Family Aaj Kal exclusive! Apoorva Arora recalls spending time with late Nitesh Pandey, believes he found her a good child

Family Aaj Kal is finally out on OTT and it sees Apoorva Arora as the lead with late Nitesh Pandey in the role of her father. We at OTTplay caught up with Apoorva to talk about her experience working with him and when did they shoot for the show among other topics. Apoorva also recalled feeling like losing a real father on May 23, 2023.

Excerpts from the interview…

Can you take me through when was the series shot?

This is about a year old if I remember correctly. And I feel like in today’s times there’s no dearth of shows and films being released. And platforms have a whole list of releases lined up. So sometimes it takes time for shows and films to come out and be announced. And the entire team had been waiting for a very long time. So, I think it was up to Sony to pick up the right slot, the right time for the show to come out and for it to work the best for their audiences.

Would it be like Nitesh Pandey ji's last project or is it that?

Yes, I think it is. But if I remember correctly, he was also shooting for something else alongside family actual. I’m not sure is that at least or not. But if it has, then yes, it would be the last project.

Tell me about a memory with him on sets. What was it like?

First of all, I'm so grateful to the universe that I’ve got to be in the same room as an artist of his calibre. Unfortunately, we lost him, but whatever little time I got to spend with him, I can say that he was a friend. And I wanted to bond with him not only for the sake of the show, which is very important, but also just because of the way I admired him as an actor as an artist and as the person as well. And one day towards the shoot, I felt a certain love, a certain respect, even in his eyes towards me and that made me feel so good. That someone like him would see me that way, would see me like no, okay, this child is good. I saw that in him and he was the most fun person to be around. The entire crew was much younger. We were kids in front of him. It was a great learning that I got from him.

His demise came as shocker for everyone. What happened when you heard?

It did come as a very big shock. I woke up to the news and I couldn’t really understand that this has really happened for real.

It took me a very long time. It took my director, but he should inform me of it and he informed me of the last rights that were happening in Mumbai itself. So, we did manage to make it and see him for one last time and remember him. It was a very tough day for all of us. Because I mean, someone people who play our parents on screen, somehow start to mean a lot to us also because there are father and mother figures, especially in a long format. So, it was almost like losing a father figure for me. It’s very difficult.

Do you know why the show is titled Family Aaj Kal? Is there any connection with Love Aaj Kal?

No, I think it just sounds like it. There’s no connection with Love Aaj Kal. Aaj Kal just means in today’s day and age. So, families today are very different from the way they used to be back when our parents were growing up or probably our elder siblings were growing up. Some of us, some people from my generation have had a different set of parents than their elder siblings because the parents also grew. They also changed; their thought process changed. They learned from their first mistake, the mistakes that they made with their elder kids. So, I think this is how families evolve and change and these days. It’s very different from going to your parent and just telling them about your lifestyle choices that might be considered taboo in the rest of your family or your sexual orientation or just the fact that you are seeing someone romantically. I don’t think everybody would be able to do that. But in today’s times, it’s getting easier and more comfortable to offer discussion in a family because I remember my father telling me that he had once mentioned just mentioned the word honeymoon when someone got married and he got scolded really badly. And in today’s times we can talk about all kinds of taboo subjects in front of our parents with our parents. So, I think that is sort of what family are also means.