ITV

Tag: Astitva – Ek Prem Kahani

  • Zindagi’s second original show ‘Aadhe Adhoore’ to mark Ajai Sinha’s comeback on TV

    Zindagi’s second original show ‘Aadhe Adhoore’ to mark Ajai Sinha’s comeback on TV

    MUMBAI: Producer Ajai Sinha, who is known for landmark fiction series on Indian television like Hasratein, Justajoo, and Astitva – Ek Prem Kahani is all set to make a comeback on television after a span of four years. And this time round, Sinha’s production house Ananda Films has readied a fiction series titled Aadhe Adhoore for Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd’s (Zeel) Hindi entertainment channel Zindagi.

     

    Aadhe Adhoore will be Zindagi’s second home grown fiction series, which is all set to go on air from 14 December. The show will be aired from Monday to Saturday at 9.50 pm. It may be recalled that the channel recently launched its first original fiction show Bhaage Re Mann on 30 November.

     

    Zindagi has roped in India’s Basmati Rice as the co-powered by sponsor and also is eyeing more brand associations for the show.

     

    Speaking to Indiantelevision.com about the show, Zindagi & Zee Anmol cluster head Priyanka Datta says, “Aadhe Adhoore is a story set in Kapurthala of Jassi, who is a perfect Bahu, neighbour and daughter-in-law. The story highlights her caring nature and her willingness to do things. It’s a beautiful emotion that we are trying to touch upon. We are neither trying to be judgmental nor impose any views on the audience.”

     

    With two back to back original fiction show launches in a couple of weeks, Datta throws light on the channel’s programming strategy saying, “The channel’s strategy has been very clear from the beginning. Zindagi aims to bring the best of content, storylines and dialogues for viewers.”

     

    Further elaborating on the same, she adds, “Everything that we telecast on Zindagi is original content. Initially we got shows from Pakistan but it was original for the Indian audiences. Then we went ahead and brought a show from Turkey, which is again new for the audience here. Similarly, we brought these two new shows and also produced Shukriya in the past. Moving forward, this will continue to be our strategy. Our aim is to be the window to provide the best of entertainment anywhere and everywhere across the globe. So be it India, Pakistan, Turkey or any other country, we will continue to bring good stories to our viewers.”

     

    Following the trend of unconventional timing of the show, she informs, “When Zindagi launched, we had shows in the 8 pm and 8.55 pm time slot. So we always had timings that may not necessarily be a clock hour therefore that is what we continue to do even now.”

     

    Aadhe Adhoore will be a finite series, which will run for four months. The channel has a substantial bank of episodes as the style of working and shooting is different for the finite show. Almost 40-45 per cent of the show has been canned before it goes on air.

     

    Zindagi will ready a 360 degree marketing campaign to promote the show across platforms. “We are using television, radio and outdoor platforms for our promotional activities,” she informs.

     

    On his return to television, Sinha says, “I’ve always tried to push the envelope when it comes to content and presented stories that stand out. Making a show for a channel that is differentiated from regular GECs and has got critical acclaim for its content like Zindagi has been a challenge for me. We wanted to create a show that brought out the essence of the modern Indian woman – the real woman who we see around us. The casting, screenplay, locations and original soundtrack will be of a quality that will surely set it apart from what’s seen on television today. I hope audiences will love the story and its characters like they have in all my earlier shows.”

     

    Sinha’s last show was Kesariya Balam Aavo Hamare Des, which aired on Sahara One from 2009 – 2011.

  • “A few new writers haven’t even read literature”: Purnendu Shekhar

    “A few new writers haven’t even read literature”: Purnendu Shekhar

    MUMBAI: Many have been vocal about women and their rights, but only a few have been able to bring in the change.

    One man through his writing is doing just the same. He can even be categorised as someone who has been instrumental in shaping how daily soaps show a woman’s role in and outside her house. Telling the stories of women in shows like Astitva- Ek Prem Kahani and Saath Phere on Zee TV and Balika Vadhu on Colors is none other than Purnendu Shekhar.

    For ‘The Content Hub’, indiantelevision.com spoke to Shekhar, who comes with a belief that to be a good storyteller, one needs to first understand his/her family especially the women who run the house and their lives.

    When he joined the TV industry, it was dominated by highly dramatised melodramatic series like Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki. He tried to cut out of that tradition by bringing in realism through Astitva – Ek Prem Kahani.

    According to him, if cinema is predominantly male dominated, it is the TV, which represents the female. “In most cases, television serials are known for the women characters in it,” says Shekhar. As he always makes the central character emotionally strong and vibrant, he has chosen only female protagonists, so far. He puts them in difficult situations, and sees how they cope up.

    Six and half years and still running strong, Balika Vadhu today is considered as one of the longest running show on television. Was it a tough nut to crack? Agreeing to it, Shekhar says that in today’s scenario where new channels are mushrooming every now and then; there are tons of stories being told on television. “With every channel narrating stories on a daily basis, sometimes the idea doesn’t remain new anymore,” says Shekhar.

    A writer’s biggest task is how he moulds different storylines and characters together without losing the essence of the plot. “That’s the challenging job. It’s not easy to narrate or churn out new/ fresh ideas on a daily basis. More than the idea, how you approach a story is the biggest challenge.”

    He cites the example Astitva where he had used certain elements that viewers had already seen in Balaji’s shows, but what was different, was the approach. He goes on to say that writers don’t create anything new, but repeat what has already been told on television by good old writers and present it to the viewers with twists and modifications. “In today’s time, if any writer says I create original, then I am sorry I disagree with them.  Writer’s job is to observe what the good old television writers have done and follow their footsteps, but with twists and turns keeping in mind today’s culture, values and traditions. We all borrow thoughts.”

    He adds, “We have the same plot but it changes with time and characters bring in the freshness. For my shows, nobody felt that I had used the same storyline because the presentation and the way it was approached was quiet different.”

    With daily soaps, a writer has to work under tremendous pressure to keep the story and characters interesting. Shekhar highlights that dialogues are very important in any TV series as they take the maximum share of a character’s social existence.  

    When asked how he keeps the freshness alive and comes up with ideas for a story, he credits his observation power and memory. It was his own childhood experiences that motivated him to write a script on child marriage; giving birth to Balika Vadhu. According to him, for a writer, anything can trigger an idea; sometimes what he observes in the surroundings makes a story and sometimes memories can germ it.

    He sits with his team of writers, guides them, and even solves problems if a series stops working. He further states that the toughest job at times is to change or modify a certain plot or a track and still makes sense of it. “There can be many reasons to it, at times a track fails to click with the audiences or the similar track starts running on some other show, so here comes a writer’s skills and expertise to deal with the situation and go strong with the storyline without losing its essence.”

    He agrees that it is a difficult task to get good story tellers on-board. “I get to see very less talent or pool of writers who have read literature and have done some great work in the past. They lack knowledge skills and are not well-equipped with what the audience requires.”

    Shekhar further highlights that because of this shift, the life of a television show is also going down. “If we see today, the new shows don’t run for long like the older ones. Today, shows like Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai on Star Plus, Uttaran and Balika Vadhu on Colors have seen the life span of more than six years. What about the rest?” Shekhar asks.