Parakh's eye problem hinders shooting

Monday, May 21, 2007

Recently Parakh Madan, who plays Suman in Saathii Re, was in a catch-22 situation, as the actress developed an acute eye infection and was advised to stay away from harsh lights and contact lenses for almost a week.

This was too much for Parakh to accept as being the main lead of the show she could hardly afford to skip the shoots. The neglect or ignorance of the doctor's advice played havoc with the lady's eyesight and she was virtually unable to see anything clearly during the shootings. The harsh lights, gaudy make-ups and contact lenses nearly blinded her.

When we contacted Parakh to know her condition, the actress said, "I have been wearing specs since standard two. My lens power is very high - minus seven. I can't see anything without my lenses. I can't see anything that is even half a meter away. The whole thing turns blur. And it's genetic, my father, my mother and my sister also have this problem. So, you can imagine my situation without lenses. I literally turned blind on the sets for a week".

Parakh's specs came handy in a way, but then while giving her shots she had to take them off every time. "After getting my make-up done, I used to wear my specs for the rehearsals to check my markings and the camera angles etc. Seeing me with the specs, the unit members had a great time calling me behen ji, aunty ji, teacher ji and what not.

However, the actual dilemma would be during the takes. Close shots weren't much of a problem, but long shots were a like punishment to me. I didn't know where the camera was and if I was facing it the right away. The make-up man would say that wearing the specs after the make-up created marks on my face and so he used to give me tissue papers to be put underneath them. And when my co stars used to see me like they would say that I looked like a boxer", she recalls amusingly.

Once Parakh had to do a scene where she comes out of a car and walks to a particular spot. It was a terrible experience for the lady. "I could hardly see where I had to go and in the confusion, on whether to concentrate on emotions or concentrate on going to the spot, I made a goof up," explains the actress. Nevertheless, all her co-stars had a great time laughing at the confusion.

Adds Parakh, who has taken the whole chain of events with a pinch of salt, "My co-star Aamir Dalvi made faces at me as he knew I couldn't see anything. And then later he would enquire if I had seen him do it. So, it was quite an eventful experience and it continued for a week. And, I really hope that it doesn't happen again."

Oh God, we too pray for the same.