Supriya Pathak recalls Rishi Kapoor Sridevi fans of her character as Hansa Parekh from “Khichdi” and “English Vinglish”

Veteran actor Supriya Pathak recalled that the late veteran actors Rishi Kapoor and Sridevi were fans of her character as Hansa Parekh from “Khichdi” and the “English Vinglish” .
They had even requested her to imitate the character when they met on a flight.

Pathak, 62, is reprising the fan-favourite character in “Khichdi 2 – Mission Paanthukistan”, set for a theatrical release on 17 November

She worked with Rishi ji in ‘
‘All is Well’ and in the midst of the shoot, he would constantly ask her ‘How did you do this’. He was her fan.

She also added that Sridevi had told her to say it like Hansa

She went on to elaborate that there has been no actor her to tell me to speak in a certain character’s voice,” she said recalling her meeting with the actor.

Hansa, always decked up in sari, jewellery and gajra, is a slacker whose catchphrases ‘main to thak gayi bhaaishaabh’ and ‘Praful, are popular among fans.

As per Pathak people in her family, including husband Pankaj Kapur and brother-in-law Naseeruddin Shah also liked the show and said Kapur particularly likes JD Majethia’s acting as Himanshu, Hansa Parekh’s younger brother.

Through the television series, everybody in her family were in love with ‘Khichdi’, they are fans of it. Pankaj and her ids loved ‘Khichdi’. It is true that JD (as Himanshu) is Pankaj’s favourite, it’s definitely not she.

“But Naseer walked up to her once and said, ‘It is a very good show’. It is a big thing for Naseer to say. When the film was released, her elder son came to see the preview and she had never seen him laugh so much. He said, ‘Mom, it was really good’. Khichdi’ touched a lot of people in her family in different ways. They are looking forward to ‘Khichdi 2’.”

The “Khichdi” franchise, born as a stage play, first ran on TV channel Star Plus as a sitcom in early 2000s. It was renewed for a second season, titled “Instant Khichdi”, which aired in 2005
It was followed by season three, which premiered in 2018.
The “Khichdi” movie was released in 2010.

Pathak, well-known for her dramatic parts in films like “Kalyug”, “Bazaar”, “Mirch Masala” and “Ram Leela”, said she wants to play more comedic characters.

“As an actor, she should be able to do all kinds of work. I had that belief that if I have it (talent) in me then I’ll be able to do it. I wasn’t worried or scared about doing this kind of character. I was rather very excited about doing something which I had not done before.”

She remembers asking Aatish ‘Is there anyone like Hansa in real-life?’ because she didn’t believe there was a person like her. He said, ‘Yes, in her family she has people . was like, ‘I’ve to believe in it’.

As a person, she in not at all like Hansa, so the thing that she bad to try was to believe in Hansa, the minute I did that, she fell in love with him and tje The rest is history,” she said.

Actor Rajeev Mehta, who plays Pathak’s onscreen husband, Praful Parekh, said he was the only choice to play this character, whose absurd interpretation of English phrases often leads to funny situations.

“This was very uncommon (show) on television. I don’t think there were any auditions that happened for any role. Aatish was very clear which actor will play which role. I was very happy that I was the only choice for the role of Praful, for that matter everyone,”

She has been doing it in theatre but hadn’t done this kind of comedy where nobody is cracking jokes. It should be attitude and behavioural comedy. All this excited her Mehta.

Vandana Pathak, who plays Jayshree Parekh, said she instantly agreed to do “Khichdi” as she found her character appealing.

“‘Khichdi’ has a different kind of comedy and she had never done something like this before. Initially, she old Aatish that I wasn’t sure. Aatish and JD (actor-producer) were like, ‘We are confident that you will be able to pull it off’. She just followed Aatish to play my character, m just copied him and then I knew how to go about it,”

Anang Desai — seen as Babuji — said he too fell in love with his role.

“When I heard the script I was floored because it was something unusual and iconic with a different conce, mmediately said yes. Then we all started working on my look and began shooting. She had confidence in Aatish and shri surrendered to his vision.

Actor JD Majethia, who also serves as a producer, revealed that he wasn’t the first choice for the role of Himanshu.

They were going to Dubai for an international schedule of ‘Khichdi’, and she was busy with production work for the show. We had cast Deven Bhojani for the role, he said yes to it but couldn’t do it because of his work commitments. Later, we thought of Umesh Shukla (director of ‘102 Not Out’). He is a good actor, but he said, ‘she is busy with a show with Paresh Rawal’.

She added they had two days left to shoot, and one of them from the production team suggestesd she should do the role of Hihu. She started thinking of the logistics and hence decided to do it.

Kapadia expressed gratitude to the fans for their love and support for the “Khichdi” franchise, saying they are grateful to everyone and also thankful to one of the producers, who told her that she doesn’t know how to write for TV and that was the origin of ‘Khichdi’, and are with ‘Khichdi 2’ after 21 years.

A Zee Studios worldwide release, the movie is presented by Hats Off Productions.

News Edit K.V.Raman