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EXCLUSIVE: Vandana Pathak REVEALS how Hum Paanch family, Shobhaji, Ekta took care of her when she was pregnant
We EXCLUSIVELY got in touch with Vandana Pathak aka Meenakshi Mathur from Hum Paanch for an extensive chat reminiscing the good old days. Vandana shared some interesting deets from sets, how her Hum Paanch family helped her during her first pregnancy, working with Ashok ji and more.
Hum Paanch starring Ashok Saraf, Shoma Anand, Vandana Pathak, Bhairavi Raichura, Rakhi Vijan among others is still considered one of the best sitcoms on Indian television. The show has now returned to television amid lockdown in the view of coronavirus outbreak. We EXCLUSIVELY got in touch with Vandana Pathak aka Meenakshi Mathur for an extensive chat reminiscing the good old days. Vandana shared some interesting deets from sets, how her Hum Paanch family helped her during her first pregnancy, working with Ashok ji and more.
About the show being telecast again, Vandana shared her excitement, "I am pretty excited that my kids will get to watch it. They always just keep hearing about the show, but never watched it. I am looking forward to their reaction." Getting nostalgic about the days, Vandana recounted, "Those times were really very different. I think most of us started off with Hindi serials through Hum Paanch. We started our journey together. I remember the first day itself, Bhairavi and I did not have much to do (onsets) and we started chatting and by the end of the day, we clicked like we knew each other for a long time."
About their process of shooting, Vandana revealed, "At that time, there was no Google or anything, so we used to read books to get references. Mostly, we used to sit together for readings. I must say that we were very fortunate that we had legendary actor Ashok Saraf with us who taught us so much. He taught us how to pull off a line without making it too obvious. Sometimes when we would find any dialogue or scene over the top or non-relatable, he would explain to us that there is a larger than life aspect to it and we need to pull off with conviction. He would guide us so beautifully."
Vandana was the only one who was married amongst the young lot. Revealing how that helped other girls, Vandana laughed, "I was newly married then, so these girls would bank on me as none of their family members would worry about them when I was with them. (laughs). Mere shaadi hone ka yeh fayda bahot hua unko (laughs). We have really enjoyed our growing up years together."
She continued, "Actually Ashok uncle and Shoma aunty, we still call them dad and mom. We never call them by their name, because they were like a family on sets. Shoma maa would get fruits, vegetables, food, she used to get popcorn maker and would make popcorn, can you believe it? This impacted me so much that today I take everything with me in my basket when I go on sets."
Vandana shortly even got pregnant while shooting for the cult show. Sharing how Ekta Kapoor, Shobha Kapoor and others helped her during her pregnancy, Vandana recalled, "I had nothing to do; these people would take care of me. Right from, Shobha Kapoor to Ekta, to my Hum Paanch family, when they came to know about my pregnancy, they were so excited."
"When I went to the office to tell Shobha Aunty about this I was a little scared because the show was doing so well, and I was pregnant, but she was so happy. She asked me what I liked and asked me to take care of myself. I used to love buttermilk, so she used to send a bottle of buttermilk for me every day on sets when we were shooting. These girls and mom (Shoma ji) and dad (Ashok ji) would pamper me so much. They would just make me hog so much. As my pregnancy months increased, obviously my stomach started showing, Shobha aunty started sending me big dupatta, my director would take special care to ensure I don't face discomfort."
For any TV show to work and find a place in people's hearts, the writing needs to be very strong. Hum Paanch's writing was excellent for its time. When asked Vandana if she feels today the writing has gone considerably down, she asserted, "That was a different time. The script then was the hero. The director was so popular because the show was weekly then. So because of that, they had ample time to find a good subject and work on it, creatively satisfying it was. Now because of the daily soap, you have to write something every day, and not just that you have to also ensure that the breaking point on the show is interesting so that people return to watch the show the next day. That time there was no competition, today the competition is such that people don't have time to work on characters so much. There is a deadline. Earlier, the writer would work on subjects they would find interesting, today the audience's wants have to be considered. So, hats off to them."
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