Gautami Kapoor has done the unbelievable. The actor has refused Ekta Kapoor’s magnum opus Mahabharata. Reason?
She’s the first actor from the Balaji stable to have turned down the mega mythological show Mahabharata
m_ranjib@dnaindia.netGautami Kapoor has done the unbelievable. The actor has refused Ekta Kapoor’s magnum opus Mahabharata. Reason? Well, she does not see herself playing a mythological character on the small-screen.
Says a source in the production house, “Gautami was roped in when Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi was in the doldrums after Smriti Irani’s exit. Ekta is very fond of Gautami for this simple reason. But, the situation has become different with Smriti burying the hatchet with Ekta and coming back to the show. As a backup plan, Ekta had thought of roping her in for Mahabharata in a bid to compensate. But, when the creative team approached Gautami, she refused plainly.”
Confirms Gautami, “Yes, I was approached for Mahabharata. However, I just turned it down without even hearing what my character was about.”
Incidentally, Gautami and Ram Kapoor’s daughter Sia is just two years old and the mother does not want to get herself engrossed in too much work. Even when she was offered to play Tulsi in Kyunkii, she had made it clear that she wouldn’t be able to give more than seven hours per day.
“Balaji has been extremely kind to me. I only shoot for a limited number of hours every day. I also get offs on Friday and Saturday. But, if I take up Mahabharata, I would have to shoot for more than 12 hours each day. A mythological is all about costumes and dramatic dialogues; so almost three hours would be spent just on the preparations, besides the actual shooting. I cannot afford this,” she says.
Gautami adds, “Ram is shooting for more than 12 hours each day. So, I want to be around Sia.”
But, what if this upsets Ekta? “This is a false impression that people have of Ekta. She is a gem of a person. She knows my situation completely. When she took me in Kyunki, she agreed to all my conditions. Ram and I are a part of the big Balaji family. I’m sure, she will approach me whenever she has a good role for me,” she ends.
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