Mahesh Pandey's ode to 'Hum Paanch' through 'Gupta Brothers'

MUMBAI: Mahesh Pandey was fourteen when the popular sitcom "Hum Paanch" first went on-air, but Priya Tendulkar's character had etched on his heart forever. The actress played the role of late Mrs. Mathur and spoke to her husband via her photo frame and their banter was a high point of the show. And so when the writer-producer got an opportunity, he included it in his new show "Gupta Brothers" but this time the fun conversation is between a dead mother, played by Aditi Deshpande, and her step son, essayed by Hiten Tejwani.

"'Hum Paanch' was my favourite show, and I must have been 14-years-old then. And I was mighty impressed by Priya Tendulkar ji's character in the show. Even when you are that young a few things stay in your mind. I used to love it whenever they showed her conversation with Ashok Saraf ji. After the show nobody ever talked about it also, so when I got an opportunity I thought why not use it in the show," he said.

"In 'Hum Paanch' they tried to show this beautiful relationship between a husband and his late wife, so here also we tried to create a relationship between a mother and her son. The idea came from the popular comedy show, and you can say it is my ode to the sitcom," Mahesh added.

"Gupta Brothers" produced by Mahesh and his wife Madhu Pandey airs on Star Bharat. The show is the story of four brothers who had vowed to never get married, and how their life changes when the elder one gets married. The show also features Sonal Vengurlekar, Parineeta Borthakur, Akash Mukherjee, Satya Tiwari, Meet Mukhi, and Rinku Dhawan.