April Fool's Day Special: TV celebs who played pranks on their co-stars

On April Fool’s Day, TV actors recall pranks that they played on their co-stars while shooting for their shows. They cherish them even more now, during the ongoing pandemic, when movements have been curtailed to a large extent. Read on...

I told Sudhanshu that his moustache is tedha: Tassnim Sheikh

Tassnim Sheikh and Sudhanshu Pandey play warring in-laws in Anupamaa as their son and daughter are married to each other on the show. But in real life, the two actors are great friends and constantly crack jokes on each other. Tassnim recalls, “Sudhanshu is very careful about his artificial moustache, so one day I told him, ‘Sudhanshu, tumhari moustache tedhi hai’. He kept checking the moustache the whole day in the mirror and also kept telling our make-up dada to make his moustache straight. He was just not at ease that day. It was only when the pack-up was announced that I told him that there was nothing wrong with his moustache and that it was proper the whole time. He got very angry that day, but now we laugh over it.”

Sumbul always plays pranks on me on the set: Ritu Seth

Sumbul Touqeer Khan plays the title role of Imlie. She is shown to be married to Ritu Seth’s son, Aditya, in the TV series. “Sumbul is always cracking jokes on the sets,” Ritu says, adding, “She always plays a prank on me, so this April Fool’s Day won’t be any different. There is this one prank that she always plays on me. Whenever I am not attentive on the set, she will tell me that someone is calling me. And when I turn around to look at the person calling me, she tickles me, and I end up jumping to avoid it. She makes me laugh all the time.”

I told Reem that the show was taking a time leap: Sehban Azim

Sehban Azim and Reem Sheikh, the lead actors of Tujhse Hai Raabta, share a great camaraderie. Sehban admits that he is constantly playing pranks on his co-star. Sharing one such incident, he says, “One day, I told her that there are plans to introduce a time leap in the show and Reem will have to play a mother to a 20-year old. She was shocked and upset. She was also disappointed that the creative team did not inform her about the leap. We called off the prank the next day and told her the truth. The entire team had a good laugh over it.”

I shouted at Sapna in a scene, and she started crying: Neha Marda

Neha Marda, Siddhaanth Vir Surryavanshi and Sapna Thakur are co-actors in the TV show Kyun Rishton Mein Katti Batti. While Neha and Sapna play the wife and other woman in the show, off screen it’s Neha who plays pranks on Sapna. Neha says, “It is easy to bully Sapna. Once I shouted at her loudly in a scene and delivered some additional lines. She got confused and asked if there were such lines in the script. I shouted at her again and the director joined in by scolding her too, and she started to cry. We then told her it was just a prank. Siddhaanth can also be fooled easily, especially when it comes to his daughter. He believes everything.”

I added mirchi powder to Atul’s chocolate: Manav Gohil

Actors Manav Gohil and Atul Parchure played King Chitragupt and Yamraj in the show Yam Hain Hum, a couple of years ago. Manav enjoyed shooting with Atul, because it would end up being a laugh riot every day. He says, “I played pranks on him almost every day, but there is one particular incident that stands out. I remember removing the creamy portion out of a chocolate and filling it with mirchi (dry red chilli) powder. Atul ate it and it turned out to be fiery hot in taste. He was so annoyed that he kept running after me to hit me.”

I put pakka colours, instead of organic, on Rohitashv in a Holi scene: Salim Zaidi

Salim Zaidi, who plays Tillu in Bhabi ji Ghar Par Hai!, decided to play a prank on Rohitashv Gour for the Holi special episode recently. He says, “Holi is the best time to play pranks. Recently, we shot a Holi sequence for the show, where Nehha Pendse had to splash colours on Rohitashv. Now, it’s a mandate to use organic colours, but I replaced the bowl meant for Rohitashv with pakka colours and Nehha used those colours on him while shooting the scene. When Rohitashv went to wash his face, the colours did not come off easily. He had to shoot the entire day with a red face and we laughed over it.”

While Kiku and I were scaring others, I felt something creeping up my legs: Vipul Roy

Vipul Roy and Kiku Sharda had to enact a funny scene in Partners Trouble Ho Gayi Double, which was also scary. Vipul says, “We had to scare people by showing our hands and screaming, ‘Bhoot bhoot’. While we were busy enacting the scene, I suddenly felt something creeping up my legs. For a minute, I froze thinking that some paranormal activity was taking place. I was perspiring. I finally turned around and found that it was Kiku’s legs that were giving me the chills all along. He wasn’t playing a prank, but it became one as we had to shoot that scene in close proximity. We both laughed, but they never stopped joking about how I got scared that day.”