August 14, 2010 (Sampurn Wire): As his talented wife Shefali returns to theatre on August 15, her husband Vipul Shah can hardly contain his excitement...and relief.

Says Vipul, "Happy and proud as I am to see Shefali go into theatre. At the same time I am relieved that I am not acting with her. Initially I was to play the role opposite her. But I realized in time she'd chew up every scene".

Now the male lead would be played by the redoubtable theatre-film actor Kiran Karmarkar, who was a part of Ekta Kapoor's long-running soap 'Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki', and was also seen recently as a debauched cop in Prakash Jha's Raajneeti and in Sudipto Chattopadhya's Pankh.

Vipul sighs, "I'm sure Kiran will do a much better job".

That neglected bundle of talent Shefali Shah is all set to return to her first love. She will star in a play in Hindi to be directed by the renowned Marathi director Chandrakant Kulkarni.

The play to be staged in Hindi entitled 'Bas Itna Khwab' is written by Prashant Dalvi. Vipul Shah who's currently busy with the pre-production of the Hindi version of the Tamil hit Kakha Kakha, will produce the play for his hugely talented wife.

The play in which Shefali has a role of a lifetime, will subsequently be turned into a film by Vipul Shah.

Shefali seems surprised that the word on her first stage appearance in ten years is out. "Yes I am doing a play that my husband is producing. It's a huge challenge to go back on stage. It's scary but thrilling. And it needs a great amount of ground work, preparation, and rehearsals", says the mother of two growing, very demanding boys.

Vipul, who will produce the play is excited not just because his wife will get an opportunity of a lifetime but because he's going back to stage as a producer after 20 years.

Says Shefali, "To me the stage is not a medium that I can regard as separate from cinema or television. All are mediums to express myself as an actor, and therefore are equally important. I fell in love with my character in Prashant Dalvi's play because it has such extraordinary depth and resonance".

Rahul Bose was also approached to be Shefali's co-star in the play. But Rahul prefers Priyanka Chopra's company in 'Fear Factor' in Brazil. , The play will go on stage from August 15.

-- Subhash K Jha/Sampurn Wire