Veteran actor Supriya Pathak, who is returning as Hansa Parekh in "Khichdi 2 – Mission Paanthukistan", on Wednesday said the iconic character will remain with her forever.
The actor was speaking at the trailer launch press conference of the upcoming film “Khichdi 2 – Mission Paanthukistan”. It is written and directed by Aatish Kapadia.
Pathak, also known for her work in films including “Kalyug”, “Bazaar”, “Wake Up Sid”, and “Ram Leela”, credited Kapadia for working hard on creating such a memorable character.
“We have been doing ‘Khichdi’ for so long so it is ingrained in us. Even if you wake us up in the middle of the night, we'll be able to get into the character in no time. In the beginning, we worked very hard when we were building the characters, Aatish worked very hard," the 62-year-old actor told reporters here.
Hansa -- always decked up in sari, jewellery, and gajra -- is a slacker who relies on her equally silly husband Praful's (Rajeev Mehta) errant translations when confronted with English. Her catchphrases like "Main to thak gayi bhaaishaab" ("I'm so tired") and "Praful, what is..." also make the character a memorable one.
"Now, Hansa is a part of me and she'll be with me until I die. Hansa is not leaving me anytime soon; she'll be with me forever. We all fell in love with our characters and that's why it doesn't feel like it is difficult. It is hard work but it is not difficult,” Pathak added.
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 maiden “Khichdi” movie was released in 2010.
For Pathak, Hansa functions as a medicine.
“Whenever I feel that life is not treating me well, all I have to do is call Aatish and ask him, ‘When are we going to do 'Khichdi'?’. I can rejuvenate myself with Hansa and that is the best thing.
"Every time we come on the set to do ‘Khichdi’, we are happy, all our worries are behind us. It's been a long and lovely journey but we are extremely happy to be with each other. The fact that we have been able to spend so much good time with each other for so many years is something I cherish,” she added.
“Khichdi 2” will explore the quirky dynamics of the Parekh family, who are on a mission to finish 'Paanthukistan', a fictional nation, so that the country cannot create further disruption in the world.
The upcoming film will also see regular cast members Rajeev Mehta (Praful), Anang Desai (Babuji), Vandana Pathak (Jayshree), Kirti Kulhari (Parminder), and Jamnadas Majethia (Himanshu) reprising their roles.
Kulhari, who made her film debut with the 2010 movie “Khichdi”, said she wasn’t sure if she could pull off a light-hearted role after being part of several intense films.
“‘Khichdi’ is close to my heart, I started with that. I was like, ‘I’m Parminder and I’ll do it’. Here I’m after 12 years with ‘Khichdi 2’. This time on the first day of shoot, I was nervous, I was like, ‘I do so much serious work, I don’t know whether I can do comedy or not’.
"I was like I better do this well. More than people watching it, I need to feel good about it as an actor, that I can do it well. After one or two takes, I could feel the soul of Parminder was in me, and I just had a blast,” she said.
Majethia, also the producer of the film, said the team worked on several drafts until they were satisfied with the story of "Khichdi 2".
“Our intention was to entertain the audience a lot more this time. Till the time we didn’t get the right script, we didn’t make the sequel. We are sure that this film will entertain you all,” he added.
The film is set to arrive in cinema halls on November 17.
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