In the midst of a cold February two people slowly but surely began warming our hearts....the launch of Balaji's Kasamh Se on Zee T.V in 2006 introduced us to, well, dreams. As the suave, sophisticated and the oh so deliciously stern Jai Walia locked glances with the shy, demure and delicate Bani Dixit the sparks flew. We watched, we were enchanted and soon we were hopelessly addicted to the magical story of the reserved tycoon reluctantly falling in love and a simple, young girl becoming a woman as she shyly returned that love. Ram Kapoor and Prachi Desai, breathed so much life into them that we forgot that Jai and Bani were fiction....we forgot that their story was fictional. Instead, we began dreaming of Jai and Bani. The mature, trained actor and the novice newcomer, well real life mirrored the fiction as Ram and Prachi took their place, for us the viewers, in the pantheon of screen couple who immortalise their characters. And here on this site, we the hopeless romantics and dreamers have decided to celebrate the acting prowess and the on-screen magic of the actors who gave us Jai and Bani.
Odds and Ends
If 2006 ended on a high note for both Ram and Prachi, 2007 was not far behind. After the slew of awards they both garnered at various award functions last year, both individually and as an On- Screen Couple one might have been forgiven for assuming that that was to remain as the hight point of Kasam Se for both. One would be wrong in making such an assumption. Even as the story line of Kasam Se meanders and lurches from one badly thought out track to another and the TRP's continue to oscillate between apathy and tepid interest, the performances of our favourite pair continue to pack a rather powerful punch.
At the recently held 6th Indian Television Awards, aired on 2nd December on Sony Entertainment both Ram and Prachi emphatically proved that they are beyond the errors and flaws of the script. Ram won the award in the Best Actor category for the second year consecutively for his portrayal of Jai Walia. This also happens to be the first time that any actor has the won the award in the same category for two years in a row. We have already crossed our fingers for the Third in a row. Prachi won the award in the Best Actress category. Last year she won the Fresh New Face of the Year and the Couple of the Year (along with Ram) at the ITA. Perhaps if the magical pair of Jai and Bani had not spent the better part of the year seperated on-screen they would have pulled a consecutive Couple of the Year award as well.
And Prachi, who is still a newbie in the industry managed to put in her award winning performance as Bani while she was busy dancing. This year she is one of the participants in Sony's Jhalak Dikhla Ja. And there is real life drama galore in JDJ too, least the audience miss the melodrama of her on-screen life. In a surprise episode Prachi was eliminated, much to the consternation of her numerous fans since as it turned out, the very talented actress is a truly gifted dancer. But in a format first, JDJ had a wildcrad entry round where she was voted back in overwhelmingly. As JDJ approaches its grand finale, Prachi continues to go from strength to strenght. Here's hoping she goes all the way and wins the competition. After watching her performances, which range from the spectacular to the sizzling, no one can dispute her dancing skills. Now all that is needed is the affirmation of her skills and charm by the viewer's votes.
We are delighted to add the rider that Prachi did indeed go on to win the competition. She was magnificent through out the competition, literally dancing her heart out and it showed as she earned the trophy.
Although as fans we feel that the way in which her win was greeted by the judges, one of the fellow finalists and anchor was in appalling bad taste. If the judges loved Sandhya that much they should have stood up and changed the format of the show and done away entirely with voting aspect of the show. Besides which they should also have remembered not to give Prachi more marks than Sandhya in the final round. There is a fine line between being encouraging of the runners up and insulting the winner and the judges stomped over that line without any courtesy. As for the anchor, somebody should teach her how to spell the word hypocrisy. It might do Mona a world of good.
Words Are All I Have...
ASHWINI KALSEKAR (JIGYASA)
To dedicated fans, Ashwini is better known Jigyasa, the sister of Jai Walia from the heyday of Kasam Se. Then, despite conniving against the love story of Jai and Bani she enjoyed great popularity. Today, post leaps, as her character has been transformed into the evil west witch, she still does a creditable job as Jigyasa. But unlike her on-screen persona; whose relationship with and intentions for Jai and Bani have gone from mildly manipulative and madly entertaining to irrationally nasty and very boring; her real life relationship with both, Ram and Prachi is a much happier one.
