| If the grapevine is to be believed, Shobhna Desai will no longer be producing Durgesh Nandini. The show will be taken over by Sheel Kumar, head of Shreya Creations. Interestingly, Sheel Kumar represents a new trend in the small screen industry. If he manages to take over Sony's Durgesh Nandini, it will be his third show for Sony and fourth show as a 'takeover' producer.
Sheel Kumar can be termed as the small screen's takeover man. He has already taken over Ek Ladki Anjaani Si, Kaajjal Sabbki Aankhon Mein Basi for Sony and Mamta for Zee.
The fourth show in row, Durgesh Nandini is in the pipeline. The paperwork for the takeover is on. However, media-shy Sheel is very reluctant to disclose any details about taking over Durgesh Nandini. "Yes, there are rumours that I am taking over Durgesh Nandini. I have got so many congratulatory SMSes from people. But I have no clue about it," he says.
When asked about his takeover spree, he politely says, "Please, do not call them takeovers."
He then goes on to explain the process. "Basically, the entire process starts with a show being in a complete mess and getting low TRPs. That's when the channel decides to revamp it. The channel then calls up several producers who they think are capable of delivering higher TRPs. Today, the channel gives a lot of money to the producers, so when the original producers fail to deliver the desired results, they give the show to some other producer. But I don't like my image of a 'takeover man'," says Sheel.
Sandiip Sikcand, chief creative director of Sony, says, "I think Shreya Creations is a very good production house. Whenever they takeover any show, they put in a lot of hard work and add value to the show. I have seen Sony's shows touching high TRPs, thanks to them. In short, they know how to rejuvenate any show by incorporating new elements in it."
| | From top: Stills from Ek Ladki Anjani Si, Mamta and Durgesh Nandini | Sheel Kumar and his production house Shreya Creations function in a typically corporate way. Channels like Sony and Zee have given Sheel the shows because he is famous for working on a shoestring budget and delivering moderate (as against low) TRPs.
A case in point is Sony's Ek Ladki Anjaani Si, which was in a terrible condition in its 18th episode. Shreya Creations took over the show from Prime Channel. The show has now completed 300 episodes and is still going on. As for Mamta, the show managed to run for 190 episodes, when Shobhna Desai backed out due to dismal TRPs and Sheel took over. The show has now completed 240 episodes already. Sheel also took over Kaajjal after 95 episodes from Twenty Twenty Television and has produced 65 episodes.
After doing all these shows as an alternate producer, is it a problem to come up with an original concept? "I don't think I am the only one doing this job. Dheeraj Kumar has just taken over Maayka from Klassic Production house. But yes, I do have original ideas. I am coming up with a thriller for Zee next," he adds. |
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