Jeannie Aur Juju premiered on SAB TVyesterday. Last week we uploaded snippets on Giaa Manek and Ali Asgar who play the Jeannie and Captain Vikram Khanna respectively. Here is what the side characters have to say about their roles:
Harsh Khurana plays Captain Virendra Lakhanpal (Vela): Vela is Captain Vicky's a colleague and best friend. However he is also slightly street smart. As per the script there is a healthy competition between the two friends- he sometimes succeeds and at times fails. I like this role as it has innocence and simplicity.
Jhuma Mitra plays Durga Chatur Ganguly: She is like a Royal Bengal tigress in the sense that she likes to dominate and take the upper hand on her husband. Her husband is a writer who gets influenced by real life characters. However, he has a bad habit of peeping into other peoples' houses. Durga's duty is not just taking care of the house but also managing her husband who is a peeping Tom. Mr and Mrs.Chatur are Captain Vicky's neighbours and when Vicky comes back from the plane crash we are very concerned about his health. Simultaneously Mr.Chatur claims to see a woman there but Durga sees no woman. She feels her husband is making up stories and trying to womanize- which she feels is not done. Ultimately as the story goes on we will get to know about the existence of Jeannie. Despite being a Bengali I am still a hardcore Mumbaikar- so I had to work on having a Bengali accent in this show. Also I had to practice draping a saree in the Bengali way. It is always nice being close to your motherland and that is the closest I got.
Jiten Mukhi plays the boss: In this show I play the character of the boss who is supposed to be the parallel female lead Priya's dad too. This role is about a dynamic person who has always succeeded in life. Nevertheless he believes in the being pennywise and pound foolish. He keeps on doing cost cutting with his staff. He is a happy go lucky chap in life who knows about Vicky and Priya being in love with one another and always wishes that they get married. When Jeannie enters Vicky's life he becomes very suspicious about him being involved with some other girl.
Kurush Deboo who plays Dr.Cyrus Doctor: I play a psychiatrist paradoxically with obsessive compulsive disorder. Cyrus is simply obsessed over cases. He has a complete obsession to find the causes and what the symptoms are till he solves the problem. He is studying the cases 24 X 7. He also has the habit of peeping into others' business. He does so as he always conducts experiments with human behaviour. That is why he is peeping into others' business. However he is a very sweet person as he is the antagonist but not a villain. It is basically a conflict between magic and a science of psychiatry. He believes in psychiatric science instead of magic which leads him to believe that Vicky is suffering from some mental illness. In fact Vicky's case becomes his greatest obsession, in fact his addiction. Vicky in fact starts avoiding him. Nevertheless he is extremely caring of Captain Vicky. He wants to 'eradicate' Captain Vicky's 'mental problems'- however in the process he becomes a scapegoat and victim of Jeannie.
Navina Bole who plays Priya: Priya is a rich man's spoilt daughter. She belongs to the South Mumbai kind of crowd. She wears Western wear as that is usually what spoilt rick kids wear- I think it's a stereotype which has stuck on in shows, so there is not much you can do about it. Maybe they wanted to give it a contrast to Giaa's character- she is in indo-western clothes. I am very jealous of Jeannie in the show. Priya is also a super possessive girlfriend who wants her way all the time. The jealousy is one of the moving factors in the show.
Comedy is something that I have always enjoyed doing. So even in Miley Jab Hum Tum, my character was on similar lines where I played Dia. In this show I am getting to pull off a character which has a lot of shades. At times she is really sweet and in love with Ali. Then she is screaming angrily. She has a completely different equation with her father with whom she shares a soft and loving relationship.
For more interesting updates on the show please visit india-forums.com.
Reporter and Author: Pallavi Bhattacharya
Apart from their busy shooting schedule, our Telly stars are always seen busy answering an array of questions which are put forth to them by reporters. Needless to say that there would certainly be a few questions that ruffle their feathers. Today, Tellybuzz gave an opportunity to our Telly stars to share some of these vexing questions. Read on to find out what your favorite celebs have to speak about it.
Giaa Manek: Personal questions.
When you think of winter, the scene you instantly conjure up is of a snowy landscape, a cosy fireplace, warm woollen mittens and mugs of hot chocolate. Mumbai, the city where shooting for TV shows happen, however has a maritime climate with very mild winters. Nevertheless TV actors are making the best of Mumbai winters as it's after all a very pleasant season especially for outdoor shooting
Giaa Manek, who reached new heights of popularity with her portrayal of Gopi Bahu inSaath Nibhaana Saathiya on Star Plus, speaks her heart out and claims that she always follows her heart.
Giaa Manek on what keeps her going beyond the dream world of telly soaps and her take on love
Confident, outspoken and vivacious describesGiaa Manek best in real life. Giaa seems to have done a 360 degree turn ever since she shed her telly bahu garb, and seems like a livewire. Best known as the first Gopi bahu Giaa who has also shaken a leg in a dance reality show was inAhmedabad to promote her new show Jeannie Aur Juju.
As we sit down to talk, we quiz Giaa about how she has overcome all the controversies (she was reportedly asked to leave her debut show because she defied the channel's request and participated in a dance show on a rival broadcaster) Giaa insists that she is a in a mood to give it back.
"I have become more confident as an actor and have learnt to express. I was quite disturbed and upset when almost overnight everyone was bad mouthing me as an actress and calling me all sorts of names. I have never faced something like this in my life before. Of course, majority of the news that was spread was false — I remained tight lipped and so everyone said whatever came to their mind. It is only me, the channel and the production house who know the actual problem. Even if I am no longer Gopi, Kanhaji is with me," she expresses.
From a sobbing bahu to a smiling genie, Giaa says that her current show is a great change for her. "I only smile these days. I have stopped crying on screen. As an actress I am happy with whatever role is given to me. My current show is not a slapstick comedy. The script is tight and I can be spontaneous," says this petite girl.
On the lighter side, Giaa says that if she had a genie in her life, "My travelling, make up, long shooting hours — everything would become easy. I would pack up my shoot in just two hours," she laughs.
While Giaa had been deluged with offers of family soaps, she refrained from doing them because she didn't want to play a role similar to "Gopi. I was afraid to get typecast. I don't want to play a character like Gopi again because I have done it in the past. However, if I am offered the role of a bahu with some interesting shades to her character, then I don't mind doing it. No show maker wants to take the risk of portraying me in a different light," she says and goes on to add, "TV characters have become monotonous. After Tulsi, I was the second bahu who became a national favourite. I've been a much loved telly bahu, danced in Jhalak Dhiklaja and am a genie in my new show, what more could I have asked for?"
For someone so young, Giaa's seen the highs and lows of her profession. How does it feel to be on both sides of the spectrum? "I feel truly blessed. My parents must have surely done some good deed that I have got so much love from people," says Giaa who loves to go on "dates" with her mother.
As our chat veers to her personal life, Giaa pours her heart out. "I have no inhibitions about falling in love. But having said that, it is difficult to get a good guy who will respect me and my work. I want someone who'll give me space and accept me as an actress. If I meet the right guy tomorrow, I will get married. Since I plan to continue working post marriage, I don't mind getting married anytime," says Giaa and adds, "I have seen loads of people who marry because of peer pressure — I am not someone who will do that. I feel my Mr Right is hiding somewhere and he will soon come in my life. I fall in love easily so I always take care before getting close to anyone," says the bubbly girl.