Sister Act

In fact,this is the first time they are acting together after moving to Mumbai—Bhargava shifted in 1994 and Mishra four years later. While the rest of the cast had gotten busy with their lives,these two telly siblings had stayed in touch. “Yet,working for Ismat Aapa has brought us together all over again,” says Mishra. In Delhi,they had worked together for the theatre group Sambhav.

Bhargava first met the play’s director Naseeruddin Shah at Mishra’s wedding six years back. In Bhargava,he found the actor for the mother’s role in Katha Collage. Mishra had to wait longer—till Ismat Aapa ke Naam II happened—to work with Shah,even though she attended a couple of workshops he conducted at his farmhouse.

The camaraderie that had eased the tough schedule of Hum Log was once again at work during the Ismat Aapa rehearsals. “The Hum Log cast was like a family and we spent most part of the day together,” remembers Bhargava. They used to meet at 3 pm to rehearse for the soap,which was first aired in July 7,1984,at Himachal Bhavan. Later,a van used to take them to a studio in Gurgaon to shoot the episode.

“It was a three-camera setup with basic facilities. There was only one makeup man and a tiny green room for all of us,” shares Mishra. Still Hum Log created India’s pop culture history with

P Kumar Vasudev’s direction,Manohar Shyam Joshi’s story and Anil Biswas’ music. Ashok Kumar too threw in his might with a five-minute summing up after every episode.

The soap was conceptualised by the Information and Broadcasting ministry on the lines of a Mexican series called Ven Conmigo,which had used education-entertainment methodology to reach out to the masses.

“Hum Log was ahead of its times. It talked about women empowerment,family planning and adoption,” says Mishra. Both,however,rue the fact that in the present scenario,regular rehearsals for TV shows,proper scripts and single takes have almost become a myth. “The industry has only made technological progress. Concept and content wise,it has gone backward,” Bhargava adds.

With both of them taking a break from television,it’s the rehearsals for Ismat Aapa that needs their attention. It will be staged at NCPA Experimental,on September 9,