From Shailesh Lodha’s unscripted closing remarks after each episode to comparing GPL's craze with IPL; Taarak Mehta's former Sonu aka Jheel Mehta's intriguing revelations

Former Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah actress Jheel Mehta, who played the role of Sonu, recently made some intriguing revelations. Reflecting on her journey, Jheel shared insights into her departure from the show, balancing academics with acting, and how life has unfolded since her exit. Jheel Mehta revealed that Shailesh Lodha’s closing remarks after each episode were never scripted but something he spontaneously crafted on the spot. She also shared that she had a love-hate relationship with the boys of the Tapu Sena.

My parents were friends with Asit uncle and it was my dream to be on TV. So my dad once told Asit uncle about it and he called me for an audition at his production house for Taarak Mehta and soon he shortlisted me for the role. I had done a show earlier before Taarak Mehta and I had actually started my career as a junior artist and was a part of two films.

I actually don't know how much I earned from the show because I was too young to understand my paycheck. But I remember that my per day when I began Taarak Mehta was Rs 1200, and by the end while leaving the show I was earning around Rs 8000 per day.

Jheel shared that she had a strong bond with these two ladies from the show, "I shared a great bond with Neha didi and Munmun didi as they would treat me like their younger sister. I could go to them with all my queries, even related to my school work. Both of them are really smart women."

I never needed to act as Sonu because I was exactly like her in reality. I have been a studious girl and I would even teach maths to Tapu Sena on the sets. Additionally, I was always surrounded by male friends in school too, so everything seemed the same for me.

One of the biggest learning that I got at a young age was that one must know how to keep learning and take criticism as well as suggestions from your mentor. All the senior artists on the show would help us with our acting. They were extremely patient with us, they would wait without getting irritated when we had to give retakes.

All those end notes with every episode that Shailesh uncle used to say weren't scripted. He used to do those as an impromptu. We all used to get so excited about it that we would actually wait to see what will he say this time.

The best part about the show was GPL, its craze was like IPL, and we were all so excited to be a part of it. I don't know if I should say this but all the sixes that I had batted were more like someone else from behind would hit the ball and it would be shot like I have hit it with my bat.

Jheel opened up about when she had fractured her hand, 'If you all have seen the GPLs, in one of them my hand was fractured but we couldn't have a cast on for the first few shots so I had kept my hand stuck to my stomach in the right angle. Later, they improved and made it look like I got hurt according to the script and then I had put the plaster on.'

I had a love-hate relationship with Tapu Sena as there were times when the boys would gang up against me. It was more like a sibling bond as we used to spend so many hours together. Onscreen, Tapu Sena would love Sonu but offscreen we used to fight and also reconcile quickly. That also happened because eventually I grew taller than them and I was studious as well. Bhavya, Kush and I are of the same age so I used to often tell them that I won't teach them maths if they fight.

Jheel shared, "Most artists from the show were living away from home, so when the swimming pool sequence had come where Jethalal was trying to learn swimming from Babitaji, all the actors had come to my place to have lunch and rest in the breaks as I used to stay close to Prabodhan Thakare, where we shot the scenes. All the people in my building had gone gaga ver the fact that the cast had come to my place."