A message from our MJHT Story Writer

Hey Gagan,

This is for a post:

Time and again i have gone and visited the website to see reactions and i thought I must, even today. Because it is MJHT's first anniv. I thought I should use it as a medium to convey to people that not all cast and crew were shooting today and that is why there wasnt any big celebration. we keep having celebrations but that is another story.
What really shocked me was a discussion on how the actors are made to go thru a 'crapfest of scenes' and how no one has taras on even them, spare audiences and how the actors are good and it is only because of them that the serial is watchable otherwise it is... (I dont even want to continue as it demeans the pride each of the team member has in the show that they are making)..

all I would say is- it requires a unit of 70 people who come in before the actor arrives on the set. right from cleaning the floor to setting up the lights and the camera, readying the schedule, planning where to shoit, coordinating dates, ensuring the scenes arrive on time, the costume, make up, hair department, the director, the team of assistants, the production crew, the finance team, the creative head and a host of others who ensure that once the actor is ready with make up and his lines, he can be called on the set and briefed about the scene. the director and camera person have by now discussed how they want to take what kind of shots and which lighting would make the actor look better, hide a particular profile in which the actor may not look his best, shoot quickly/ fast enough so as to send the scene in time due to constraints (location, artistes availability, telecast primarily) a scene is then didvided into shots and done up.. the director briefs the actors as per mood, the tone of the scene, and amongs the several takes that happen, the editor chooses the best shots and makes the line up, sitting all day and night at the editing studio with his team.

what you all see is the packaged good looking actors who hold your attention and you all feel are the only reason the show works. let me tell you all, it is a back handed compliment for us..

till you all know it first hand, you all wont know the problems, the conditions in which any daily soap is made for 22 episodes a month. it is not only the actors who slog, it is the whole team who slogs..

no one has any personal grudge against a 'sajan' or a 'mayur'. no one says chal aaj isko scene nahi dete- usko ek gana, toh usko teen dete hai.. no one does that..

and it is a daily soap. it is FICTION. the artists are NOT the characters. the characters are created, written on a daily basis. Rati is not Nupur and Samrat is not the same as Mohit. How many of you all even know who directs the show? and how ill he has been and yet landed on shoot, given instriuctions from his bed? how many of you all know how much a light man slogs being in direct exposure to heat all the time? how many of you all know how heavy a hand held camera is and that the camera guy carried a 30 kilo camera on his shoulder and shot the one shot song without even having his food? how many of you all know that one of thre writers is right now bed ridden because he has had an after effect of a wrong medicine prescribed but is yet working on his scripts because the show must go on??

But how many of you all know what they showed about 'sajan and 'mayur' in SBS?

It is easy to call it a 'crapfest' but it is difficult to create it.

No one has anything against the actors. Most of them are my friends. One of them is one of my best friends and a few others I enjoy hanging out with.. Their's are all characters that are created by us. Why would we want to create a fan following and the side line anyone? Right from Uday to Benji and Samrat to Shilpa, they are all characters which are our babies..

There are never grudges between cast and crew because we all know what goes behind making of a show.. you dont get locations, there is weather problems, there are date issues, and a lot of techincal stuff that you may not understand as a viewer.

You may argue that why the hell is he going on rambling? All we care is for a good epsidoe and we are the viewers. Fair enough! But all one is saying is that we put our hearts and souls into it. We make it for everyone.. not just people who are on IF.. There are three writers, the creative head of a production house, the producer's team, the team at the channel that all work together in tandem, with discussions based on ideas, research feedback, production feasibility and otehr factors to make every scene of every episode happen.

And TRPs are a different science. You all would know it only when you work with a channel.

All I'm saying is relax. It is just a show. Take it like a show. There are bigger issues in life, in society, in the country that we need to be aggressive about.

Relax and have fun! WE would like you all to switch on at 9 pm and switch off at 9:30 pm. Dont cry because mayur got one scene less and sajan got one song more.. Please.. for their sake!!

Enjoy and I hope you all keep giving us love so that we as a team reach many more mile stones like today's first anniversary.

Suhaney weather mein milenge,
Gautam Hegde