Your Heart is a Size of FIST bcz u need |Vikas gupta AT17 DT Nt Pg. 36 - Page 17

Vikas, you started as a creative in the most successful family saga of all time, 'Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi', and today you are seen as a prominent figure in developing youth content. How did this shift happen?

To begin with, I have not been to college. Even today, my only ambition in life is to go to college but my parents thought I was only meant for business. Hence, I left home and came to Mumbai. I never really thought of a career in this industry. Even today in small towns, people don't know what creative heads and executive producers (EPs) are. Things were completely different when I came here. At 17, I worked with Mr Bhimsen Khurana, who was my first boss. Later, I started working with Balaji Telefilms after trying my hands at a couple of films. It was at Balaji, when I realized that storytelling is the most exciting aspect of this industry. I did not quite know as to what I wanted to do, but I did have a clear direction. I was enjoying the process, and at 19 I was heading 'Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi bahu Thi.'

Then I was involved in almost all their shows and the film division. Not many know that Balaji is one of the first ones who started working on new media. The boom may have occurred now but they started working on the same, seven years back. After working for a considerable time, I felt stagnant doing the same job. I was a creative director and after doing the same stuff again and again, I felt the need to change.

At 23, I was bored and I had taken a break for a year. Travelling opened my brains and Prithvi became my new office. Soon, I was doing plays and meeting people. These encounters made me realize that there is a scarcity of programming for a lot of people. The dramas that we were doing caters to a certain audience and the rest remains uncatered. That's when I got the idea of doing youth shows, and 'Gumrah' was born.

The reason I make shows the way they are, is that I amalgamate my learning of realism and entertainment. Luckily, under Lostboy Productions, we have always maintained the principle of telling a story the way it is meant to be told. Usually, all stories are same and its how you narrate them is the difference.

Post Gumrah, there was a show called 'The Serial' which was real life version of Entourage, which was a fantastic concept. From being television's Anurag Kashyap, we went on to become television's Karan Johar with Yeh Hai Aashiqui. The biggest success point that I witnessed was when the top three youth shows on top three channels belonged to LostBoy Productions. After covering these facets I wanted to do something more exciting and that's when MTV offered me to head their programming and I took it up. Working with MTV made me a lot more confident and happy too.

Finally, 'Kaisi Yeh Yaariaan' happened and it became a landmark show. This was MTV's entry into fiction almost after a decade and one to remember. After having a good experience with them, I took up programming at And TV. Here, my philosophy at And TV was that programming should be distinct. Anything that is coming on Sony TV or Star Plus should not come on And TV as that would be the edge it needs. I made sure, we were choosing concept based shows.

After all this, I am now focusing completely on Lostboy.