Interview: Vinod Khanna strikes back
One of the heartthrobs of the seventies, Vinod Khanna was soaring high in his profession, when he developed spiritual inclinations. His spiritual quest, his coming into contact with Osho, the divine master abruptly interrupted his celluloid romance, much to the disappointment of his women fans. But here's good news. Now, his fans can find him right into their living rooms in Smriti Irani's ( a joint venture by Smriti and Applause Entertainment) new show for 9X, Mere Apne.
The actor is relishing every moment of his new stint in the show. Says Khanna who plays Kashinath Pandey in the show, "Mere Apne is not just another family saga. It goes much beyond that in a new and far more significant way."
Revealing more on the storyline Khanna says, "It's a gripping family drama that revolves around a north Indian family. As the head of the family, I try to instill values in my children and hope they would keep up to my expectations. Smriti plays my wife Sharda.”
Talking about his experience about acting in a TV show, Khanna says, "The best part about my character in the show is that I don’t need to make an effort to portray the character. I can almost relate to the role and it is not something that I have not done before. As for the medium, I realize this is a fast lane, but I am managing fine."
Interestingly, this is not really the first time that Khanna thought of getting associated with TV. The actor recalls, "I appeared in the title role of a mega series Maharana Pratap. Unfortunately, its producer ran into a huge loss and the series could not take off. This happened about 12 years ago. After that, I didn’t come across a single project."
But now that he has finally made his foray in soaps, does he intend to continue with it? To this he replies, "If I get a good role, I will definitely do it. What actually enticed me to take up this role in Mere Apne are Smriti's conviction and her confidence in me. Besides, the channel is really trying to do something different and I’m glad I am part of it."
The actor has already made friends with his co-actors and has made it a point to that they should be like one big family on the sets. Says Khanna, "I call every actor by their screen name. That way one starts living the character which reflects in the final output."
Shot in the beautiful locales of Madhya Pradesh and Benaras, the show boasts of some fantastic sets designed by Omang Kumar, who is again in news for being the man behind the wonderful sets of Saawariya.
The others in the cast are, Gauri Nigudkar, Amit Jain, and Rohit Bakshi in significant roles.
