Aarohi Patel: Me and mom Aarti constantly panicked about our Kadak Meethi lines

It’s not often that movies have real-life mother-daughter duo cast in a film; even rarer are them playing the leads. That’s one of the highlights of Kadak Meethi, a show about mother and daughter relationship and stars real-life mom and daughter, Aarti and Aarohi Patel.

OTTplay caught up with Aarohi to know about the equation the duo share at home and about working on the show, which premiered on Oho Gujarati recently. Excerpts from the interview:

To what extent would you say your characters are relatable in real life?

Whenever I’m offered a script, it’s mostly to play characters that girls in Gujarat can relate to. (My process of script selection) is that I will read the whole script, with the dialogues too. If it excites me even when I read it for the third or fourth time, then I think the audience would like it too.

A director is the second deciding factor. If I trust the director, I don’t need to read the script at times. Abhishek Jain told me and mom to do the show, so the combination was exciting enough.

Were there times where you felt you weren’t really shooting while working with your mother?

No. It was a very small team because of the COVID situation. I knew everyone, so it was a cozy place with my friends, but at the same time, me and mom were glued to the script because we had to shoot in a different way. We had to make sure none of us went out of the way to improvise. Going with the flow during the shoot wasn’t possible, because otherwise it goes haywire for the other person.

What fresh element did you bring to your character?

When I see the series, I feel like she’s a character who tries to be mature but is scared. She struggles with a few emotions and tries hard to be strong about the same.

What makes the show different from the usual family drama?

It has episodes that are cute and short. They make you feel a lot of things and are wrapped in humour. They will make you miss your parents if you’re living away from them. These are the little conversations that will leave you longing for more. If you are a son or a daughter, you’re bound to connect with the show.

You have both worked in a few web series. Tell us about your experience.

We shot differently, but we rehearsed a lot at home. We constantly panicked about the lines, so we over-rehearsed our dialogues, which is why we knew how the other person would react. It’s how we operated and that really helped and was fun too.

Will your sister Sanjanaa too be making an appearance on the show?

Unfortunately, no. She likes to be behind the camera. She’s more interested in music.