MUMBAI: The serial ‘Hari Mirchi Laal Mirchi‘, which is being telecast at 9 p.m. every Thursday on Doordarshan‘s national network and is at the top of viewer ship ratings, has been the focus of discussion all year round. The main reason for this interest is the fact that everyone seems to be enjoying the serial so much that they can‘t stop themselves from talking about it.

After completing one year of success the serial is once more in the news. For 52 episodes the character of Rinku was being portrayed by Neeru Bajwa but from the 53rd episode Surabhi Tiwari was seen playing Rinku‘s character. And now from the 57th episode Yamini Singh is being seen in place of Suhita Thate in the role of Rinku‘s mother.

The change seems natural. As when the daughter changes so should the mother. But this rule doesn‘t necessarily hold all through the film or television medium and this is why when this change was executed in ‘Hari Mirchi Laal Mirchi‘ various rumours began to flood the market.

Some sources claimed that Suhita Thate has received an offer for a film or another serial due to which she is unable to give time to ‘Hari Mirchi Laal Mirchi‘. Others felt that the Rakesh Chowdhary the producer director of the serial was fed up of Suhita Thate‘s conduct and had expelled her from the serial. However when we spoke to Rakesh Chowdhary we realised that the fact was altogether different. Rakesh Chowdhary informed us - "We had no issue with Suhita Thate.

Her commitment to other projects did not affect our schedules. But when for the sake of freshness and other reasons we brought in Surabhi Tiwari to play the role of Rinku we realised within an episode or two that the spark, which should exist between the mother and a daughter, had gone missing. The viewers‘ responses too made it clear that people were now unable to digest Suchita in the role of Rinku‘s mother. This is why we had to select another artist to portray the role of Rinku‘s mother, Yamini Singh is now seen playing the character."

Just like Surabhi Tiwari who plays Rinku‘s role Yamini Singh too has worked with Rakesh Chowdhary in the past. Viewers have seen Yamini in Rakesh Chowdhary‘s super-hit serial ‘Shikwah‘. Yamini is not a newcomer to the world of acting. Back in 1992 she acquired formal acting training in Chandigarh‘s ‘Indian Theatre‘ before entering into the field. Besides theatre she has been in a huge number of Ad films.

As far as the big screen is concerned her first assignment was with Mita Vashist and Revati in ‘Tarpan‘. In the film she had played the role of Om Puri‘s daughter. After this she played the character of ‘lovely‘ in the ‘Colgate top ten‘. On television she has done a lot of work in serials like ‘Bandhan‘ ‘Ghar Ek Mandir‘ ‘Koshish Ek Asha‘ ‘Hum Hai Na Lajawab‘ ‘Shikwah‘ and many more.

Some while ago the recently released film ‘Jai Santoshi Ma‘ had her as part of its cast. Nowadays besides ‘Hari Mirchi Laal Mirchi‘ she is also seen performing in the serial ‘Jab Love Hua‘ While speaking about taking the place of another artist in portraying the role of Rinku‘s mother? Yamini Singh says. -"When an artist portrays a character. The character gets associated with the personality, the stature and partially even the mannerisms of the artist. On the set too all other artists establish rapport with the character. There is always a little discomfort at the beginning.

This discomfort is not limited to the new artist but is shared by the entire team. But in a day or two everything returns to a comfort zone. So when I entered right in the middle of ‘Hari Mirchi Laal Mirchi‘ I felt a lot of unease on the first day.

But soon the episode director Rajesh Gupta and all other artists gave me such co-operation that in one day itself I was able to grab all the nuances of the character and then all the discomfort and difficulties vanished. Actually I feel proud to be associated with ‘Hari Mirchi Laal Mirchi‘, because I am once again getting a chance to work with Rakesh Chowdhary a maker who I admire tremendously. Rakeshji has given the world of television ‘Chunauti‘ ‘Mujrim Haazir‘ and many more memorable serials. No other maker has been able to give serials of such excellence.