Serial Ardhangani's entire unit insured after mishap on the set.

Jay and Kinnari Mehta of Jay Productions are back with a bang after their successful family saga, Sinndoor Tere Naam Ka, with their new prime time show Ardhangani.

Ardhangani is based on the life of a beautiful girl, Kangana (Sudeepa Singh). Sudeepa has already managed to attract the eyes of the audience and the public, and this was clearly evident when the unit shot Sudeepa’s introductory scene in Kolkata. Says Kinnery Mehtaa, the creative head of Jay Productions, "It is in Kolkatta where we shot the introduction scene of the lead actress Sudeepa Singh, in the tram to give a very Bengali effect to the serial, as tram signifies true Kolkata. But about 200 to 300 people gathered there and caused traffic jam. She being so beautiful, the whole road got blocked with people who wanted to have a glimpse of Sudeepa."

If this adulation from fans brought a smile on Sudeepa’s face, then the actress and the entire unit had to overcome a small mishap on the sets too. Says Jay Mehtaa, "We were shooting for the Devdas song 'Silsila ye chahat ka na bhujha hai na bhujhe ga', for which we had all the dancers hold diyas in their hands. We wanted to create the entire Bengali culture and Devdas effect. For one particular scene, Sudeepa Singh, the lead actress, had to hold the diya close to her face during which her nylon wig caught fire. We immediately covered her entire face with blanket."

As the actress Sudeepa Singh recollects this particular mishap, she says, “It was shocking. It was a scene with just my hand shot, where I was holding the diya in hand, and had to bring the diya near my face. Since it was a shot where only my hand had to come in the camera, I was seeing the monitor and was concentrating on my hand position, when all of a sudden, my wig caught fire. It was frightening, but all came to my rescue;no damage happened, except that my wig got burnt”, says the actress, putting up a brave front.

It is stated that the set of Ardhangani in Mumbai is worth Rs. 1.5 crore, and is the costliest set ever created by any production house. The set, with a Devdas feel to it, has more than 250 pillars embedded with coloured stones, the walls decorated with authentic portraits, and the chandelier alone costing Rs. 6 lakhs.

After this mishap with Sudeepa, the Production House learnt a quick lesson and has insured the entire set now. Says Kinnari Mehtaa, "Sudeepa has a very beautiful face. We are very concerned about everybody involved with our production house, right from the spot boy to the artists, so we immediately called the insurance company and got the entire unit insured. This is the first time any production house has taken insurance for their entire unit. But we don't want to take any chances after the incident. We are glad that Sudeepa did not suffer from any injuries and also was very supportive."

Sudeepa and the entire unit of Ardhangani are putting their mind, heart and soul into this new serial, for sure! We just hope that all the hard effort pays off, and translates into good TRPs, for Ardhangani..

Author: Srividya Rajesh