Well before the fans of popular TV and Bollywood actor Hiten Tejwani jump the gun and assume it as a heart-breaking news, let us inform you we are talking about his character ‘Kishan’, a philandering taxi driver, in upcoming Hindi comedy play I LOVE YOU TWO, where he will be seen two-timing his wives ‘Meera & Maria’ played by Toral Rasputra & Rajani respectively.
Not many know, but Hiten is doing theater after 17 years, he says, “I have done plays before; I am back on stage after 17 years. I have done comedy earlier but I LOVE YOU TWO is on a different level.”
While in the play Hiten plays a Casanova who easily cheats on his partners, in real life Hiten is committed to his beloved actress wife Gauri Pradhan: “I know a lot of people who cheat on their partners but personally I don’t believe in infidelity. I am committed to only one wife in real. While Kishan is a crook, I am very seedha saadha. Both Meera and Maria, Kishan’s wives are very sorted, level-headed and smart but my character fools them around and that will make for an interesting watch,” chuckles Hiten.
While I LOVE YOU TWO will be full on entertainer, it will conclude with a nice message too. “When these types of characters come out that means the writer has taken inspiration from real life. He must have seen such characters so he pens down them. And by the end the play will also have a nice message too. Nowhere in this play we are promoting that one should have two wives. It is a situation which we have dealt in a very comic & hilarious way. It just happens with him. It’s not that he wants to do. The man didn’t deliberately go after the second women, but it is the situation that creates the entire scene.”
Famous TV soap ‘Balika Vadhu’ fame Toral is making her debut on stage with this play and she plays Meera, one of the wives of Hiten in I LOVE YOU TWO. However, unlike Telly soap, which only had rona dhona, Toral, who plays a simple housewife, will be tickling our funny bones in the comedy play.
“I was always excited to be on stage and I always wanted to do comedy. Like in television you don’t get that opportunity, so I didn’t want to let go off doing this play. Somehow I have always been offered serious roles, so I wanted to break the typecasting also. And any which ways I am not doing anything right now on TV, so I had the apt time to explore theatre. Here you have enough time to develop your character unlike TV, where you just get the script and you don’t go through the logic. All you require in TV is shoot the scenes. But theatre helps you to grow as an actor. Having said that I am nervous too,” says an elated Toral.
Further talking about her character, a gharelu wife, in the comedy play, Toral says, “My character in the play might be seedhi saadhi but you can’t say that if a women is simple, then she can’t be smart. Meera is from small town, who lives in Walkeshwar. The way she dresses up is also not classy.For Meera, Kishan, her hubby is a simple guy and she trusts him completely. However, when Kishan takes up taxi driving suddenly, despite being a highly educated person, she becomes suspicious of him.”
After sharing screen space on TV, Toral and Hiten come together yet again. “I have a big problem with Hiten. I have worked together with him earlier. The way he looks, it makes me laugh. I don’t know what we are going to do on stage (laughs). Even when we were doing serious scenes we would start laughing. But honestly this is a good team to work with. I am blessed that I am doing my first play and everyone is so supportive.”
Falguni Rajani, who has been active in theatre for quite some time, plays Hiten’s second wife Maria in the play.
“I am playing Kishan’s wife Maria. It’s an interesting character. Maria is catholic and she has a very different male type accent. She is lovey-dovey and happy-go-lucky until she realizes that her husband has another wife.
When she discovers about Kishan’s another wife, all hell breaks loose and she blasts completely at Kishan as well as Meera.”
Talking about working with Hiten and Toral for the first time, Falguni shares, “Though Toral is making her debut on stage, but she is doing very good and Hiten as everyone knows is a gem of a person and marvelous actor too. We have a damn good team. Both Hiten and Toral don’t have any ego issue, they never threw tantrums.”
So gear up for a hilarious ride with Hiten, Toral and Falguni as the comedy play I LOVE YOU TWO premieres on March 11, this Saturday at Bhaidas Auditorium, followed by subsequent shows on March 12 and 13 at Bandra’s Rang Sharda and Sophia Auditorium at Pedder Road.