Ram, who is also her Rakhi brother, is rated by her as one of the most professional actors on the small screen today despite being a brat and a prankster. While his ability to can his shot invariably in a single take impresses her, his ability to do so moments after he has finished playing his latest prank on some unsuspecting fellow on the set is what makes him more special. As the youngest member of the cast, Prachi is unsurprisingly considered the darling of the entire set. The bratty baby is however no pushover, according to Ashwini she can be quite the stubborn lil’ miss when she wants. Personally, Ashwini can’t decide whether the affection she has for Prachi is that towards a daughter or a younger sister.
Professionally Ashwini rates Ram and Prachi as the hottest on-screen couple she has ever worked with on television. In her own words, “Ram and Prachi share a chemistry I am yet to see between any other jodi in the TV industry, and the jodi of Jai and Bani is successful because it is being portrayed by Ram and Prachi”.
ARUNIMA SHARMA (RANO)
Quirky draw of the casting roulette meant that Arunima despite being the eldest in real life, played the youngest sister, Rano on Kasam Se. So when she met Prachi for the first time on the sets, what struck her the most was the youth of Prachi. But what has impressed Arunima is the speed with which Prachi picked up the ropes, and the professionalism with which Prachi delivered all that was expected of her performance wise. This despite being other wise the giggling kid, who is always quick to break into peals of laughter.
Arunima’s first meeting with Ram was a few days after she met with Prachi and it was the other end of the spectrum; a senior established artist, with a known and appreciated body of work to his credit. But Ram came across to her as a warm and open individual, with no airs and no guards in place. Although she echoes Ashwini when she says that Ram is an established prankster who loves to embarrass people by playing harmless but hilarious pranks on everyone.
Like the other co-stars on the show, Arunima agrees that Ram and Prachi’s on-screen chemistry is rocking. She attributes this to two reasons. Firstly, she feels that Ram and Prachi’s off screen friendship, which is a close one translates into a good on-screen relationship. Secondly, she feels that the characters of Jai and Bani rather closely echo the real life personalities of Ram and Prachi; he is worldly and sophisticated while Prachi is innocent and simple.
NAMAN SHAW (PUSHKAR)
Naman in Kasam Se was the ideal best friend any girl could ask for, kind, considerate, charming, and always loyal. Like the glory days of KS we also miss the wonderful friendship between Bani and Pushkar.
Naman, like the rest of the crew, met Ram and Prachi on the first day of shooting for Kasam Se. It did not take him long to make friends with Prachi, who he is relatively close to in age terms, and today she is his best friend and they often hang out together. They also share common friends. Naman also says that he and Ram became such close friends, that even today he thinks of Ram of as an elder brother, who often gives him advice on life. He concurred with the rest of the Kasam Se cast in that Ram is a very sweet person and the life of the sets, as he has a good sense of humour and cracks a lot of jokes making everyone laugh. According to Naman, Prachi is a small town girl who has made it big in Mumbai and he is very proud of her.
Off sets, Ram and Prachi are very friendly and share an extraordinary comfort level, shared by very few co-stars. He admits Ram has a lot of affection for Prachi and looks out for her on the sets. This affection and care they share transcends into chemistry on screen. Naman is of the opinion that the Jai and Bani jodi became such a huge hit because of the romance portrayed. It was something different. He was a big guy romancing a cute little girl.
SIDDHARTH (RANVEER)
We first caught a glimpse of the sexy sanyasi, as we were to christen him, during his mean act on Kasam Se. While his job was to make life miserable for Bani instead he made the tilak and the trademark mean stare hot! While Ranveer on Kasam Se may have been derailed as a character, we will always remember the sexy sanyasi from the golden days of KS fondly.
Siddharth, the man behind the tilak, first met Ram and Prachi on the sets itself. He had been expecting to meet Mohnish Behl instead, one of the earlier choices for the role of Jai Walia. That was not the only surprise. He and Ram took only a day to bond. Ram the extremely friendly, always laughing easygoing person also turned out to be a prankster. But underneath it, Siddharth insists, beats a heart of gold. The shy young Prachi was treated like the baby of the sets from the first day and it took only a week for Prachi to lose her shyness. By then Siddharth too was on the pampering bandwagon.
Off the set, the cast says Siddharth were all like one family and often shared their meals together. Ram and Prachi are especially comfortable with each other, and share a great chemistry off screen, which reflects in their on screen pairing. According to Siddharth, the jodi of Jai and Bani is a hit because of the romance portrayed by the two actors and the love/hate relationship they share on screen.
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