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Ekta Kapoor: Ajeeb Daastaan hai ye will be an important story in the evolution of TV
Ekta Kapoor: Ajeeb Daastaan hai ye will be an important story in the evolution of TV
Priya Gupta,TNN | Oct 7, 2014, 12.00AM IST
Ekta Kapoor
The story of Ajeeb Daastaan Hai Ye- It's about a woman, played by Sonali Bendre (interestingly, her character is named after Ekta's mother Shobha in the serial), who is in love with her husband and relies on him a lot.
He is monied and she thinks she is doing all the right things, till one day when she discovers that he has cheated on her. He is caught in a sexual scandal and she sees him making out with another woman on TV. He lands up in jail. She had earlier taken up a degree only to get married. She now takes up a job after so many years, where she develops a connection with a man, her boss in this case. It is a funny rhetoric connection called friendship and is completely non-sexual. Her boss is somebody who she initially can't stand, as he is a rude, mean bas***d. He doesn't like to talk to women and doesn't even realise that he is lonely. But he too, finds a friend in her. He may not look like the perfect guy, but he is great with your kids, he talks to you and while you never have a physical affair with him, there is a mental connection you develop.
READ: Ekta Kapoor's midnight visit to Mohit Suri and Chetan Bhagat
Excerpts of a conversation with producer Ekta Kapoor:
How did Ajeeb Daastaan... come about?
Uday (Shankar) sir asked me what the show was about. And I said, '95% shows on television are about pro-marriage.' He asked, 'Therefore, are you doing an anti-marriage show?' I said, 'No. I am doing a show where I am asking the question, 'Is marriage only a woman's responsibility? What is marriage? Marriage is companionship. It's about spending a whole life with someone. It's about being each other's habit. It's about getting to know about each other and having similar likes. And if these things are not marriage, is marriage just a social status?' He said, 'I am doing it.' He said, 'Somewhere, we have to give women the courage, who constantly see our shows and say marriage is sacrosanct even if it is not working as they try and make it work.' Neena Guptaji did it in Saans many years ago. Asha Parekhji did it in Kora Kagaz. I did it with Kkehna Hai Kuch Mujhko many years back when I was the youngest producer. My first show called Shuruaat never got on air, as no channel was willing to pick it up. It was about a woman at the age of 40 who had just started her life, as up till then she had only been a wife, daughter and mother. Today, people are going to accept it. So Ajeeb Daastaan... came to life. It is not bold in content and will connect with every woman in some way. It's never at the cost of your husband. But what if you are married to a man who betrays you? Should you just keep that marriage going? And even if you do, is that really all that you are going to be? Imagine after 12 years of marriage, you come to know that your husband has another life. Will you still be able to go back home and maintain that and pretend that there is nothing wrong? Ajeeb Daastaan... is not a feminist show. It's a romcom love story, where a woman develops a mental connection, not physical, with another man, after discovering that her husband has cheated on her. It's not anti-marriage. It's anti-betrayal. Uday sir said, 'You and me have done so many shows telling women that you have to stick in a marriage and that marriage is important. But so many of them are in bad marriages and yet, they see these shows and feel that they have to be this kind of daughter-in-law and wife. Today, let's do a show, where a woman has hope that there is an idol, a character out there who may be in a similar situation. Will we support her walking out of that marriage?'
Is it different from other fictional shows on television today?
Yes, very different from all the shows in recent times. There is an audience today who wants to hear a different story. You lead your whole life thinking that you are married and one day, he gets bored. He has an affair. And what about you, who has made that commitment? Is marriage only your responsibility? He can have an affair, but you can't even have a mental connection? I want to know how India reacts and how much our audiences have matured. Marriages in India are considered only the woman's job. And it's unfortunate that it's not two-sided; where a man can make a mistake and a woman is supposed to forgive him. It's about mental connection, about landing up in a situation, where you realise that you have made a wrong choice. Can women walk out of that marriage? I don't know. I want my audiences to decide. It's an important story in the evolution of television. I think I have done it all for populist television. I am not being niche, but am doing another show representing another part of the country that we don't show. As we don't want to have women who can even once think that they can have the courage to walk out of their marriages, even though they are in a bad one. We want to be able to say that you don't have to be married to a bad man. You don't need to be in a marriage if it doesn't give you compatibility, self-assurance and individuality after being together. And if we, who have constantly sold to them the other side, don't do it, we will be doing disservice to the society that we live in.
Tell us what you think the end of this show should be?
If this show fails, for me, it is more a human failure than a show failure. For me, doing this show is a test at many levels. I want to see how India reacts. I am not showing a woman having an affair. But what if she says tomorrow that I don't want to go back to that marriage? I want to see how India takes this. Mid-point in the show, her husband comes out and says, 'Let's be normal again.' I want women to have the courage and I hope in hell that the audience stands up and supports her. The other man actually does not matter. What matters is, will she go back to a bad marriage?
Ironically, your central character Sonali Bendre, in real life, is in a terrific marriage?
Irony is great. Sonali is in a great marriage. Women, who are in great marriages, will support women who are not in such great marriages. So, my marriage may be working, but if yours is not, I will still give you that same respect. When I signed up Sonali, she was so happily married and said to me, 'Me and my husband Goldie have kept that distance work-wise and he has given me the individuality to grow. I hope men do that and I know of many who don't. I have seen women who don't discover this after years of marriage.' It was lovely to see Goldie spending 12 hours a day at home, while Sonali was shooting 12 hours a day. Sonali Bendre starts the serial by saying, 'It's 9 years of marriage and while I don't know what may happen tomorrow, I do know that till my last day, I will be with this man.' And at that point, the love affair is exposed. You can never predict your whole life... Ajeeb Daastaan Hai Yeh. Kahan Shuru Kahan Khatam...
At a time when the GEC space is crowded with the usual saas-bahu soaps, Ajeeb Daastaan... will raise questions about a woman's right to economic independence. It's a departure for Ekta Kapoor in many ways, in the sense that it is riskier and finite. It also marks Sonali Bendre's debut on a fictional TV show and took 6 months of convincing her, given that she is a mother of two kids and is happily married for over a decade. Ajeeb Daastaan... required her to shoot 12 hours a day. Interestingly, it was her husband Goldie Behl who helped in convincing her to do the show.
New show on Life OK: Ajeeb Daastaan Hai Ye Category: Fiction
Target audience: Urban men and women
Tonality: Romcomish
Timing: Starts today. Monday to Friday at 9.30pm
Duration: Finite no. of episodes Producer: Ekta Kapoor
WATCH: 'Ajeeb Dastan Hai Yeh' coming soon on Life OK
https://m.timesofindia.com/entertainment/hindi/tv/news/Ekta-Kapoor-Ajeeb-Daastaan-hai-ye-will-be-an-important-story-in-the-evolution-of-TV/articleshow/44502743.cms
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