Comic comeback

The serial opens with the re-telecast of the initial 13 episodes, followed by the new ones. Which, besides accommodating the new viewers, also helps give a sense a continuity to the serial.

The story revolves around Sunita, a dim-witted air hostess played by Ratna Pathak and Poonam, a practical, level-headed accounts executive played by Supriya Pathak. Both share a flat. The pandemonium begins with their keeping a paying guest, Lilliput, in their flat. The three of them together end up creating a series of comic situations. These old episodes end with the two friends getting transferred to different cities. From here on the new series takes over.

Mahendroo is adventurous enough to take on the theme of single women living alone. 8220;I don8217;t do idle prattle. None of my serials are ever without a message,8221; he says. He points out that even in 1985, people accepted two women taking a man as a paying guest, without ever defining the relationship as a boyfriend or a brother.

Idhar Udhar showed an entirely different dimension of the man-woman relationship. He wanted to focus on the trauma of transfers as well. So the story picks up again with the transfer of these two women, leaving their husbands behind, again to the same city. Both the characters have grown. Poonam has become upwardly mobile, is very decisive and sharp. She has a good marriage, complete with an understanding husband, but there8217;s no romance. Sunita has made it as the chief air hostess despite being dim-witted, and has a lot of romance in her marriage.

Sunita, with her two sons and Poonam with her two daughters end up renting the same house from Lilliput, who is a successful builder. Brought together again by circumstances, the old pattern continues with a lot of new characters. There is Lilliput8217;s wife Katy Bhavana Basaver, his two sons, their girlfriends, Sunita8217;s brother-in-law and a host of other people.

Known for bringing in quality new comers, Mahendroo has trained a whole new lot for this serial. Gauri, Prabhat Bhattacharya, Ajay Padhye have been training for the last one year. Prabhat and Ajay, who play the twin sons of Lilliput, are like one character divided in two. There is an unsaid coordination between them. 8220;We are getting to know more of each other and spend as much time as possible together. Most of the times we are exchanging notes on body building,8221; says Prabhat, who plays an exercise freak in Idhar Udhar.

It has been hammered into the duo that the better the rapport between them, the better they will click on screen. 8220;I have grown both as an actor and as a person,8221; says Ajay. As for the seasoned actresses, Mahendroo believes that they are very much the characters he is portraying. Though much more involved with their personal lives now, he is amazed and thankful for their professionalism.

Unlike Dekh Bhai Dekh, there is no blood relation between these people. So there is no reason whatsoever that they need to tolerate the other8217;s eccentricities, feels Mahendroo. Even Lilliput8217;s sons are not really his, but adopted, but the relationship is the same. Here they have a choice not to adjust and that is what makes it all the more interesting. The decision to telecast it on DD was deliberate reveals Mahendroo. 8220;No one can ask for the creative rights of a project. How can someone not acquainted with the topic tamper with someone8217;s intellectual work?8221; he questions.

But otherwise, Mahendroo is quite happy with life. 8220;I am a chronic optimist and have a very positive approach toward life,8221; he says. His world has an utopian quality to it.

Very much at peace with himself, he believes there is nothing wrong with thinking, but one shouldn8217;t worry. 8220;When you are thinking, your thoughts are clear and linear. The minute your thoughts go cyclish, you know you are worrying,8221; he says. So Mahendroo8217;s dictum in life is to be happy, and to make people happy. And maybe that8217;s the reason why he churns out excellent comedies.