latest interview of Karan and Nandini | Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi

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Posted: 19 years ago

After weeks of persistence, we catch up with debonair duo – Gauri Pradhan and Hiten Tejwani, a rainy weekday afternoon on the Kyunki… sets at Sankaraman, the foliage dotted Balaji studio in Mumbai.
The couple has had a hectic day at the US embassy getting a visa for their coming Navratri sojourn overseas, but duty calls, too. As Gauri gets ready for her shot, Hiten fusses over her. 'Madam ko chai aur pani dena', he instructs the spot boy.

While she adds final touches to her make-up, Hiten chuckles, 'She's very particular about everything. Not just at home, but even if we are living in a hotel room, she would want everything to be prim and proper. I have to keep reminding her that it's only a hotel room.' 'Hmm..,' pouts Gauri, 'That's the way I am. After all, I am an army officer's daughter.'
Six months into blissful matrimony, their ratings have only soared with the electric chemistry between the couple hogging prime time for days together. Hiten looks the typical simple Sindhi lover boy and Gauri, the suave and sophisticated Maharashtrian model. So, how did their real life love story blossom?
Says Gauri, ' We were doing an ad film for Rajiv Menon in Hyderabad, and I saw Hiten at the airport. I was reading a book. He was chewing gum and I said to myself, 'Oh no, not one of those types.' We didn't even speak to each other. When I was rehearsing the next day, he came up to me and said, 'Keep it up,' and I thought, 'Who the hell is he to keep to tell me to keep it up.'
Laughs Hiten, 'Well, she just looked the type who concentrates on work and reads a book –she was really a girl with attitude. We parted ways without speaking to each other.'
But destiny's hand brought them back together on the ' Kutumb' sets. Gauri had returned after a US shoot and accepted 'Kutumb'. 'I asked Ekta, who's the guy opposite me and she told me, it's Hiten Tejwani. Initially, I couldn't place him but later I figured out he's the same guy, and I felt, 'Chalo, at least he's a nice guy to work with.'
The romance took time to blossom. Gauri didn't speak to Hiten for six months, burying her head in a book between shots, while he chattered and cracked jokes. Hiten smiles his shy smile, 'People would ask me how I could do scenes with her as she neither smiled nor spoke. There were others who thought we were seeing each other; since the chemistry on-screen was terrific. But then we knew nothing was really happening.' He took it upon himself to make her laugh - the only girl on the sets unresponsive to his jokes.
Gauri has no qualms about her attitude and in fact, flaunts it, 'I don't talk to people unless I like them, and unless they talk to me. It was only at the end of one year that we started talking to each other and seeing each other formally.'Holding her hand, Hiten the lover coos, 'We never spoke about marriage and nobody had to propose, but we were serious about each other. It's just that
'Though my parents are pretty liberal, I knew marriage would be the next thing on the cards once I told them!'
The couple had a Maharashtrian wedding in Pune, and later a reception in Mumbai.
So, how's life after marriage, we ask the glowing couple. Have things changed for them? 'It's the best thing that can ever happen to anybody and then it's even nicer if you can marry someone you love,' gushes Hiten.
we were giving each other time. I didn't
The spot boy interrupts to announce a shot, and the two leave off their affectionate parries for the 15 minute sequence. Back to the make-up room, Gauri starts from where she left off. ' Marriage for me is understanding and commitment. But nothing has really changed after marriage, except that Hiten has to be home by ten at night, no matter what. We have a 2O hour work week contract for 'Kyunki…', but they always want more and more of your time. You have to put your foot down as these years are never going to come back…'
Gauri believes in doing one serial at a time. The offers are many, but she would rather spend time with her family and friends. Talk about insecurity in the profession, where characters are being replaced by younger actors and she says, 'I think films make you more insecure.' 'You could be doing one film and then be sitting at home. But here you know the serial will go on for a year. Plus the money is good,' she reasons.
If you are so choosy, we probe, then why did you do the Pan Parag ad together?Explains Gauri, 'I didn't want to do it initially, but Hiten convinced me to do it.' Hiten rushes to the defence, ' It's not a tobacco or an alcohol product, its just a pan masala. After all, they paid so such money. And it was only a day's work, so we took the money and forgot it.'

The Pan Parag ad was perhaps one of the rare things that Hiten could convince his wife about, one guesses. Her pert chin is set as she maintains, ' I have been very clear about from day one is that I won't change my decisions for anybody, unless there is a good enough reason. You can't force someone to change a decision just because you're married to that person.'

tell my parents about it till I was sure about it myself.

Do you shop for each other? Hiten laughs, ' I shop for her, and I shop only for her.' Adds Gauri, 'I have to shop for him because he's not interested in shopping. In fact even on-screen he is not really bothered about his clothes and stuff. But Hiten is very romantic and gifted me a diamond ring because I lost mine while shooting in South Africa.'
Whenever free, the couple prefer going out for a Chinese meal, to Sampan or the Legacy of China. And over the weekends, 'ideal bahu' Gauri spends time with her in-laws
Does she ever have the saas bahu problems, now made famous by TV? ' Oh no! My mother-in- law is very sweet and she is an amazing cook. I don't really cook much, in fact she cooks great Sindhi food and feeds me. I
So, six months of blessed matrimony. Are you lucky for each other? ' I've been very lucky in the sense that I never had to struggle so much in the beginning of my career. I always got better work to do,'' avers Gauri. ' She's been very lucky for me', chuckles Hiten.
'Oh, he's just saying that', butts in Gauri.
'No, no after all, I got two awards after I got married to you', insists the playful husband as he takes her in his arms.
And no, the camera's aren't rolling for this sequence….

Photographs by Ashesh Shah
love Sindhi food, except that they do not eat non-veg.'