Showing posts with label Rupali Ganguly interview. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rupali Ganguly interview. Show all posts
Like FRIENDS, Sarabhai vs Sarabhai should have a special one off episode-Rupali Ganguly
8:15 AM
Soumitra Das (BOMBAY TIMES; August 27, 2023)
Rupali Ganguly, who is currently riding high on the success of her ongoing TV show Anupamaa, was in Gujarat recently for a quick trip.
She tells us, “I visited Mehsana for an event and it felt special because during the first episode of our show, we had Anupamaa (her character) going to the Modhera Sun Temple. I also wanted to visit Ambaji Temple for a long time and I am glad that I could do that on this visit.”
She adds, “I love coming to Gujarat and I have grown up with Gujarati neighbours. I have an insane obsession with Gujarati food, and I love dal dhokli, Gujarati dal, undhiyu, lapsi and churma ladoo. In fact, there are days when I crave Gujarati food in Mumbai and travel to Borivali to have Gujarati thali. I have also picked up the language quite well and playing a Gujarati character in Anupamaa has been a wonderful experience.”
‘I took a seven-year sabbatical because I wanted to be a hands-on mother’
Rupali, who took a seven-year break from showbiz before making a comeback with her current show, says that it was “much needed”. She shares, “I wanted to be a hands-on mother to Rudransh (her son) and it was a very conscious decision to give priority to enjoying my son’s childhood. When Anupamaa was offered, I accepted it because the role was fantastic. It was the first show to have a female protagonist in her 40s and I am delighted that it resonated with the audience. A mother’s emotion is universal, and the makers deserve credit for creating an iconic show. The fact that there have been people who have copied it is a compliment.”
‘I have my guilt trips for not spending enough time with my son’
Rupali, who says that her husband Ashwin K Verma “took a back seat” so that she could pursue her dreams, says that she often has “guilt trips for not spending enough time with my son.” She shares, “Including travel, I have 14-hour days every day and like any mother who steps out of the house for work, I sometimes feel guilty. But my only solace is that Rudransh has one parent to look after him and I feel proud when I say that my son is more attached to his father. We speak over video calls throughout the day and my production house has been very supportive.”
She adds, “We have set roles for everybody-the man has to be the breadwinner, while the woman is supposed to be the homemaker and take care of the kids. In our case, there has been a role reversal. My husband wanted me to achieve my dream and get my due as an actor. I am proud and blessed to have a supportive husband like him. He is my agony aunt, cushion, and my biggest critic. He pans me completely if I perform badly. When I had apprehensions about doing Sarabhai vs Sarabhai because I felt that I would make a fool of myself, he said I must try to do something different.”
On her husband’s role in her professional journey
I met my husband in 2000, the year when I made my TV debut. We were just friends then and while everybody looked down upon TV, he said that the medium has a great future. After I played a negative role in Sanjivani, he said I should wait for something different. When I was offered Sarabhai vs Sarabhai, I was scared about sharing screen space with Ratna Pathak Shah and Satish Shah. But he convinced me to take it up.
On why she feels Sarabhai vs Sarabhai should have a special one-off episode
The Sarabhai vs Sarabhai cast is like family. We have a Sarabhai group, and everybody knows what’s going on in each other’s life. Like all viewers, I would also love to have another season. When we did season 2 in 2017 (Sarabhai vs Sarabhai: Take 2), Monisha (her character) Sahil (played by Sumeet Raghavan) ko chhod ke chali gayi thi. So, I feel there has to be a closure. Just like FRIENDS, we can have a special one-off episode; itna toh banta hai!
