Juhi Parmar recalls working 30 hours non-stop on Kumkum sets, says they would call it ‘Mogambo’s den’

The actor said that there was too much work going on at that time but described it as “its own kind of fun”. “We did it then but now I wonder how we did it,” she said. Juhi said that in the early 2000s, daily soaps were a new beast and even the producers did not know how to handle it, and deliver so many episodes in a week which led to the long working hours. “That’s the nature of television. It is demanding. You have to deliver,” she said but also added that if such working hours don’t work for someone, then they should not take up work in the television industry. “If it’s not workable for you, then you shouldn’t do it. That’s the requirement of this medium. So you should be mentally prepared to do it,” she said.

The actor insisted that the medium is demanding “not by choice” but because of the “need”. “If we don’t shoot so much, we won’t be able to deliver,” the actor said.

Juhi Parmar concluded by saying that she would never look down on television as she believes “I am what I am because of television”. “I’m not naming anybody here or quoting anybody, I am talking about just myself here that in my opinion, I totally respect television. I feel that hats off to television industry to be able to pull off work like this with such deadlines, with no preparation, having a sword on their head all the time and still deliver such great work,” she said.

Previously actor Radhika Madan had spoken about the long working hours of television and the last minute calls that did not allow actors to prepare for their roles. Radhika’s statements were not taken kindly by many in the television industry including producer Ektaa Kapoor.