Rakhi Vijan played Sweety Mathur in Hum Paanch. (Photo: Rakhi Vijan/Instagram)
Popular 90s sitcom Hum Paanch is back on the small screen. The comedy drama about five sisters, each with a distinct personality, stars Ashok Saraf, Vandana Pathak, Rakhi Vijan and Bhairavi Raichura among others. It also marked the debut of Ekta Kapoor as a producer.
Rakhi Vijan, who played the character of Sweety, spoke exclusively to indianexpress.com about her serial re-airing on Zee TV. She said, “I was really excited as we would get to relive our childhood through the show. We all started working at a very young age. We were just out of school. Even Ekta (Kapoor) was in her teens when she took charge. This was our first show, and it became a hit. Now we will all get to watch it again from the first episode. It’s like every memory from the shoot is rushing back.”
Going down memory lane, the actor opened up about the close bond the team shared. She said, “Today, people are very professional, but we were an emotional bunch. The time was very different back then, and we were all so raw. We would obey our directors completely. Also, we all lived like a family, and helped each other even in dressing up. There were so many times when we would suggest things to enhance each other’s characters. We worked for the show as a whole, never trying to shine individually. It was a beautiful time.”
When asked how tough it was to get out of the ‘Sweety’ image, Rakhi Vijan said, “I think people still think I am Sweety, who is crazy, and runs to open the door while singing (laughs). It was really difficult and I don’t think I have managed to break out of the image yet. I did not have another big popular character after her. And I give full credit to Ekta Kapoor for the same. Whichever character she managed to carve has gone on to become such a hit. She is a prodigy in true sense.”
While Rakhi is still known as Sweety, the actor shared that she never managed to imbibe any of her character’s traits. “We never had time. I would shoot three shifts in a day, and had nothing apart from work to think about. So I could never imbibe any of her personality traits.”
The actor also said that the re-run of comedy shows can actually help people during the lockdown. “Everyone is stressed today. When they switch on the television, and see these fun shows, they smile and become happy. I think happiness evokes positivity, which can help people sort out their issues. It’s really important to laugh in these times,” Rakhi Vijan concluded.