The story behind Seven

okay, guys..this is my first post here..i <3 seven..so, here i am going to narrate the story behind seven as posted by the writer 'Anuraadha Tewari' on facebook to share it with all those who love seven.. :) Here it goes :

In the words of Miss Anuraadha Tewari

"SEVEN was an idea that just leapt into my mind one fine day . . . like ideas often do. I had always been a HUGE fan of superhero stuff and by then the Matrix and X Men were already legends . . . and the Da Vinci Code was a rage too . . . this is 2005 and so, one fine day I just felt that there HAD to be an original Indian Superhero series . . . I mean considering our Mythology we had so many magical things going on anyways, why weren't we doing something about it??? I was clear from moment 1 that it had to be hip and cool and have some electric guitars playing in the background kinda thing . . . and it had to be a mix . . . of the ancient sanskrit stuff and today's technology as well as lingo . . . the two just had to mix, cause that to me is the true contemporary culture of India. And that culture had no religion . . . it was just about higher intelligence . . . that's all.

I just had a 5 page concept note then . . . and it was a Film. Called Ashvamedh . . . and it was called that all the way till the shoot began last year :D More on that later . . . so yeah, I had Dr Charak and Asht who was called Ardraak then (dont ask me why) and Shunyaa and Shlok on a hip bike . . . that's it. And I sat on it for 2 years, knowing fully well that NO ONE was gonna get this in the Industry then . . . I did mention it once though to another Production House . . . they even took me to Sony who looked at it as a 'franchise seller' but it died right there . . . like I told you, they just weren't going to get it. So well sometime in 2007 I met Ravina Kohli . . . this amazing lady from YRF who also happened to be my senior from School :) and she grabbed the story with both hands . . . I believe Mr Adi Chopra did the same . . . had no idea he was a superhero freak too . . . it took 6 months to sign a contract though hehehehe and work actually started in March 2008 . . . I had to write an episode though and thereafter Adi had just one change . . . a big one . . . my story was based in a School . . . Adi suggested we take it out and make it real seeming . . . like Heroes . . . without the story changing an inch . . . I watched Heroes and initially didn't like changing my treatment at all . . . but then thankfully I went off to South America for a month on a holiday immediately after that meeting . . . and returned fresh and open . . . and the Writing began.

And the storm hit!

I wasn't prepared for the roller coaster ride it was gonna be. There were endless nights of research and notes on what I already knew . . . notes and notes on how to connect things . . . and I didn't have a story till June!!! There were days I thought gawwwd what I have I gotten myself into . . . and other days when I said damn, am just a very bad writer . . . cause in 3 months I just about had 4 episodes . . . and I was also writing dialogues for the first time . . . anyway, somewhere in May 2008 I met with an accident and hurt my legs . . . was on bedrest for 2 weeks and thats when the story began to crystallize in my head properly . . . . and spooky things began to happen.

The more I got into the Mythology of it, the more strange connections appeared. Like I had already chosen Korba Jungle, Chhatisgarh for Eklvya and then the Kaurav and Paandavani connects happened . . . then the names . . . each one came with just the right meaning and so many more . . .which I cant reveal right now but which would appear in the story later . . . but the spookiest was the day I was thinking about why I was fascinated by Ashvamedh at all and what was so fascinating about the name till I realized what was always under my nose . . . I was born in Dashashwamedh ghaat Varanasi . . . and yes Dr Charak is a lot like my Grandfather who was a Scientist - Philosopher.

Thereafter, a lot of the connects just kept falling into place . . . it was like I was on a roll . .. and by Dec 2008 all 26 eps had been written . . . there as a brief gap after that . . . YRF was suddenly unsure of the tv plans and there were no funds . . . and I was like, ok one full year of labour and nothing after that . . . ok! Anyway, I was writing Jail by then so my mind was diverted . . . but then suddenly end March 2009 Adi came back into the picture . . . he had read the scripts and called them 'path breaking' but he had one problem . . . Asht's track . . . the way it was playing out . . . he found it dark and complicated . . . and I was like oh no!!! I cant change all that now . . . Ravina cajoled and comforted and I finally came around . . . and began working alongwith Adi on the new track . . . and I have to admit that it was a very enriching experience . . . just amazing.

In 3 months we were back on track . . . and Adi was gracious enough to ask me to hang around till the casting, costumes and script reading happened . . . meanwhile another change was suggested . . . the name . . . and I was reluctant again . . . i had lived with Ashvamedh for so long. But then it suddenly occurred to me that the ashvamedh prophecy would get over in Season 1 . . . and then??? So it did make sense . . . and thats when I came up with SEVEN . . . simple and cool . . . hopefully :D

The last stage was the script reading where I finally met the cast . . . and was so thrilled to finally see the ideas come to life . . . they were so well cast!!!

It is a great high I tell you, to see your thoughts get transformed into a reality in front of you . . . for 100s of people to work passionately on what you thought alone on your laptop at night . . . its like they only work to make your dreams come true . . . its amazing this feeling . . . hope some of you would like to follow this path and discover it for yourself . . . "

Thanks for reading :)