Kasshish to go off air in November-midday

Kasshish, Ravi Rai's sentimental drama about a woman coming to terms with her husband's extra marital affair, is set to go off air early next month.

Confirming the development, Ashwini Yarde, programming head, Zee said, "Yes, Kasshish will be off air from November first week. We will replace the show with repeat telecasts of Sinndoor."

Experiment's off

Explaining the reason behind this move she said, "It was understood that Kasshish was an experimental effort. It was aimed at a very niche audience."

Does this mean that Kasshish's early exit is due to its low ratings? "I would like to say that the show worked for us in its limited time span. We will be working with Ravi Rai in the future again."

On the positioning of Sinndoor in the late night slot, she said, "We got lot of feedback from viewers that they were missing the telecast due to its early evening (7.30 pm) timing. Hence we will be airing repeats at 11 pm."

Producer knew

Reacting to the news of his show being pulled off air, producer Ravi Rai said, "Kasshish has been my best work till date. I have learnt a lot from it, and had a great time working with the entire cast. I was given an idea beforehand that the show would be based on limited episodes."

As far as the ratings go, Rai said, "I am working on something new with the channel and hope it gives them a TV rating of 5 or 6.

Kasshish dealt with an entirely new subject — it had no element of love, and was based on heartbreak and someone cheating on his wife. Also, Simone, Ayub and Kitu aren't exactly the teen icons of today's youth. I knew all along that the audience for my show was very niche and specific."

Happy ending

As far his new project is concerned, isn't the director afraid of being typecast with stereotypical family dramas? "I would love to do a comedy or thriller, but no one is ready to offer me one. I don't want to be slotted in any particular genre."

So how does Kasshish end? "It will be a happy ending for Pia (Simone Singh). She will move on in life and realise the importance of being independent. She comes a full circle, and doesn't have any hatred for her husband. She tells him that just like him, she too could fall for someone else. She is human, after all."

tushar.joshi@mid-day.com