ITV

Tag: Priya Tendulkar

  • “Corporatisation has not succeeded in the entertainment sector” : producer Asit Modi

    “Corporatisation has not succeeded in the entertainment sector” : producer Asit Modi

    In a short span of four years, Asit Modi has carved a niche for himself as a producer of successful sitcoms. 

    Modi, who started off as an independent TV producer with Hum Sab Ek Hain on Sony, went on to produce Yeh Duniya Hai Rangeen for the same channel. He has recently come up with Meri Biwi Wonderful, an Indian adaptation of the hugely successful 1960s series Bewitched.

    Meri Biwi Wonderful carries a novelty factor in that it combines comedy with elements of abracadabra and the supernatural.In a tete-a-tete with indiantelevision.com correspondent Amar, Modi comes across as a man who has a lot of passion and love for his work. Excerpts –

    How did you start off as producer?
    I have been involved with theatre in almost all capacities since college. In 1988, it struck me that producing TV software could be a viable business. After that, I starting learning the nuances of the television medium and after three years was able to produce my first serial in Gujarati. In 1995, I co-produced Kabhi Yeh Kabhi Woh for DD Metro and later co-produced Rajani starring the late Priya Tendulkar for the same channel. Hum Sab Ek Hain was my first independent work as producer and it came on air in 1998.
     
    Which subjects appeal to you? You seem to be a sitcom specialist.
    (Laughs) No, no. In fact, I would love to do varied subjects. It’s just that after the success of Hum Sab Ek Hain, the channel started feeling more confident about entrusting comedies to me. But I would love to work on other genres.
     
    “In the wake of growing competition one needs to be all the more alert to changing viewer preferences”
     
    How was ‘Meri Biwi Wonderful’ conceived?
    Meri Biwi Wonderful, as you know, is based on the popular comedy Bewitched that was produced by Columbia Tristar in the mid sixties. The concept was given to me by the channel and I was asked if the same could be adapted in the Indian context. After working on the concept, I felt confident that it would indeed succeed with our viewers. See, it has a big novelty factor in it. For the first time on Indian TV, a sitcom is laced with magic and the supernatural.

    In fact, I am proud to be associated with a Columbia Tristar production even if it is in an indirect way.
     
    Has the recent trend of dailies made it difficult for producers like you to get good weekly slots?
    Yes, I would feel so. Ideally, comedies work best as weeklies. But personally I am confident of making a good daily sitcom if I get a chance. I have, in fact, carefully studied most daily sitcoms to analyse why most of them have not worked.

    I have also acquired the rights of over 1,500 stories written by a veteran writer Tarak Mehta for Chitralekha. I hope to adapt them into successful TV serials some day.
     
    All your programmes have been on Sony. Is there any specific reason behind it?
    No. In fact, I would love to work with all the channels. It’s just that I have a great rapport with Sony. They have shown tremendous faith in me and I feel all the more motivated to live up to that faith.
     
    Do you find channel EPs overbearing in their attitude nowadays?
    Well, I would say they are more involved in all respects. We need to understand that in the wake of growing competition one needs to be all the more alert to changing viewer preferences. There have been occasions when I have had to re shoot a few scenes but I have taken it positively.
     
    What are your sources of funding?
    It’s my own money and the revenues from my earlier serials, which I plough back into the business.
     
    Who are your favourite directors on TV?
    B P Singh, Gautam Adhikari and Raju Parsekar are among my favourite directors. I love thrillers and would love to create a riveting thriller myself some day. All of B P Singh’s work is very crisp and stylishly shot. The man’s passion comes out in all his serials.
     
    “As long as a comedy is able to make people forget their worries and cheer them up, it’s commendable”
     
    Which are the areas you are personally involved with as producer?
    I’m involved with each and every area. Right from the story to the casting to the actual execution, I contribute in every possible way. I produce what I love and leave no stone unturned in ensuring that my serials conform to the highest quality. For Yeh Duniya Hai Rangeen, I had created a sprawling housing complex at MBC studio to give a realistic setting.
     
    Don’t you have any plans for Neela Telefilms going corporate?
    I do not have a plan as such. See, corporatisation has not been very successful in the entertainment sector. Because once you make your production unit a manufacturing factory, your individual involvement and passion that is so important for a quality product gets diluted. Of course, I want to expand and take up more serials but I would never undertake such volumes that I cannot bring out without my whole-hearted involvement going into it.
     
    Of late, do you feel there has been a surfeit of slapstick on TV?
    Well, I have never believed in categorisation of comedies. I only believe that there is something called good comedy and something called bad comedy. As long as a comedy is able to make people forget their worries and cheer them up, it’s commendable.
     