My Bengali genes completely take over during Pujo-Rupali Ganguly
8:26 AM
The actress tells us that the meaning of the festival has not changed for her over the years
Riya Sharma (BOMBAY TIMES; October 4, 2022)
Her schedule is packed because of her show’s shoot but Anupamaa actress Rupali Ganguly is taking out time for pandal hopping. “I am a Marathi and Bengali, so my Bengali genes completely take over during Pujo and this is the time when nothing happens, sirf puja chalti hai. This time, it is hectic because of my shoot but there are certain things that I cannot miss. I am going pandal hopping, eating all the goodies and jitna ho sakta hai, utni masti kar rahi hun. Sindoor khela bhi definitely khelungi,” says the actress, who was in Delhi recently.
For her, the fondest memories of Durga Puja are from her childhood. “I remember going to the Shivaji Park Pandal in Mumbai with my papa, kakus, cousins and my entire family, bonding over adda, while gorging on shingara, cutlets and relishing bhog. I am very emotional about the bhog and line mein khade ho kar bhog lena. Ab toh baith ke khilate hain, tab humein line mein khade ho kar lena hota tha, there are lots of memories. Wahan sabse important hota tha adda marna, which included general charcha and gupshup; we Bengalis thrive on adda...Durga Puja, for me, is about five days of picnic, masti, doing puja and imbibing the essence of maa in you,” says the actress.
She adds, “It means connecting to my cultural roots, bringing out the Bengali in me, passing on the culture and traditions to my child the way my parents passed it down to me. My mother is a Maharashtrian, but the way she imbibed the whole Bengali culture is commendable. Durga Puja means connecting to the divine force, and I am a firm believer of Maa Durga, so this is the time for me to connect with my culture.”
The actress also points out that the meaning of the festival has not changed for her over the years. “This is the time to get together with family, friends, and spend time with maa. Pujo, for me, is connecting to my inner self, connecting to everyone around and the divine force, it has been the same and it will continue to remain the same for years,” she says.
Unlike my screen wedding, my real life wedding was a superfast one-Rupali Ganguly
8:19 AM
Tanvi Trivedi (BOMBAY TIMES; May 21, 2022)
The focus in Anupamaa right now is on Rupali Ganguly’s wedding to Gaurav Khanna. It’s a high point on the show. Rupali has become a bride on TV for the third time. Earlier, she dressed as a bride when she celebrated 25 years of marriage with her first husband Vanraj (Sudhanshu Pandey) in the show and a few years ago, when she acted in Sanjivani.
She says, “Both the times, I became a bride for a brief while and it was not so elaborate as the current wedding is. Personally, I believe in small and simple weddings and my own wedding was a quick and simple one many years ago.”
Rupali married Ashwin K Verma, a corporate professional, in February 2013 at her parents’ home in Worli. She says, “Ashwin and I had decided to get married just two days in advance and I had announced it to my parents. My brother (Bollywood choreographer Vijay Ganguly) was taking a flight out of Mumbai and I had to ask him to stay back. We fixed a date and I was hoping that Ashwin would show up on time. We were planning to do a registered wedding, but then my father (director Anil Ganguly) decided to do the kanyadaan and we called a pandit. That day, Ashwin entered a ‘no entry’ lane and was fined by the police. It was hilarious how he finally landed at my home and the pandit started chanting the mantras from the ground floor till he came to my flat. I had around 99 people at my wedding and it was over in a few minutes. We had a party on the same day at an eatery in Versova for our friends. Ours was a fast, hilarious and super quick wedding. I feel that instead of spending money on big, fat weddings, you should share your happiness by helping the less privileged.”
It was when women visit the set, and hug me, breaking down, that I realised how popular Anupamaa had become-Rupali Ganguly
8:26 AM
Not just a thick Gujarati accent, Rupali Ganguly is getting every nuance of a spurned woman right as she sashays into the anals of the TRP hall of fame with Anupamaa
Aastha Atray Banan (MID-DAY; April 10, 2022)
How does it feel to inspire someone to walk out of a bad marriage? Rupali Ganguly takes a deep breath, soaking in the responsibility that sits on her shoulders, as she continues to drive Indian women to reclaim their space in the sun, every week night at 10 pm.
