We had not planned on a third season of Aani Kay Hava?, says Umesh Kamat

On audience demand, real-life couple Umesh Kamat and Priya Kamat have returned as Jui and Saket in the third season of the light-hearted web-series Aani Kay Hava? on MX Player.

Kamat told Cinestaan.com that just like the second season, the third season, which was premiered on MX Player on 6 August, was not planned.

"When the second season was released, it received tremendous response and people immediately started asking about the third season," the actor said. "Whenever we would post anything on social media, people would ask us about the third season in the comments section. So we decided to grant their wish and started working on the next season."

Kamat said the third season explores what happens when a couple's relationship reaches the point of stagnation. "They are married for five years and things have started to become a little stagnant in their relationship," he explained. "That is why this season is more mature and all six episodes touch upon interesting topics."

Aani Kay Hava? (Season 3) review: Still simple, funny and relatable

When the first season was released two years ago, there were not many Marathi web shows available, so there was not much competition. Now the number of Marathi web shows has grown significantly. But the team of Aani Kay Hava? does not feel the pressure.

"We are not making this show to prove anything to anyone," Kamat commented. "We are doing it because our audience is eager to know more about Jui and Saket's life and we as a team are enjoying this process. In fact, I believe there should be more OTT content in Marathi. We are far behind other regional languages in producing OTT content."

Kamat is one of the few Marathi actors who has been active in all four media. "I love acting on stage," he said. "I was actively doing plays for the last five or six years. It has stopped now because of the COVID situation, but I hope we will resume once things get back to normal.

"I also like to be part of a good TV show. And If I get a good script for a film or a web show, I would love to be a part of it, too. I don't like to be restricted to only one medium. I believe Marathi actors are fortunate in this regard because they can work in any medium. Whereas with the exception of artistes like Naseeruddin Shah, Hindi actors are rarely seen doing plays."

Kamat is awaiting the release of his upcoming film Tath Kana (2021) where he will be seen essaying the role of neurosurgeon Premanand Shantaram Ramani. "We completed the shoot last year just before the lockdown was announced, and we were working on post-production during the first lockdown," he said. "We completed the dubbing and everything else when things were getting back to normal at the start of this year and were looking for a suitable release date, and suddenly the second lockdown was announced and ruined our plan. So I don't know when our producers are planning to release it."

Kamat is currently shooting for his TV show Ajunhi Barsaat Ahe that marks his return to the small screen after eight years. "I'm still as excited as I was when I did Eka Lagnachi Tisari Goshta eight years ago," he said. "We have some excellent artistes and technicians on our team. So we are enjoying the process."

Kamat recently recorded his first audio drama called 61 Minutes for the Storytel app. "I had never done anything like this before," he said. "Along with me, the drama has Mukta [Barve], Sameer Patil. We had to attend a workshop for two or three days and then the actual recording took another day or two. It was a unique experience. Unfortunately, because of my busy schedule, I haven't yet got the chance to listen to the final version."