Power of belief

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Sanober

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Posted: 19 years ago

Power of belief

Chaya Unnikrishnan
Posted online: Friday, August 18, 2006 at 0000 hours IST

If you have the faith, miracles can happen in your life. That's the mantra of Dheeraj Kumar's new reality-based mythological show Man Mein Hai Vishwas to be aired on Sony from August 18... "I used to play the tabla till the age of 16. One day God appeared in my dream and said that my song reached him faster than my beats. The next day, I wondered how God could hear my voice when I wasn't even a singer. That was when I decided to became a vocalist," shares Pandit Jasraj. Another interesting incident Panditji narrates is that he never found the deity that had appeared in his dream in any temple. "In 1954, when I was in Singapore for a concert, I found a painting of the Lord (of my dreams), in a friend's house. I enquired about it and was told that the painting was 200 years old and there was no temple anywhere nearby. I was stunned and asked for a photograph of the painting," reminisces Pandit Jasraj. Today, 60 years later, the maestro is happy that his story is being visualised for the small screen, courtesy Creative Eye. This is just one of the incredible incidents televised in the show Man Mein Hai Vishwas to be aired every Friday at 8 pm. Creative Eye's team under the leadership of Vikas Kapoor has unearthed many more unbelievable but plausible events that have occured in the lives of the common man as well as celebrities. Says Dheeraj Kumar who heads Creative Eye, "Along with the Oriental Institute of Research in Baroda, we have studied many interesting cases, authenticated them and only then recreated the stories for television." The show brings back Nitish Krishna Bharadwaj to the small screen after a gap of two years. The actor was last seen in BR Chopra's Vishnupuran in which he played the ten avatars of Lord Vishnu. After the last Godly role, Nitish stayed away from the limelight to pursue his political career in Madhya Pradesh as the spokesperson for BJP. In the interim he also produced and directed a docu-feature, the details of which he isn't willing to divulge now. "I thought it was time for me to return to my field (acting) and here I am," he laughs. But it's not acting that he will be doing in this interactive show, he will only be a sutradhar."When the concept came my way, I was really impressed," says Nitish who feels that the show transcends the man-made barriers of religion and faith with real-life experiences. Has he been deeply affected after listening to the various life-altering stories? "I haven't really been affected though all the stories are quite incredible," smiles Nitish. As for personally experiencing any miracle, the actor who's himself played God umpteen times says, "Though I have immense faith in the almighty, I haven't really experienced a miracle save for the birth of my daughter Sayli. I desperately wanted a baby girl for which I fervently prayed to Goddess Durga and I was blessed with one," says the actor.

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However, the danger of narrating stories that have made the impossible, possible is that it will propogate superstition. How are they planning to balance the fine line between blind faith and belief. "When my wife Zuby Kochar and I conceived the show, we realised that every story had to be filtered and authenticated. Numerous people will have stories but only a few will be true. That's how we got in touch with the institute and my team went to each and every place from where a story originated and double-checked it," states Dheeraj. On his part, Nitish goes through every incident minutely because ultimately the responsibility of narrating the story lies with him. "What I speak reflects the goings-on and I don't want to give it any particular colour," he maintains. Given the fact that since his Krishna days, people have been mesmerised by his commanding and soothing voice, Nitish couldn't be more careful. Avers Dheeraj, "Nitish has this Krishna image. His presentation and style is such that whatever he says people will believe him," maintains Dheeraj. Interesting stories like that of litteratuer Ramkumar Brahmr who was an aethist for long and who overnight became a Sai Baba bhakth will be retold in a dramatic way. The story goes that when Brahmr was a sub-editor with a magazine called Kadambani, he had a visitor who wanted him to publish an article on Sai Baba. Since Brahmr did not believe in the Saint, he rejected the idea outright. The visitor, however, insisted on leaving behind his article and photographs. Years later, Brahmr found himself in abject poverty and didn't have enough money to arrange for his mother's last rites. Dejected and depressed, the writer was going through his old files and found a picture of Sai Baba. Out of desperation, he started praying to Baba. "Give me 24 hours to arrange for money on my own since I don't want to borrow from friends," he cried. Half-an-hour later, his neighbours and friends were shocked to see his mother come alive. She had started breathing, much to their disbelief! The next morning, Brahmr received a cheque of Rs 8000 for one of his published articles. The same night at 11.35 pm, his mother passed away and this time Brahmr could organise the funeral in a dignified manner. Brahmr's wife was contacted to authenticate the story as the famed writer is no more. "For every story, we will either get the person or his blood relative to talk about the incident," informs Dheeraj. There's this 11 year old girl who was afflicted with paralysis and the doctors had completly given up on her ability to walk again. Miraculously, the girl who believes in Navnath, a deity in her village found herself walking 15 weeks after she was considered a hopeless case! She has medical certificates and records to prove her case. Many more such dramatic tales have been dug up from all over the country and depending on the locale from which they originate, Dheeraj has chosen the directors. "This will give the exact colour and flavour to the show," informs the producer. So, a Bengali director will direct a Bengal based story and a director from the South will call the shots for a South Indian tale. The cast too has been chosen with great care to suit the characters. Actors like KK Raina who plays Ram Kumar Brahmr, Mrinal Kulkarni, Yatin Karyekar and Shama Sikandar will be re-living the stories on the screen. A weekly show, it has a duration of one hour and is contracted for 52 episodes. The show will open with highpoints of the story followed by the title track sung by Sonu Nigam. Later, Nitish will enter the frame and narrate the background with the actors recreating the drama. The show and Nitish's comeback will be publicised in a big way during Janmashtami when the actor will be breaking the matki a la Krishna. During Ganesh Chaturthi laddoos and little Ganesh idols will be given to people visiting sarvajanik mandals. Agarbattis will be distributed outside all the major temples. For Dheeraj who has made some hugely popular mythologicals including Om Namah Shivay, Jap Tap Vrat and Jai Santoshi Ma, Man Mein Hai Vishwas is an extension. "When we make interactive shows like Jodi No.1 why not a contemporary reality-based mythological show," reasons Dheeraj. Not surprisingly, the producer who has made a success with mythos is upbeat about the show. "It's something with which everyone can identify and I am positive it will do very well," he enthuses. That's Dheeraj's man ka vishwas. Whether viewers share his belief only time will tell.

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Power of belief

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