One of Indian television’s biggest stars currently, Ganguly, who some reports claimed commands a Rs. 3 lakh per day fee, says that the daily soap life doesn’t give her the time to even realise the enormous presence she holds among viewers. It’s 14 hours straight of shooting on set, returning to her home only to sleep. “On most days, I can’t find the time to check social media. It was when I had women visit the set, and hug me, breaking down, that I realised how popular the show had become,” Ganguly, 45.
We are in her room at Set No. 17 at Goregaon’s Film City, where she spends more than half the day, every day, playing Anupamaa Shah, now Joshi. The saree is yellow, the blouse pink, in her characteristic contrasting style. The hair is done up in a braid that she brings to the front over her right shoulder, giving it a symbolic tug each time she makes a win of some sort.
Ganguly is sipping on Thumbs Up, while a stray nuzzles up to her. He is one of the several she has informally adopted around the set. It’s lunch time and she has a few minutes off before she’s back to being the servile homemaker who finds the strength to live life on her own terms when her masochistic husband marries another woman.
Minutes before, she was sharing a laugh with her prickly former husband, Vanraj Shah, played by Sudhanshu Pandey, as the two took pictures for an online teaser. They are hardly the enemies they must play on screen. And it’s this simple reality that viewers, she says, taken in by the power of entertainment, tend to forget. For them, she is Anupamaa, the woman they can’t be, but secretly hope to emulate—the one who finds love after she is abandoned; the one who returns to her passion for dancing, and turns entrepreneur.
“I was in Gujarat, acting in a play when they [the show’s creators] called me. I was a last minute casting choice. They asked me to send a video test, and overnight, I was in,” she recalls. The show’s top boss, veteran producer Rajan Shahi, last directed her in 1999 for her first television stint, Dil Hai ki Manta Nahin.
Ganguly isn’t a stranger to fandom. Her last hit show, the comedy Sarabhai vs Sarabhai, catapulted her and much of the cast, including Ratna Pathak Shah, Satish Shah and Sumeet Raghavan, to stardom. After Parvarrish–Kuchh Khattee Kuchh Meethi in 2011, she took a seven-year-long break. Until 2020, when this role landed in her lap. “I told Ashwin [husband Ashwin K Verma], this is a good character. He asked me, ‘So, do you play the hero’s mother’. I said, ‘no, I am the protagonist, and she is as old as me, 42’. In the years before that, I got offered to play women younger than me or way older. Here, I would play my age. My husband thought I hadn’t got my due as an actor, and said he’d take care of the house.”
Verma seemed to have had the right hunch. In fact, Ganguly says that Shahi wasn’t sure if the idea would work and had planned to give it three months. “I was chubby when the show launched, and wanted to lose weight before we shot, but he said, ‘there’s no time!’”
The show that began to air at the start of the lockdown is now a top ranker. The Broadcast Audience Research Council India, which releases TRPs every week, placed Anupamaa at the top with a TRP of 3.5 as recently as last week (the closest second was Ghum Hai Kisikey Pyaar Meiin). It was the week when Anupamaa decided she would marry her college friend Anuj Kapadia, played by Gaaurav Khanna. It was also the week she uttered the now iconic monologue on marriage. “Yeh dadi ab shaadi karegi!” It’s no wonder that the show is set to make its way to the OTT platforms with a prequel titled Anupama-Namaste America, where the early life of its protagonist will play out.
Ask Ganguly if she is anything like her character and she says, “The only thing we have in common is our love for loving everyone. For me, like her, it doesn’t take much to be nice to someone, but it means a lot for the other person.” That her character is an under-the-radar feminist was always the point of the show. “It’s not about waving a flag. It’s about changing how people think. It’s about asking them to think in the first place. It’s also the story of every household in some way. All of us know an Anupamaa somewhere,” she says trying to put her finger on the reason for its humungous popularity.
