'I believe in finding new talent and giving new faces a chance' - JD

Actor-director JD Majethia, the man who has given a new dimension to Television with his unique story ideas and realistic characterization speaks about his projects in hand and on his future..

How did you come up with such an unusual concept like that of Ek Packet Umeed?
I had the concept formed in my head for a long time now. But when the idea was conceptualized, the daily soap culture was more popular. So the idea was shelved for some time, but now the whole scenario has changed, viewers are more acceptable to changes now. The concept was in my head right from the beginning of my career but sometimes some ideas are way ahead of their time or you are just not mature enough to execute them. We wanted to make Ek Packet Umeed a daily soap, but were not getting the required slot. We got this one hour time slot, so decided to telecast it accordingly.

Remote Control does not seem to be doing as well as the rest of your shows. Your comments on this.
The reason behind it is that it is not promoted properly. It has a pretty impressive lineup of stars including Supriya Pathak, Deven Bhojani, Benaf, Manasi Parekh, the lead of India Calling. But when compared with other dailies on 9X, Remote Control as a weekly is doing well. Being a producer, I perfectly understand the channel’s point too.

Don’t you think your cast is redundant in most of your shows?
We have many talented actors in the industry but they are not approachable. And so I prefer to cast the stars whom I know and can approach easily. Also if I cast the same actor in two of my serials, it becomes easy for me to adjust the dates and timings of the shooting. It’s easy for the actor too. But it’s not like I don’t want new faces in my shows. We have many aspiring new comers in this industry. Manasi Parekh is one of them. Even in Jasuben, we have cast actors who are new and extremely talented people. For me it’s more about finding the right talent and giving new faces a chance too.

Jayantilal Jasuben’s family is the largest in the television industry, is it so?
Yes it is. But apart from being the largest, it is also the most modern family with traditional values. Jasuben is the love story of not only a youth couple but also a couple who is 55 years old. It covers a wide range.

Majority of your serials show a Gujarathi culture. But this is not the case in Ek Packet Umeed which revolve around ladies of all creed..
This is a story of different women coming together from different parts of country. And when it comes to my other shows, we need to show some religion and culture or we need to give some surname to that family, hence the Gujarati culture. And we are very much comfortable in showing Gujarati culture since I belong to it and I know all the rituals well. And I prefer showing more about the culture because I don’t want to make a mistake portraying a different culture and hurt the sentiments of the public.

Are you planning to produce a reality show?
Yeah. In fact I had a concept in my mind and was thinking of making a reality show on families but then Zee came up with Rock N Roll Family. But I am working on the concept and will let you’ll know if I decide something.

JD is also planning to get in to movies but was reluctant to divulge any information on that. But be sure to watch out for his Khichdi on the 70mm screen.

Reporter: Ranjini Nair
Author: Melanie