After 24 days, the makers of Ali Baba: Dastaan-e-Kabul brought the cast and crew back to the original set, which was sealed after lead actress Tunisha Sharma reportedly died by suicide in a make-up room on December 24. The team had moved to another set in Naigaon itself a few days after the tragic incident.
Sayantani Ghosh, who plays the antagonist, Simsim, in the show, says returning to the original set is not easy but is the need of the hour. She adds, “Honestly, I wasn’t prepared. We got to know about the shoot resuming on the set just the previous night. It’s very difficult to cope with what has happened. There are contrasting feelings and emotions. All of us miss Tunisha. I understand that returning to the old set was required because the show was suffering. Though the producers tried to extend the stay as much as they could, the scenes now required us to be back here. Location mein hum ko bohot compromise karke chalna padd raha tha.”
The make-up rooms used by Tunisha and Sheezan Khan (the original male lead of the show, who was arrested for abetment to suicide in Tunisha’s case and is currently in judicial custody) have been cordoned off. Sayantani says, “The production house has taken every measure possible to make us feel comfortable- and create an atmosphere of positivity. They have freshly painted the set in white, added more lights and hung new paintings. They opened the set yesterday and performed a puja.”
If moving back to the original set was difficult, going back to her make-up room was even tougher. She says, “I have memories of Tunisha who would come to my room to greet and hug me. I have a beautiful wall in my make-up room and Tunisha and I had planned to make reels against it, which unfortunately never happened. These little things keep coming to my mind.”
She adds, “A lot of thoughts and emotions go on in your head and you feel weird and lost at times. But as they say that the show must go on. Many people are dependent on this show for livelihood. So, we are trying to put on that smile, hold on to good times and move ahead.”
