Star Plus is all set to roll out the Season 2 of the much awaited show Saath Nibhaana Saathiya from tomorrow. MUSBA HASHMI speaks with DEVOLEENA BHATTARCHARJEE aka Gopi Bahu about how excited she is to be back on screen and how the character changed when she stepped into the show
Watching one or the other daily soap is our guilty pleasure. There is no denying that it makes for a good watch if one wants to take a break from the reality of their lives. Of late, daily soaps are so in trend and the one which tops the charts is Saathiya. Not because the storyline is something out of the box, but because Yashraj Mukhate decided to mix a scene from the popular show and it went viral within no time.
Even Rupal Patel, who played Kokila Ben couldn’t help but appreciate Mukhate’s take on the popular scene. Now that the show has already received it’s share of admiration from the audience, it is just the right time for the makers to launch Saath Nibhaana Saathiya 2 on Star Plus tomorrow.
Devoleena Bhattacharjee, who was seen in Bigg Boss 13 is all set to play Gopi Modi once again. If one is to ask what Season 2 has on offer for the audience, it’s a no-brainer that they have to give it a watch.
“I can’t give out the story for Season 2, because we are also not told about the whole story, we just shoot as per our director’s direction. Also there are frequent changes during the shoot. But one thing is for sure, that the entertainment quotient will surely be high and with a message of women empowerment. There will be a new love angle between Gehna and Anant. I am sure audience will love it,” Bhattacharjee tells you.
Ask her about how excited she is to be back on screen as Gopi and she is quick to answer — that her excitement has no bounds. “I am super excited. I never imagined that I will be coming back on TV as Gopi. It gives me a different feel. Most of the times when there is a Season 2 of a show, the character remains the same but the actors change. But I am getting to play Gopi again and it is nothing short of a gift to me,” she tells you.
A new season, she says, come with a lot of new challenges. “With a second season, the expectations of the audience are high. So it is challenging that way. To bring a second season of a hit show is risky in itself, because of the high expectations. But I think, we have proved ourselves and now the responsibility lies on the newer lot and it’s there chance to prove themselves. Having said that, it doesn’t mean we don’t have any responsibility, it is just that they have a larger part of play in it,” she explains.
If one is to remember, the infamous scene of the show where Gopi washes off Ahem’s laptop with soap and water and hang it to dry, one would remember Giaa Manek, who was then replaced by Bhattacharjee. Ask her if it is challenging to step in to the shoes of an already established character, she says that for her the role was as new as it can be.
“I never thought that I am replacing someone. If I had would have focused about these things, I would have not been able to pull that off. My focus was on to do justice to my character. That’s all. I saw it as a new role,” she says.
Initially, Bhattacharjee struggled with the character, so much so that people told him that she won’t be able to play it. “First six months were challenging. Things were not falling in place. I got to know that people felt that this was not my cup of tea. It felt bad. There were talks that the show might get off air after Giaa’s replacement. People expected me to act like Giaa, but that’s not possible. I have a different personality and I will act in my way, I can’t copy someone. But despite all this, I am a very stubborn person, if I take up a job, I do my best to make it happen. So was with Gopi. I fought for my character. I did things in my own way. I just didn’t let it go. I put in all my efforts and hard work and eventually it did work. And when the audience accepted me, Gopi’s character was changed quite a bit. She was shown as a progressive woman. Even her style was changed,” she tells you.
She tells you that she has a lot of fun memories from the sets of the previous season. “I was like the queen on the sets. I shared a good rapport with everyone. We did so much fun. Some days were exciting, some were good and some were bad. I laughed, cried, got angry and what not. We were like a big family and we enjoyed every bit of it,” Bhattacharjee recalls.
Daily soaps are always tagged as over dramatic and over the top, Bhattacharjee has a say on that. “That’s not true. The reason people love daily soaps is that they find a connection with it. Everything that has been show happens with us at some point of time. It’s just that we modify it as per the need of the story. Otherwise it is not over dramatic, it is just a reflection of the society,” she opines.
