Zee tv- Ashish Choudhary Back on Screen after a Hiatus

Turns to Television with Zee TV’s ‘Ek Muthi Aasman’

After a personal setback that had him prioritizing family and business over his acting career, hunky model-turned-actor Ashish Choudhary who was an instant click in Bollywood with comedy films like ‘Dhamaal’ and ‘Double Dhamaal’ is back on screen – this time on television in Zee TV’s new show ‘Ek Muthi Aasman’.

The show promises to give viewers a reality check and an insider’s look into the world of Mumbai’s unsung heroes – the bais! Produced by DJ’s ‘A Creative Unit’, the show will beautifully capture the hopes and aspirations of a domestic worker alongside the trials and tribulations of her daily life. It will showcase how domestic workers devote their own lives to relentless toil only so that their children can grow up enjoying the fruits of education and amenities they could only dream of and live life with dignity in the future.

The story centers around Kamala Bai played by Shilpa Shirodkar who works as a housemaid in the affluent Kapoor household. She delivers her own child Kalpana at the same time that the Kapoor khandan bahu Neelu delivers her daughter Poochi. The show captures Kamala’s journey of putting her own maternal responsibilities towards Kalpana on the back-burner in order to double up as a mother for Poochi since Neelu Malkeen couldn’t bother with the “avoidable” baggage that comes along with being a mother … What develops over the years is a tender bond of motherly love and affection between Kamala Bai and Poochi … even as her heart longs to be with her own daughter Kalpana, for whose education, bright future and every happiness Kamala works so hard at the Kapoor household!      

So, where does Ashish come in? Ashish will enter the show as Vikramaditya Scindia, a 30 year old suave, shrewd, sharp-talking advertising agency head. Little is known of his connection with the Kapoor household but there’s something from his past that links him to the Kapoors in ways that even he is unaware of. Given that he runs the most successful ad agency, young Poochi and Kalpana will join him as interns. As a mentor, he will be the man to enable Kalpana to scale her fullest potential. An interesting work dynamic will develop in the office between the trio wherein he will encourage Kalpana to stop seeing herself as subservient to Poochi just because her mother serves as a housemaid in Poochi’s house.

Speaking about the show, Ashish said, “It’s great to be back on screen and that too with such an interesting show.  It is the subject that ‘Ek Muthi Aasman’ broaches that made me instantly take it on. There are over 10,00,000 domestic workers in Mumbai alone whose day starts at the crack of dawn. They set about hurriedly cooking, packing tiffins for their men and children, cleaning, washing, etc. This is a normal day for women everywhere, one might say. Except that these particular women have to leave home and repeat the same cleaning, washing, cooking routine several times over at many other households all in the course of a day. Yet, the Bai remains, perhaps, the most taken-for-granted service provider of the household. Most of us deal with our maids with a casual “we pay her, don’t we?” approach. With this context, I am extremely glad the show is an attempt to sensitize people towards the realities of this underprivileged yet constantly struggling lot!”

So is television Ashish’s new focus post films? “There is no conscious decision on my part to move away from films and do more work on television. I stepped back from a flourishing career in films as a result of my personal crisis. It is now that things are in much better shape that I have decided to come back to my first love – acting. I will continue to take on quality work, irrespective of the medium.”

Here’s wishing Ashish the very best with his new role!