The scriptwriters are clear that they will put Bharatiya sanskar front and centre in every episode, but Anupamaa’s new avatar allows her to be progressive in thought. The show tackles gender stereotypes using its only daily soap language, with Anupamaa always clad in cotton sarees, her nemesis, Kavya in Western wear. ‘Will you wear tracks to the office?’ she asks Kavya in one scene. “It’s [the debate] not about the clothes. That’s not being modern. It’s about how you think and react,” she says alluding to a scene where her daughter-in-law says despite her plain Jane lifestyle, Anupamaa is the only one in the house to have told her that the decision to have a child can only be the mother’s.
“My nani was Muslim and she married a Marathi man. She embraced his culture. We grew up seeing this. My father was a feminist. He never distinguished between my brother and I. He encouraged us to think and set our own standards for morals. I am married to someone who is looking after the home and my six-year-old son. He doesn’t need my money, he wants me to enjoy the recognition. And then there is a man like Rajan, who created Anupamaa. I am surrounded by the right people.”
Does she then have any say in how her character behaves? Can she, on a given day, not agree with what the writers have planned for Anupamaa to say or do? “No. The actor never knows the character the way the writers do; they bring in the twists. I don’t interfere,” she says. During the monologue that she performed last week, stretching over 32 pages, she says they granted her the freedom to do it as she deemed fit.
She is called in for the next shot. We return to what she said at the start of the interview, about her responsibility towards the audience. “It’s huge. The messages I get... women have walked out of bad marriages, they tell me [after watching the show]; they realise their self-worth, and want to be independent. It gives me hope that somehow I may be touching lives. I was at Vaishno Devi recently, and even though there was a film star next to me who had also arrived for darshan, people were crowding up to me—not Rupali, Anupamaa.”
Whenever I watch my scenes with Gaurav Khanna, I get butterflies in my stomach-Rupali Ganguly
8:19 AM
Akash Wadhwa (BOMBAY TIMES; March 7, 2022)
Getting a chance to romance on screen in her 40s, actress Rupali Ganguly, who has a romantic track going on currently with actor Gaurav Khanna in the show Anupamaa, says she is loving the experience. “It feels wonderful. The track has been so organic and my character’s transformation is so heart-warming. Whenever I watch my scenes with Gaurav, I get butterflies in my stomach. Iss umar mein bhi Rajan Shahi (producer) ne meri heroine banne ki saari muradein poori kar di hain. I had never thought I would get to romance on screen at this age, especially the one which I am doing right now that makes your heart race and without any physical contact between the characters.”
Mature love stories will always have their fanbase, says Rupali. “It’s always wonderful to see young people romancing, but for us women, who are above 40, characters like Anupamaa and Anuj come along, who make us believe that there can be a Prince Charming in our lives, too,” she says.
Ask her about her husband Ashwin K Verma’s reaction to her romantic track and she says, “My husband loves the track. We both watch the show together. He is my biggest critic as well as my biggest supporter.”
Ratna Pathak Shah was not downloading WhatAapp as she was scared that we would send her Good Morning messages-Rupali Ganguly
8:14 AM
The actress talks about the two telly shows that are very close to her heart
Akash Wadhwa (BOMBAY TIMES; October 13, 2021)
Rupali Ganguly may be best known as TV’s Anupamaa today, but many people still remember her for her character Monisha in the show Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai. The cast recently had a reunion. Rupali tells us, “I had been planning the Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai reunion for the past six months on our WhatsApp group. First, we couldn’t meet because of the second wave of COVID-19. Then we were waiting for all of us to get vaccinated. After that, we got busy with our projects, and the get together was pushed further. I called producer J D Majethia at 12.30 one night after my shoot and asked him to organise the reunion at any cost. Finally, we all met at our director, Aatish Kapadia’s house.”
So can we expect a third season of the show anytime soon? “Well, everyone’s too busy for the third season of Sarabhai. It’s been 17 years since the show and we are blessed to be sitting together and clicking pictures with each other. Aise shows bahut kam logon ki zindagi mein aate hain. We keep cracking jokes even now the way we used to on the sets,” she says.