    Would you have produced ‘Raamkhilawaan CM & Family’?
    Well, that’s a difficult question to answer as it is very hypothetical. See, even in comedies one has to make sure that there is something to hook the women audiences. As far as a political satire goes, on a concept level it runs the risk of alienating the women viewers. But when I saw a couple of episodes of Raamkhilawaan I found it exciting overall.

    My decision on whether or not to produce a sitcom like Raamkhilawaan would have depended on several contingent factors.
     
    “Once you understand the writer – his mind, his strengths and weaknesses, it’s becomes relatively easy to get out of him what you are looking for”
     
    Who are your favourite writers?
    I have no favourites as such. I believe writing is a tough job and most writers who are in the business are reasonably good and talented. It’s more a question of striking the right understanding with them, which happens over a period of time. Moreover, producers who are really passionate about their stories have their own take on it. I feel once you understand the writer – his mind, his strengths and weaknesses, it’s becomes relatively easy to get out of him what you are looking for.
     
    Which are the projects you have in the pipeline?
    I have always taken up projects selectively. Right now, I’m working on two other projects. One is a social drama, while the other is a thriller. But both of them are at the concept level right now.
     
    It must be tough financially for an individual producer with just one serial on air. Do you have some other business that keeps you financially stable?
    Yeah, but TV is my passion and I’m obsessed with it 24 hours of the day. The only other business I would like to start some day is setting up a restaurant because good food is a major weakness for me.
  • Priya Tendulkar passes away

    Priya Tendulkar passes away

    MUMBAI: Actress Priya Tendulkar, best known for the cult series Rajani that aired on Doordarshan in the mid 1980s died following a massive heart attack in Mumbai today. She passed away at her residence at Prabhadevi in Central Mumbai, reports say. Her body was cremated in Mumbai at 7 pm today.

    Daughter of noted litterateur and playwright Vijay Tendulkar, the multi-faceted personality was actress, social worker, theatre artist, writer and painter all rolled into one. After making her film debut with Shyam Benegal’s Ankur in 1974, she went on to achieve iconic status with Rajani, a serial which portrayed her as a crusading housewife who battled corruption at all levels.

    Her versatility as an actress is evident from the number of serials, movies and plays she acted in. Apart from acting in blockbuster movies like Itihaas , Yug and Damini, she has done innumerable serials like Kisse Miya Biwi Ke, Swayamsiddha, Mahanagar , Kabhi Door Kabhi Paas and Hum Paanch to name a few. Her love for theatre was evident from her roles in plays like Pygmalion, Anji, Kamla, Kanyadaan and Sakharam Binder. She is also the recipient of numerous Maharashtra and Gujarat state Awards .

    In the 1990s her passion for political and social issues soon turned her into anchor of highly acclaimed talk shows like Zimmedaar Kaun on SABe TV and The Priya Tendulkar Show on Star Plus which won he Screen-Videocon award for the best talk-show.

    As a writer she has four books to her credit – Jyacha Tyacha Prashna a compilation of short stories which won the Damani Puraskar, Janmalela Pratyekala, Panchatarankit and Asahi, a collection of the columns which she wrote for an eveninger which won the Sahitya Parishad Puraskar. Panchtarankit, a collection of essays won the Delhi Katha Puraskar award.

  • SABe TV launching new sitcom 25 February

    SABe TV launching new sitcom 25 February

    SABe TV continues on its promise of providing ‘relief’ to viewers with the launch on 25 February of a new sitcom Sajan Tu Jhoot Mat Bol. 

    The show is directed by Rajan Waghdhare and written by Ashok Patole, the same team that has given the well known SABe TV sitcoms Yes Boss and Sriman Srimati.

    Also launching on 25 February are some new current affairs progranmmes which will lock in the 10 to 10:30 pm band five days a week. Karan Thapar hosts two shows, Line of Fire on Mondays and Court Martial on Thursdays. Both the shows are in English. Veer Sanghvi hosts another English show Meeting of Minds on Tuesdays, while Priya Tendulkar anchors Jawab Talab, modelled on BBC’s Hard Talk, Wednesdays.

    To round it off on Fridays there is Khula Manch (open platform) which has Manoj Raguvanshi in the anchor’s seat. Unlike the other new shows, though, Khula Manch is a one-hour programme.

    Once these programming initiatives are instituted, SABe TV will have the distinction of not having a single soap in the time band from 7 pm to 10:30 pm. SABe TV’s family dramas will essentially be confined to the afternoon slot.

    The programming format is as follows:

    Time    Programme
    7:00 pm    Asterix
    7:30 pm    Alif Laila
    8:00 pm    Office Office
    8:40 pm    Sajan Tu Jhoot Mat Bol
    9:10 pm    Yes Boss
    9:40 pm    Sriman Srimati
    10:10 pm    Colonell (a whodunnit detective series)
    10:30 pm – 11 pm    Current Affairs show

  • ASCI braces for rash of complaints as awareness drive set to take off

    ASCI braces for rash of complaints as awareness drive set to take off

    The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), which on 24 August is launching a campaign to increase confidence in Indian advertising on television and print media, can well cope with the expected increase in public complaints, chairman Sam Balsara says.

