some thing about Alka Kaushal

"Those who know us well are aware of this. They always tell me that Varun and I look very similar. In fact, people say that if you put Varun in a ghagra, it'll be difficult to tell us apart!"

Big screen projects

Though Alka has not shared screen space with her brother, she has acted with their actor father, Vishva S Badola, who was recently seen in Lage Raho Munnabhai. "I acted with my dad in a play in New Delhi a while back," she says.

Interestingly, before Varun took up acting, he used to assist in the production house, Mangalam Arts, floated by Alka and her husband Ravi G Kaushal.

"Our shows included Naya Daur (Zee) and later, India's Most Wanted (Zee TV). Varun has been part of all aspects of production, from writing to costume selection. This aided him in being a complete actor as he is well-versed in behind-the-scene aspects. At the moment, Mangalam Arts is not active as my husband is exploring the possibility of working on some big screen projects."

Actors galore

Alka made her television debut with Ramesh Sippy's Gatha (Star Plus) and was later seen in Tum Pukar Lo, Manzilein Apni Apni (both Zee) and Prratima (SaharaOne).

"I began with theatre in New Delhi with the National School of Drama Repertory, before we shifted to Mumbai. Varun is the youngest in the family and I am the oldest. Between us is our sister Kalindi who is a radio jockey.

She hosts the show Purani Jeans on Radio Mirchi. As all three of us are part of the entertainment world, we really owe it to our mother, Susheela. She's been surrounded by actors, including my father, and has put up with their temperaments all these years!"

Key to success

At the moment Alka is missing from the Kumkum track. As Sukanya, she plays Sumeet's (Hussain Kuwajerwalla) aunt who is instrumental in misguiding him against Kumkum (Juhi Parmar), besides creating problems in the family.

"I have an old association with BAG Films, the producers of Kumkum. I was part of Tum Pukar Lo, which was BAG Films' first soap. Because of personal reasons, I was away from Mumbai for a while so I requested them to make me go missing from Kumkum."

Alka is on the lookout for more television assignments but she is a tad wary about doing films. "At the end, you don't know what happens to your character. At least on television you know where you are heading."

Though Alka has acted with her father, it is now Varun's turn. Both will be seen playing father and son on the screen as well in the Star Plus show Ek Chaabi Pados Mein

i hope you like it

always loved her acting