Rupali adds, “Everyone’s in their character! I will tell you a funny story. Ratna ji (Pathak Shah) was not downloading WhatAapp because she was scared that we would send her Good Morning messages. We had to convince her that we would not do so and only then she learnt to use the app. We are always in our characters while chatting, too. I am always hoping for a third season and I keep on manifesting it.”
Meanwhile, on her current show Anupamaa, her character is seen sharing a great camaraderie with Anuj Kapadia, played by Gaurav Khanna. So will their friendship turn into romance on the show at some point? “I have no idea about that,” she says, adding, “It all depends on the makers. Having said that, who doesn’t want Anuj and Anupamaa to be together? Even me as a viewer would want that but hota wahi hai jo humare producer Rajan Shahi chahte hain (laughs!).”
Talking about the time when Gaurav just joined the show, Rupali recalls, “I remember doing a look test with him and I was like ‘Arre, yeh toh bahut young sa koi le aaye hain.’ But he turned out to be a fantastic performer. You won’t believe I told the makers initially that I will look like Gaurav’s amma on the show, but see how things have turned out. The whole casting of Anupamaa is so unconventional.”
To be 40 plus and not have a 26-inch waist when you’re playing the lead can be challenging-Rupali Ganguly
8:00 AM
Neha Maheshwri (BOMBAY TIMES; July 5, 2021)
While she has been a part of many successful shows in the past, all that Rupali Ganguly craved was recognition as a versatile actress. So, she is understandably elated about finally getting her due with the TV show, Anupamaa, in which she plays the title role. The family drama marked her return to the small screen seven years after she took a break to embrace motherhood.
She says, “After I quit Parvarrish due to my pregnancy, I was busy with my home and my child. I enjoyed every moment of it. However, when Rajan Shahi approached me for this show, the actor in me got greedy. What further piqued my interest was the fact that the concept of the show was in the zone of my father’s (Anil Ganguly) films, like Kora Kagaz, Humkadam and Tapasya. The women in these films were strong and empowered, just like Anupamaa. When I spoke to my husband (Ashwin Verma) about it, he told me that I hadn’t got my due as an artiste and said, ‘You should take it up and make us proud’. He took a break from his work so that I could get back to acting. In short, he gave me the wings to fly.”
The show with a protagonist in her 40s struck a chord with the audience. Rupali says, “To be 40 plus and not have a 26-inch waist when you’re playing the lead can be challenging at times. I always wondered if it would work. You can’t predict the fate of a show. I still can’t believe it’s happening to me and hope the bubble doesn’t burst.”
Rupali further adds, “I feel blessed and am filled with gratitude for this opportunity to return to TV after seven years with a role like this and getting a chance to prove myself. I have been part of some fantastic shows and played great characters, including a double role in Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahi and a negative one in Sanjivani because I was bored of playing positive characters. Then I was inundated with negative characters, but I didn’t want to repeat myself. Every artiste vies for that one role, which takes her a level up, where people start recognising your work and acknowledging the fact that you are a good actor.”
Talking about the way her career has shaped up over the years, she shares, “There were some people who thought that I was just a fluke. But with Anupamaa, they sat up, took notice, and admitted that there is somebody called Rupali Ganguly, who acts well. While Monisha in Sarabhai vs Sarabhai got me noticed, Anupamaa has given me the platform I’ve always craved. I am glad that I have left a mark. My epitaph will perhaps read — here lies Monisha Sarabhai and Anupamaa. Despite not being conventionally good-looking, I have finally been recognised for my talent.”
The first thing I want to do once I test COVID negative is hug and kiss my son-Rupali Ganguly
8:30 AM
Akash Wadhwa (BOMBAY TIMES; April 5, 2021)
‘I WANTED TO SPEND MY BIRTHDAY WITH MY FAMILY’
Rupali had asked for leave in advance so that she could celebrate her birthday with her family. She says, “I wanted to spend some quality time with my family, especially with my son and my husband. I had planned so much for my birthday. But I think when I was busy making plans; God must have been laughing at me, knowing what was in store for me.” The actress now plans to celebrate a quiet birthday in the company of her dogs.
