'Bhabhi' gets ready to welcome Gen Next

It's official. Star Plus' afternoon soap Bhabhi will take a 20 year leap, and producers UTV have brought in a new band of freshers to help keep the serial afloat. The serial will go into fast forward mode on 2 June, with the introduction of Puneet Sachdev and Mohit Raina who will play the male leads - Vishv and Shubham. The young lads have much more in common than having Bhabhi as their first noticeable break. Puneet played Sarfaraz in Star Plus' Saara Akash and then did ads for Panasonic, South Malabar Gold, and the Fanta kya dhakkan hai ad with Rani Mukherjee. Mohit played a cameo in a serial that he is not willing to talk about. Both hail from small towns. While Puneet is from Gwalior, Mohit comes from Jammu. "I have lived in Gwalior all my life. I completed my education there. But in a small town there is nothing much to do. I often spent my time playing cricket or watching movies," Puneet reminisces. While it took a long time for both to realise that acting is their calling, their parents had different dreams for them. "I wanted to become a cricketer. I represented Madhya Pradesh in the under 16 and under 19 categories. At some point I also wanted to get into the defence forces, but failed the National Defence Academy test. I ended up doing MBA because my father wanted it," narrates Puneet. Mohit laughs, "My parents wanted me to become a chartered accountant. But I flunked the test. In the mean time I worked with Hyundai." Both have had a fair share of struggles too. Puneet says, "The first time I came here, I stayed for just six days. I felt so homesick that I went back and didn't return for six months. (like Hrithik Roshan in Lakshya???). Then I returned with maturity and patience." Mohit says, "I came to Mumbai for the first time nine months ago and kept frequenting offices of production houses. I could successfully reach the production house gate but never beyond that. The watchman would never let me in. Once, a watchman who I thought was very kind told me that the person concerned came only between 11 pm and 1 am. I thought it was very odd yet made it to the office at midnight only to realise that it was a joke. I was fed up with the way things were moving but not once did I think of returning." Was life difficult then? Says Puneet, "One should come to Mumbai if he wants to feel sad." And Mohit ? "When I came to Mumbai I was nervous about how people would treat me". Life in Mumbai has also been amusing for Mohit. "I had heard a lot about Lonavla. So I decided to go there. But there is hardly any beauty there. It is nothing compared to Kashmeer," he bursts out laughing. "I intend to go to Mahabaleshwar now. Let's see how it looks," he says. Incidentally, both are Leos. Is it any surprise that the two intend to share an apartment too now?