Dhadkan Zindagii Kii producer Nilanjana Purkayasstha: I don't think much about TRPs as I do about storytelling

Nilanjana Purkayasstha, currently producing Zony TV show Dhadkan Zindaggi Kii has always been keen on telling stories that make a difference and are a source of motivation, or inspiration to the rest. The producer spoke to India Forums about what went into bringing the Additi Gupta and Rohit Purohit starrer to life, her journey upwards and onwards, and to what extent do TRPs concern her as a producer.

On bringing the show to live...

Dhadkan has been my dream project for many years. For the last 20 years on television, we have told stories of women's struggles inside the house, about the sacrifices within the house, about her aspirations within the house. I wanted to tell the story for a very long time about the women struggle at the work place and the challenges at the work place and how a woman struggles to make a place for herself and the challenges that she faces in the man's world, the fact that we have to work twice as hard in comparison to men and the glass ceiling that so many of us know of. I want to talk about why women are only expected to make sacrifices and there is only talk about equality but I wanted to show women being able to achieve their dreams and have a balance life and men can also have it.

About her journey and finally doing what she wants to do...

I started my journey as a channel executive in 2000 and worked my way up the ranks, and then my dream was always to be in the media and I did pursue that dream. After 7 years of working in the channel I wanted to explore the other side, it sounds very easy, but it wasn't. I always thought of myself as a storyteller and that's all I am. Working at the channel did not allow me to do that per say and since then, that's what I have been doing - telling stories, tell them the way I want to tell them and that is extremely satisfying. The driving forces is always my stories give my hope to someone, if they can touch someone's lives and give inspiration to even one person, I think that is a life well lived and that's what I am looking to do more of in the future.

To what extent do the TRPs concern here, she says...

I am like a horse with blinders, I don't think so much about the TRPs as much as I do about telling a story with conviction. It has been my experience and it is also my belief that when a story is told from the heart honestly, when everyone on the team kind of comes together to create something from their hearts and when the intent is good, it always results in TRPs. It has very little to do with manipulating storyline, the audience watches television from the heart and not the mind and you have to evoke an emotion, not manipulate it. When I have been dishonest, the ratings haven't worked. We don't know what the audience wants, we can only tell a story.