Jab mere barah baj gaye!

A page from the personal diary of Ketkie J Life is full of happenings - some good, some bad and few special or I must say MEMORABLE. Few incidents have directly touched my heart. And today I would like to share one such moment that I cherish. The biggest day of my life was when I was finalised to play Nandini in Jassuben Jayantilaal Joshi Ki Joint Family. The date was 12th October, 2007. It felt as if I had hit a jackpot as I had always desired to work with Hats Off. After auditioning for the role I prayed hard that I bagged the role. The reason being that Nandini was so much like me. In two days time I got a call from the production house informing that I was finalised for the role and we had an outdoor schedule of in Rajpipla, Gujarat on 13th October, 2007. I couldn’t hide my excitement when I met the entire unit for the first time. And this was the beginning of an amazing and beautiful journey. I had to shoot during the nights as the track had me eloping with Pinakin (Krishna). So I used to sleep during the day. But it wasn’t smooth sailing completely. We were told that all the costumes that we had selected had been rejected by the channel as they did not match the requirement of the scene. We had to now hunt for new costumes in a place in Rajpipla itself as we couldn’t afford to waste time going to Mumbai. The shooting came to a halt due to this unforeseen contingency resulting in delay on the very first day of the shoot. I left for the local market in Rajpipla to hunt for my costumes. Rajpipla being a small town doesn’t have a single shopping mall or boutique and thus designer clothes were something like a distant dream. I tried many salwar-kameezes of which I sent photos for approval. But they were rejected. Time was running out and I was a bundle of nerves. It was 8.30pm and I was still searching for a suitable dress. Finally, I entered a shop with a prayer on my lips and voila I found a yellow and pink chudidar which wasn’t extraordinary but that time it was nothing less than a designer outfit! Fortunately it was approved by the channel and I purchased it for Rs.500! Now, my next task was to find matching jewellery and good sandals to go with the costume. By then all the shops had shut. As it was Navratri there was a fair on the local ground and we went there in search of jewellery and sandals. We all moved in different directions inorder to save time. It was nothing less than a treasure hunt! After sometime we successfully spotted simple pink jewellery worth Rs. 30! And soon we found some shoes and bought two pairs for Rs. 60 each. Finally, we collected everything required. It was 10 pm by the time we reached the hotel. I sat down for the make-up, changed into the newly bought costume and my first take was shot at 12 am. Now when I look back at the first day of the shoot I am convinced that hard work always gets paid.