ON A ROLL:Deya & Tony on JJR

But won't it be tough to handle so many shows simultaneously?
It will be tough but we have had a reasonably good lead time before the shows have come on air. We have been working on the Zee Next's show Jhoome Jiye Re for the last one year. For our NDTV Imagine show, Radha Ki Betiyaan Kuch Kar Dikhayengi, we have been working closely with their creative director, Shailaja Kejriwal, for eight months. Left Right Left is already going on for almost a year now and Annu Ki Ho Gayi Wah Bhai Wah has just started on Star One. We are giving our 100 per cent to the shows which is why I think, we will be able to pull it off.

A Tony-Deeya show is usually different from the regular fare on television. From where do you source your ideas?
We are lucky to have a good set-up of writers who have been with us since the beginning. Creating new ideas is a team effort. We regularly brainstorm and from one show, another idea is born. For a long time we wanted to do a show on an academy but at that time nobody was interested. When SAB TV envisaged an interest in the concept we developed it and Left Right Left happened.

Didn't you have problems with the lead actor Rajeev Khandelwal?
Not really. He had a one-year contract with us and we knew he would quit after that. We were always prepared for it. He did stay on for four more months before moving on.

Over a decade ago, your Banegi Apni Baat launched with Zee and now Jhoome Jiiya Re is the launch show for Zee . Does that make you nostalgic?
Absolutely. I am feeling like it's the first day of school. Everything has become a challenge. There's a non-comfort zone and you have to develop a rapport with the company. I love challenges and being pushed to come up with something new. The brief for Jhoome Jiiya Re was that we have to create a show that is youthful and fresh. The concept of Jhoome .... is highly inspired from personal experiences we have had with our children in their growing-up phase. The serial is about why nice guys always have to be last. It's about how everyone is special, irrespective of whether they dream of becoming something big or not. Like our protagonist Dabboo says, 'Mein aankhen band karti hoon par sapna nahin dikhta'. She, however, doesn't give up trying. She is good in dance and music but has no clue about it because her father is close-minded and unencouraging. Actually, he's been a loser in his life and the fear that the daughter will be like him nearly kills him. The daughter, then decides to be something in her life and with the aid of her grandmother she finds her calling in dance.