Veteran actor Farida Jalal recently made heads turn with her performance in Heeramandi, and as she continues to get audience’s love, the several interviews she has given lately have got everyone talking. In one of the interviews, she mentioned how while people in the film industry shift loyalties, it was television who never forget her, and gave her immense respect. Referring to the popular TV show, Shararat, she even expressed her wish to see a sequel of the show someday.
When we spoke to Jalal’s co-star, actor Shruti Seth, who played the role of her granddaughter in the show, she reveals that the team has in fact been trying to revive Shararat for a long time now.
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“It’s been almost a decade since we have been trying to bring the show back. May be an interesting web show around it, similar to what Riverdale did to Archies but a little more adult version and slightly less childish version than the original,” Seth continues, “We did try and pitch it but there weren’t any takers and the market was going through a complete overhaul, catering to a new audience.”
The light-hearted comedy show that aired from 2003 till 2006, focused on a family of fairies, starring Jalal, Poonam Narula as her daughter and Seth as the newest entrant with magical powers. In 2017, there was some buzz around a sequel, but it never happened. The actor, however, still hopes that it will happen one day.
Seth further tells us that the makers of the show, at one point, also contemplated turning it into a film, like the sitcom Khichdi, but it never materialised.
“Despite several attempts, conversations with many people… at one point we thought of turning it into a feature film, how Khichdi had become but, may be Shararat is such a big show that doing anything to it might end up tampering its legacy,” she adds, noting that the cast kept discussing the possibilities all these years.
“All of us have been connected, and the entire cast and crew harboured a dream that Shararat was back in a new shape or form. We did our best to try and rewrite it, develop into a better story, but unfortunately the networks were not interested, they didn’t see any promise in it,” laments the actor.
While Jalal spoke about losing touch with filmmakers like Karan Johar after working collaborating with him on several projects, Seth shares that she always stayed in touch with the veteran actor.
“She is like a second mother to me. How can I not be in touch with my mother! She has done for me as she would have done for her real daughter, and sometimes more [than that]. Farida ji is an extension of our family. She has always been there, with my parents. Our relationship went so much beyond the show,” she says, adding, “Amongst all the things that I am grateful for, her love is simply the highest ranked perk of having done Shararat.Her love, her affection, her generosity… I don’t think many people have their privilege because as an industry we move on from project to project, but our attachment as a group in Shararat has passed the test of time. May be that’s the best way to leave the show.”
