Sucheta Khanna who plays Indumati Mukundilal Gupta on SAB TV’s Lapataganj Ek Baar Phir (Garima Productions) is a chirpy lady whose company anyone will love. The vivacious actress talked about the second season of her serial, her fan following and many other interesting topics.
What is Indumati like in SAB TV's Lapataganj Ek Baar Phir?
Indumati will remain as she was. She is a nagging wife. She enjoys irking her husband. As an actor I want to go one step ahead. I want to give better shots and I am quite charged up about it. The channel had promised us that the show will return and I am glad it is back now.
How will this season be different?
We had been working around the clock continuously for three and a half years on this show. We are coming up with new energy, concepts and scripts in its second season. There has been a time leap of five years. Mobile phones have been introduced. The kids are older. The new scenes will be with the grown up son and the new characters at Lapataganj. We have shot beautiful episodes and I am very excited about the telecast. We have many emotional scenes in it. The new characters fit the cast very well. The casting is superb.
Would you like to try out roles on TV which are different from that of Indumati?
So far this role has been the most successful one in my career. I would like to give it my best shot and then move on. I don’t want to let go of this role so easily. I do not want anyone to replace me on this show either.
Please tell me about your forthcoming film roles.
Yamla Pagla Deewana released when I was doing Lapataganj. Now its sequel is releasing in which I play a comic villain. I play a cat woman, Geisha and so many other roles in Yamla Pagla Deewana 2. I have different get ups too. It is in a comic genre. I will be in the third part of the film too.
Please share some memorable moments from Lapataganj Ek Baar Phir and Yamla Pagla Deewana.
I am a great fan of Sunny Deol. My first scene with him in Yamla Pagla Deewana 2 is that I am a vamp and I am out to kill him. However, I fall in love with him instead. I love him and yet I want to kill him. I was shivering when I went to him and asked him to put his hands up as per a scene. It took me five or six days to get the shot right.
How is Sucheta different from Indumati?
I am fun loving, modern and literate unlike Indumati. My reel character however thinks that if she speaks a few English words she knows the language very well. I am surely not nagging like her in real life. I am the opposite of Indumati.
How did you pick up the Bhojpuri dialect for your show?
I did some workshops for three to four days to pick up the dialogue. I also got a hold on the language as I spoke it during the show. I speak a combination of Awadhi, Bhojpuri and Hindi on the show. It is an inter-continental dahi masale.
Your show has songs too...
With the introduction of songs in Lapataganj, I really started enjoying it. I simply love dancing. It was a good way to depict my talent.
Did your fans miss you during the time the show was off air?
I got a lot of fan mails saying that they wanted to see me back as Indumati. They didn’t want me to do any other role. The viewers say that they love the way I speak in the serial.
What do fans say when they recognise you?
In the beginning of the first season when people didn’t know me that well, they wouldn’t recognise me as I look very different in real life. When our whole team would go out to eat, often viewers just could not place me. I would joke to them that I was the Assistant Director of the series.
Don’t your friends and family want you to move on?
They do. It is because of Indumati’s role though that I have got many good assignments. I have done fabulous advertisements and two movies. My producer is very kind as he allows me to do other work.
What is your dream role on TV?
I like doing strong and performance oriented roles. I would like to do both positive and negative roles.
Why do we not see you in reality shows?
To be very honest, I haven’t got a single offer.
Are you watching any current reality shows?
I have watched half of the first episode of Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 6. Actually as I reach home late I do not get to watch TV.
Are you being offered other roles in other TV shows in the fiction category?
Just two days ago I got an offer from a Sony TV show in which I had to play a very independent girl. It was of the lead role. There is a guy who comes into her life. It is something that I would have really loved to do that as the character was fantastic. Nevertheless, I opted for Lapataganj Ek Baar Phir.
How do you relax?
I read autobiographies and spiritual books. My favourite author is Deepak Chopra. I loved to read The Laws Of The Spirit World by Khorshed Bhavnagri too. I like watching world cinema.