles when I got the afternoon slot for this one.
Who knows, the show may have got lost in the crowd at prime time,"
he added.
Kher was last last seen on TV in Dil Naa Jane Kyon, which
was part of Zee's Chausath Panne series. Kher has also featured
in serials like Isi Bahane, Purushkshetra, Kiron Kher Today and
Jaagte Raho on the telly. On the film front, she has been
lately seen in Farah Khan's Main Hoon Na and Kunal Kohli's
Hum Tum.
Currently, she is doing an award-winning series ER, created
by best-selling author Michael Crichton and awaiting the release
of her Pakistani film Khamosh Pani directed by Sabiha Sumar.
The supporting cast of Prratima comprises Vineeta Malik,
Pawan Kumar, Ekta Sharma, Raajiv Verma, Mansi Salvi, Shishir Sharma,
Alka Kaushal, Nitesh Pandey, Sulbha Arya, Jayant Saverkar, Shashi
Puri, Sadhna Singh, Dimple Inamdar, Buddhatiya, Shama Deshpande,
Yatin Karyekar and Nigar Khan (of Lipstick fame). Jatin Lalit
has composed the music score.
Rani Mukerji, who also attended the briefing, stated that her support
to the project was purely emotional. "Like you'll have stood
by me and helped me to reach where I am today, I request you to
stand by my brother," she said.
Adding humorously, "I don't need to make any special appearances
on my brother's show. If the show is good, it will last on its own
steam. I do see television, for if I don't, I'll be lagging behind
in life. I know for a fact that shows, which have held their own
have not leaned on undue hype and hoopla (apparently, she was hinting
at Kyunki..., Kahaani... and Kahiin..., the
three money spinners from Balaji stable).
"I have full faith in my sister-in-law's acting abilities;
she takes lessons from me every time before leaving for shooting,"
she added jocularly.
The show is directed by Ashok Gaekwad, who is currently busy with
Star Plus' Des Mein Niklla Hoga Chand and Sony's Kkoi
Dil Mein Hai. Rani revealed that she wanted Gaekwad to don the
director's hat.
Emotional reasons again? "Yes," laughed the dusky actress,
who is a front running contender for the Best Actress award this
year (Mani Ratnam's Yuva, Yash Raj Films' Hum Tum
and the yet-to-be-released Sanjay Leela's 'Black' which is carrying
good reports about her extremely challenging role of a blind girl),
"Gaekwad directed me in my first venture Raja Ki Aayegi
Baaraat."
Continuing her support to her brother, she shot down a question
from a journalist, who wanted to know whatever happened to Rajaa's
pilot titled Kati Patang. Ditto when someone asked Rajaa
to throw light on the reason for Prratima being so long in
the making. "It's time to look forward. No controversies please,"
she quipped.
Prratima had Mukerji's courting controversy with Goldmines
Media Limited, associates in the project. Goldmines had alleged
last year that Mukerji had manhandled funds meant for the shoot.
Saxena (who has a penchant for opting out of shows- be it Sony's
Kkusum, Star Plus' Saara Akaash, Sahara Manoranjan's
Kuch Pal Saath Tumhara) made a hurried exit (even before
the briefing started!), while Kher was conspicuous by her absence.
The briefing, which was followed by cocktails and dinner, later
had some of the celebrities swinging away till nearly 2 am. Apart
from Rani Mukerji, we saw Anil Kapoor, Govinda, Yash Chopra, Karan
Johar, Ram Mukerji (Raja and Rani's father), Jyoti Mukerji, Girish
Malik, Arjun Punj, Rajiv and Delnaz Paul, Amit and Vaibhavi Behl.
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