     

    The ASCI is going all out to increase consumer awareness about advertisements and the ASCI’s role in industry. “Lie and you shall be answerable to ASCI,” is the new credo being adopted and will feature very prominently on all their advertisements.

     

    With this form of redressal available to the consumer, would not the number of complaints go up substantially? And would the ASCI be able to cope? Judging from past experience, though complaints will generally increase, many are common ones so the existing machinery already in place will be able to cope, Balsara says.

     

    The 30-second ad will not be the usual grind of models trying to convince you that whatever they are selling is all that you require to achieve Nirvana in your poor life. The new campaign is targeted at customers asking them get proactive with their complaints about misleading advertisements.

     

    The campaign will feature well-known consumer activist Priya ‘Rajani’ Tendulkar, who will exhort consumers not to take things lying down and voice their complaints if they come across dishonest, misleading or indecent advertisements.

     

    The necessary mechanisms to see that the consumer is protected have been put in place already. The ASCI print ad reads: “If an ad is wrong, we will set it right. If an ad is indecent, misleading or dishonest, we will set it right.”

     

    The commercial is expected to air on all Hindi television channels at timings to be to be fixed with respective channels, with regional channels to follow suit in different languages by the middle of next month. Sony, Zee and Star have already agreed to air the ad.

     

    When contacted, Sandeep Goyal, group CEO (broadcasting) Zee Telefilms, said: “We will definitely put up the ad wherever we can. If there is a gap available in prime time slot, we will definitely plug in the ad. After all its for everyone’s good.”

     

    Conceived by Madison Creative and produced by Kuttu Chatterji of Hi-Class films, the film has been provided free of cost to the council. Complaints from consumers protesting have seen a big decline from over the past few years but intra industry complaints have seen a steep rise where rival agencies keep each other on their toes in the ever-increasing competitive scenario of today. Approximately 150 complaints are received by the ASCI council in a year with around 85 per cent being resolved with the errant advertiser making the necessary changes to the misleading ads.

     

    This forum has been available for quite some time but the common man is unaware of its existence and the manner to approach the problems he /she faces.

     

    ASCI is a non-profit organisation, with members comprising of the media itself. There are four broad-based categories which have four elected members (professionals from the advertisement industry) to form a board. Upon receiving complaints the errant advertiser is informed about the situation with advice to get the necessary changes implemented.

     

    Hopefully the consumer will benefit with better quality products with this campaign .

  • Sony launches big budget weekend blockbuster ‘Khel’

    Sony launches big budget weekend blockbuster ‘Khel’

    Produced by Smita Thackeray’s Rahul Productions, the serial has a big-league star cast. Khel features Dilip Tahil – his first venture on the small screen, Nirmal Pandey, the Bollywood ‘bad-shah’ who makes a comeback to the small screen, Moon Moon Sen, Mrinal Kulkarni and Priya Tendulkar as the main star cast.

     

    It is the assurance of a quality production which will be maintained throughout the serial’s telecast duration and the chances of the serial abruptly going off air being remote that prompted him to sign onto the project, Tahil said at a press brief in south Mumbai’s Hotel Taj yesterday. Khel in the only serial that Tahil is presently acting in.

     

    The fast-paced emotional family drama has a high society setting and is the story of Deven Oberoi (Dilip Tahil) a businessmen absolutely focused on earning money and his plans for setting up a lavish casino. In the mad quest for fortune and fame his personal life takes a backseat which affects his family at this point his former lover Lilavati (Priya Tendulkar) and illegitimate daughter (Mrinal Kulkarni). The star cast Dilip Tahil, Mrinal Kulkarni, Nitesh Pandey with three other cast took-on stage and by way of saying and acting out a dialogue from the script gave an idea about the characters they are playing.

     

    Khel also marks Rahul Productions’ first foray into making television serials. Says Swati Thanawala, executive producer, it was the success of Haseena Maan Jayegi that prompted them to look at the television medium. “The story line was good and has a range of emotions and interesting moments hence apt for a serial, a three hour movie wouldn’t have justified it,” said Smita Thackeray.

     

    Made on a relatively high budget, courtesy the high profile star cast which mounts up to a huge investment for each episode. Nevertheless, both the production house and the channel are optimistic about the serial. Before going into production a thorough groundwork for nearly a year over the scripting had been done, informs Thanawala. “We have treaded carefully over the storyline and star cast and we are looking at a long-term telecast,” she added.