Ekta's Bengali fixation By: Upala KBR June 22, 2006
Ekta Kapoor
On August 7, Ekta Kapoor will launch her new serial, Kasturi on Star Plus. The new daily soap drama will be based on the life of a simple girl, Kasturi Chatterjee, who gets married to a boy from a rich Marwari family.
Kahaani Kasturi ki
Says Ekta says, "Kasturi is about a small town girl living on the outskirts of Kolkata. It's an interesting, warm love story spanning generations with a traditional yet modern approach."
Ekta promises that this poor girl-rich boy love saga will be different from Balaji's other shows, "There is freshness as far as the characterisation goes. Kasturi is a simple girl next door who has very small demands from life and comes from a very poor family. She gets married into a rich family.
The line of the serial goes — 'Everyone should have a dream as dreams come true, but be careful about what you dream as dreams come true...' The peg of the show after the 18th episode does a 360-degree turn."
Romancing Kolkata
The show will be shot in Kolkata, Ekta reveals, "We will shoot in one of the havelis out there and at Kalighat and Howrah Bridge. I had last shot for Kahani Teri Meri and Kasautii Zindagii Kay in Kolkata. The Bengali connection has happened once again."
The cast of Kasturi hasn't been finalised yet, but auditions are on right now, "Though Kasturi Chatterji will be a fresh face, you can look forward to an assortment of fresh faces and some very powerful well-known actors."
Strong screenplay
Kapoor hopes that Kasturi will click with the masses, as she feels they are the prime targets for a show like this, "Because the serial has a very strongly rooted screenplay which will hit home with the aam janta. In spite of having grand sets, we will keep the show as real as possible. Kasturi will be realistic and simple like Kkusum."
What's with the Bengali obsession? First the Basus in Kasautii and now the Chatterjees in Kasturi. Ekta laughs, "Yes. What to do? The Roys — Ronit Roy and Moni Roy (Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi) and Bengalis have become a permanent fixture in my life. They are in my kundalis