Remake mania hits telly

After looking to Bollywood for inspiration for years, producers of soaps have now switched to a convenient 'movie to soap' formula. The process might seem quite mechanical were it not for the fact that there are so many variations in the adaptation process.

A lot of adaptations or remakes of Hindi films have hit the small screen of late. Leading the pack of remakes is NDTV Imagine's Seeta Aur Geeta, an adaptation of Hema Malini's blockbuster hit of the same name, which will feature Anjori Alagh in the lead role. While Zee TV's Aap Ki Antara, is also a rip off of Aamir Khan's Taare Zameen Par, Sony also joins the remake bandwagon with Bhaskar Bharti, a rehash of Antara Mali's Mr Ya Miss featuring Eijaz Khan.

However, Sunil Bohra, the producer of the show defends the adaptation, "Seeta Aur Geeta is the biggest ever heroine oriented blockbuster in Bollywood so the idea of making a serial based on that film seemed lucrative." He further clarifies, "We value creativity, so we have bought the rights of the concept."

Though promos of Aap Ki Antara, where a five-year-old Antara, played by Zaina Vastani, staring at abstract things and day dreaming would remind you of Darsheel Safary, Monish Sekhri, producer, refuses to acknowledge the fact. "Our serial Aap Ki Antara is an altogether different story. A person's life will change by looking at things from Antara's perspective and thus the child is special."

In the times of dailies, it's difficult to generate so many original scripts feels Sandiip Sikcand, creative head of Balaji.

"This trend started with the advent of dailies. As finite stories were turned into never ending soaps, people started running out of ideas. Hence the easiest way out was to lift stories, characters and plots from popular films," he says.

But Archita Biswas, script writer of Tujh Sang Preet Lagaayee Sajna, which bears a striking resemblance to Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, claims that adapting a popular story

is a bigger challenge. "A film is over in three hours, a serial goes on for a long time and we have to give it a new twist daily," justifies Archita Biswas.

Sanjay Upadhyay, the creative head of Sony, which airs Bhaskar Bharti, couldn't agree more. "Either take the core thought from a film and build drama around it or take characters from a hit film and put it them in a different milieu. It works as viewers associate with these concepts."

Even Shailja Kejriwal, senior creative head of NDTV Imagine feels Bollywood is a reliable reference point, "Bollywood is a tried and tested form of popular entertainment in the Indian context and hence it often works," she explains.

Ekta Kapoor, is also coming up with a serial version of Madhur Bhandarkar's Fashion. This, yet untitled project, will be the biggest ever of the production house.