Mona lays down the law

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Sanober

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Posted: 20 years ago

Mona lays down the law
By: Upala KBR
August 12, 2006

Mona Ambegaonkar

Balaji Telefilms is known to be a production house that dictates terms to its artistes, rather than the other way around.

But this time, the production house found itself at the receiving end when actress Mona Ambegaonkar put down certain conditions before working in their new serial Karam Apna Apna, beginning on Star Plus from August 29.

No personal talks

Says a source in Balaji, "Mona has a 7-month-old baby, so she can't work long hours.

She imposed four conditions: She won't work for more than eight hours, she will work 30 days in a month, but if she gets a film offer she will give two months notice and nobody will discuss or talk about her personal life on the sets. Though Balaji is used to the working hours requests, the last one was highly unusual."

Ekta Kapoor

But not if one knows Mona's past. She delivered a baby girl in February this year, but has refused to disclose the father's name.

'Mona's very sweet'

Doris De, who is currently shooting with the unit of Karam Apna Apna in Kolkata, confirms Mona's requests. "Mona plays Nikhila, the mother of the protagonist, Gauri Chatterjee's (Pallavi Shirke) husband. Nikhila belongs to a powerful, wealthy family and we required someone who could convey power."

Did Balaji give in to Mona's conditions? "She's a very sweet girl and we had to work on her terms because we really wanted her. So it wasn't a problem. We adjust with lots of artistes for ads, serials and shows, so why shouldn't we accommodate Mona, who has a small baby to look after?"

Amit Bhalla plays Mona's husband in the show.

Perfect face

Mona says, "I had just one condition — I can't work more than eight hours a day. When Balaji asked me if I wanted to play Nikhila, I liked it. I had taken a break, but now I am back. I am under a confidentiality contract so I can't reveal any more about the role."

Ekta Kapoor has the last word. "Mona is a brilliant actress, conveys emotions very well and has the perfect face for the role. We required a very strong character to play the mother's role and Mona suits it to perfection. Mona was whom we wanted. They were easy demands so we had no problem giving in to them. She has a small baby and naturally, she would want time with her."

But it is unusual to ask that her personal life should not be discussed on the sets. "I can't comment about it as I really don't know," says Ekta.

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disha

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Posted: 20 years ago

thanx a lot for sharing 👏 👏 👏

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Mona lays down the law

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