But that's not the reason why Wadhwa planned to shoot here. No, she chose it because they needed a palace as the serial is set against a Rajasthani backdrop. And here there is a palace, Rajvanth constructed by the late Maharaja Chatrasingh which has been converted into a resort, though they haven't done any renovations and it still has an authentic, palatial ambience. At the main gate you see two cannons (of 1873 vintage) on each side which were used during wars. Raj Pipla is one of the ancient princely states. A dekho of the place and you're convinced that it's really heaven on earth. Situated on an elevated spot, it overlooks lush green plantations on one side, the Karjan river and mountains of Satpura on the other.

The first film to be shot here was Bhaibandi way back in 1970... But enough of this history lesson. Ek Mulaqat produced by Karnik Communications and directed by Vijay Pande, stars Shahbaaz Khan, Vaidehi, Wadhwa, Manohar Singh, Maya Alagh, Rajeev Verma, Pankaj Dheer, Anita Kanwal... oh, the list is quite exhaustive because there are 25 main characters. For those who haven't kept track of the serial here's a brief round up of what the soap is all about (and those who have been regularly catching up with it, can read between the lines).

The story revolves around two traditional Thakur families (played by Manohar Singh and Rajeev Verma) Manohar Singh's son (Shahbaaz) is engaged to Rajeev Verma's daughter (Vaidehi). If they got married and lived happily even after the serial wouldn't extend to 52 episodes, so Shahbaaz, during one of his tours, meets and falls for Wadhwa, a mod city girl. After sending shock waves through both families, they get married and this results in a great deal of enmity. Wadhwa becomes pregnant and very soon loses her baby when a knife (?!) hits her in the womb and (as usual) she can never conceive again.

So we have a surrogate mother, none other than Vaidehi, who refuses to part with the child. To find out more, wait and watch says director Vijay Pande, which either means they haven't thought through the story or they don't want to reveal the climax.

At Raj Pipla, it's a hot afternoon and the actors are sweating it out with the entire unit in the living room of Rajvanth Palace where a scene between Manohar Singh and Maya Alagh (his wife) is being shot. Alagh is worried about daughter-in-law Wadhwa's inability to conceive again. The scene starts with Alagh saying, ``Doctor ne keh diya ki bahu phir maa nahin ban sakti. To Raghuvir ki shaadi kahi aur karna hoga, vansh aage badane ke liye''. At this moment, Shahbaaz enters with Reena and is shocked to hear this.

While Pande is busy with the actors in a rehearsal, cameraman Tony Rode is giving instructions to his lightmen. Finally, the camera rolls and there is a yell for silence and after four retakes Pande seems satisfied with the fifth one as you hear: cut - okay! The unit hands get together as they gear up for the next shot and we corner Pande and Wadhwa for a chat. Says Pande, ``I wanted the ambience of Rajasthan which was not possible in Mumbai. This palace has the architecture and the royal look so we decided to shoot here because I didn't want to compromise by constructing a set in a studio''.

Wadhwa feels the other advantage in shooting outside Mumbai is every actor is at their disposal without there being any diversions except for the occasional phone call on their mobiles. ``The outputs are much better'' she says, adding that financially too it's very reasonable.

Meanwhile, Maya Alagh and Manohar Singh are ready to rush back to Mumbai as Maya's servant has had a cardiac arrest and Singh has to shoot for Neena Gupta's Pal Chhin (which sort of undermines what Wadhwa said about the actors being at their disposal). Alagh confesses that she did the role mainly because of Vijay Pande with whom she worked in Tipu Sultan. ``I play a soft, gentle traditional mother with a little shade,'' she reveals. Manohar Singh plays the head of the family and accepted the role as it had a different background and the character was fascinating because he is a Rajput. ``Actually, no role is different,'' he laughs. As for Shahbaaz, the role of Raghuvir Singh was tailor-made. ``I am doing it because it was developed according to my personality and mannerisms and I can relate to it because I'm exactly like the character I play,'' he reveals. Which means he doesn't have to do much acting, right?

Unfortunately, there isn't time for more: there's another shot coming up and we can't miss it. After all, that's what we came here for.....Action!