Rupali Ganguly talks about reprising her role as Monisha Sarabhai in the web-series! – Rupali’s gearing up to reprise her role as Monisha Sarabhai, has joined a gym to get back into shape
Rupali Ganguly
They may not have been seen on the small screen together since Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai went off air over a decade ago, but the team makes it a point to have a get-together every two-three months or so. Recently, Satish Shah, Ratna Pathak Shah, Sumeet Raghavan, Rajesh Kumar, JD Majethia, Aatish Kapadia and Deven Bhojani met at Rupali Ganguly’s house for a reunion. What’s interesting is, they all told her to organise diet food!
“Since we were told that Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai will be making a comeback as a web series, all of us are trying to get back in shape. It’s been 11 years since we did the serial and all of us have grown, though not necessarily aged! However, except for me — I was 52 kilos when I did the serial and put on 36 kilos during my pregnancy — the others look the same, especially Sumeet. I hate him for that (laughs). In fact, I have told him I will lose 10 kilos and he should put on some so that we meet half-way,” says Rupali, who joined a gym in December. She weighed 70 then, and has already lost seven kilos.
So, when are they planning to start shooting? “I am not sure, but I think it should happen in the next couple of months, I think JD bhai is waiting for me to lose my motapa and then will start,” she quips.
Ask her what she feels about revisiting Monisha and she says she is excited, but also very scared. “People remember us from 10 years ago. I am apprehensive about how they will accept us now,” she says. As for shooting for a web series for the first time, the actress says, “I have never seen any web series… but more than shooting, it will be a happy therapy time — the reason the Sarabhais are still together and so close is because we had so much fun while shooting. All I know is it’s going to be Sarabhai family time for me,” she smiles.
It’s rare for the cast of a serial to bond so much after the serial is over, and that too 10 years hence, and she says it was her idea to start a WhatsApp group comprising the team. “I was the most vela person (she had taken a break after marriage and motherhood) so I started this group. Ratnaben was reluctant to join the group — she said tum mujhe suprabhat messages bhejke pareshan karogi —but I pleaded for a month before she agreed. It was when we started chatting that we decided to have a get-together and the first one happened at Kaka’s (Satish Shah) place and it’s been a regular thing since then,” reveals Rupali.