Rupali, who has quarantined herself in another house after testing positive, says, “I have a household help with me who had tested positive sometime back. She is in a PPE kit throughout the day, though. I also have many books with me to read.”
Rupali wishes to see her son on her birthday. “On my birthday today, I wish to see my son, mom and husband from a distance. I miss them a lot,” says an emotional Rupali. Eagerly waiting to test negative, she adds, “The first thing that I want to do once I test negative is hug and kiss my son. I was petrified for my family’s safety. Thankfully, their reports have come negative.”
‘I AM NOT WATCHING ANY WEB SERIES, NOT EVEN ANUPAMAA’
Ask her how she is spending time, and pat comes her reply, “Not by watching web series for sure! People have suggested so many movies and web series, but I haven’t switched on the TV yet, not even to watch Anupamaa. Also, health-wise the symptoms are showing slowly, like now I am losing my sense of smell and taste.”
Rupali says she wants to make the most of this phase by spending time with herself. “I want to start an inward journey. This phase is teaching me that I need to love myself and that I am important for myself, too.”
‘I FEEL BAD ABOUT TESTING POSITIVE, BUT THE SCRIPTWRITERS OF ANUPAMAA ARE ADEPT AT CHANGING THE TRACK’
Like many shows, makers of Anupamaa, too, are likely to explore an alternate track in Rupali’s absence. The actress shares, “On the day I went for my COVID test, they had started working on an alternative track. I feel bad that I have tested positive. I know other actors have tested positive too, but the show is called Anupamaa, and it won’t be easy to manage things, but our scriptwriters are fantastic. A lot has happened on our show in the past few weeks, but we have managed to retain the top position because of the writers. They are adept at making the transition in tracks smoothly.”
Aisa birthday, yeh yaadgar rahega-Rupali Ganguly
8:27 AM
Naina Arora (HINDUSTAN TIMES; April 5, 2021)
Actor Rupali Ganguly recently tested positive for Coronavirus. But she hasn’t lost her chirpiness one bit. “That I will never let go of, even Covid-19 can’t get that out. I am feeling the effects now. Taste ka gadbad ho raha hai, zabaan thodi bhaari (heavy) lag rahi hai,” she says.
The actor was slated to ring in her birthday today at Alibag and even scheduled her holiday for three days, but the universe had other plans. “It’s going to be heart-breaking. I am a very family oriented person. I don’t have friends, I have my family who are like my friends. Last birthday I was on a video call with my family, saying ‘next year we’ll celebrate’. This year, we had a nice bungalow booked in Alibag. Ab toh pati aur bachcha bhi nahin honge paas. Aisa birthday, yeh yaadgar rahega. I have to throw a party for my unit (soon),” the 43-year-old quips.
With a host of TV actors getting Covid-19, there must be fear. Ganguly says, “We can only think ‘we got it from there’. It’s definitely not from my sets, because my set is a fortress.”
While her staff, hubby, son and mother-in-law have tested negative, Ganguly is paranoid about the show’s track, but is keeping her fingers crossed. “The fear is always there. Complacency ke liye there’s no space. Hum log entertainers hai aur humara kaam hain entertain karte rehna. Main toh yahi kehti hoon Rajan (producer) ko ki hamare show ko kisi ki badi buri nazar lag gayi hai,” says the Sarabhai vs Sarabhai actor, adding, “Corona is a thing; it’s not about if you’ll get it. It’s about when you get it. Yeh hona toh hum sabko hain,” she adds.
Ganguly admits that she was more worried for her family. “All that was in my head. Plus sets mein nahin jaana hoga itne din tak. I was feeling guilty. I know how I have been lapsed and been so careless about this,” she adds.
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