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New Tandon in tellyland
By: Vickey Lalwani

Story & Concept

RUHI had grown up wearing her best dresses to Sunday Mass at the church they attended in downtown London. She was the only daughter of JOHN and LINDA, an upper middle class white family residing in England. Yet in all her growing up years, she inexplicably was drawn to many facets of the PUNJABI INDIAN culture that was very abundantly on display at various corners of England. The music fascinated her, the aroma of spices, the fabric and the dresses, the colors everything seemed to have some kind of meaning to her though she could not explain why. LINDA seemed to avoid any conversation about INDIA and even JOHN who was an otherwise liberal man seemed to clam down on the mention of INDIA. Overtime, the Gurbani from local Gurudwara started to haunt yet attract her.

Then one day RUHI comes to know that, she was half-INDIAN and JOHN was actually her stepfather. LINDA had once been married to RANDHEER - a SIKH and RUHI was their daughter. RANDHEER's mother had refused to accept this relationship and had insulted LINDA when they had visited Punjab just before RUHI was born. After that their marriage disintegrated, they divorced, and RANDHEER requested LINDA to raise RUHI without telling her about her INDIAN origins for reasons best known to him.

Traumatised RUHI is drawn towards PUNJAB where she knows her biological father lives. She decides to go to PUNJAB to search for some explanation to the primeval pull that she feels, the inexplicable draw towards PUNJAB that has always lurked in her subconscious.

RUHI lands in PUNJAB to a huge extended family completely hostile to her. Moreover, a culture that is so alien to her that she does not know whether she will survive another day here. We look at PUNJAB and the culture of its landlords who staunchly hold on to their traditional methods of life. We explore PUNJABIYAT, the term, which defines PUNJABI culture in INDIA like never done before.

The pastoral way of life where the same brawn and the raw emotions that have managed to reap millions from what seems like unyielding plain raw earth, describes daily living. Every expression is like primeval scream of the farmer who heaves up a stone stuck in his field. Loud, animalistic, passionate, boisterous yet innately human and poignant where both pain and happiness is expressed in equal gusto and aggression. From a very rational state of mind that RUHI carries, PUNJAB and its people look to be simply surreal and childlike in their possessiveness and their hatreds. RUHI inherits not only the wrath of the family, she also inherits the decades old rivalries, she inherits their pains, their angst, their hopes and their dreams. Though the family outwardly does not accept her but in true PUNJABI tradition she is a guest whose honor is sacrosanct and they would kill for her, though never talk to her. She gets embroiled in their charades, in their intrigues and in their pains, yet she is a far cry from being accepted.

And the abundance of ceremonies, such an integral part of PUNJABIAT, in the beginning seem absurd and illogical to RUHI. However slowly she starts understanding the emotional foundations behind those ceremonies and she herself becomes an expert in them. It is a journey for RUHI from rationality and skepticism to accepting and understanding an emotional way of life. AND herein the serial differs from others. It does not talk about right and wrong, it just shows a way of life in all its dramatic hues. The choice to accept or reject is yours. And RUHI falls in love with not just PUNJAB but with a boy from the family with whom her own family has had traditional rivalry. And all hell threatens to break lose.

The novelty of this serial lies in the exploration of the way and life of pastoral and feudal PUNJAB. A PUNJAB on the verge of change and desperately tying to ward off the western influences, Punjabis desperately trying to hold on to their quaint cultural idioms, their ethos, their unshakeable belief in the hierarchy of social classes. Yet it is a PUNJAB, which is vibrant, celebratory, energetic full of passion and aggression. The music and the songs, the celebration of life and even death, the billowing crop swaying to the magic folk songs, the same ripe fields that see the first sexual escapades to the murders of century old enemies, for long forgotten reasons. The people who hate passionately, who love passionately, who live passionately, who will passionately defend what they believe is right and at the same time in a fit of passion will throw all the above mentioned passions out of the window and sacrifice themselves with the same passion. From her staid, BRITISH way of life RUHI is thrown into a dramatic melting pot of high strung emotions and loud gregarious emotionality and the with RUHI even the AUDIENCE is plunged into this roller coaster ride. The people are rich, the people are brawny and good looking, the women are sexy, the dresses are ornate and great, the locales are beautiful yet the serial is different because we explore the dramatic conflicts rooted in a certain culture that has not been seen on television on the recent past.

Courtesy: setindia.com

Not so Rusty



Saumya Tandon of Aisa Des Hai Mera is trying to get used to television's contract system



Reena Thapar Kapoor



Even while debutant Saumya Tandon is celebrating her newfound fame as Rusty in Aisa Des Hai Mera, the actress is a bit overwhelmed by the two-year contract that she recently signed with Sony TV. The contract prevents her from working with any other production house or channel. Saumya follows in the footsteps of Mona 'Jassi' Singh and Mandira Bedi who had signed similar contracts in the past.

"It was a mutual decision. The makers of the show and Sony TV had laid down the terms and conditions clearing all my doubts," she says.

That brings us to the show, Aisa Des Hai Mera, that has her bound for two years. Apparently, Saumya had met producer Manish Goswami before Nauheed Cyrusi was signed to play Rusty. "I had dropped off my pictures at Mr. Goswami's office before Nauheed was confirmed for the role," she says. "Later, I'm told that things didn't work out between them and Nauheed had to opt out… Anyway, the result is that I'm doing the show and am very excited about it." Saumya has recently returned from her shooting schedule in London and will start shooting in Mumbai from today.

Like many others before her, Saumya came to Mumbai from Delhi a few years ago, to make a career in the glamour world. "I had no aspirations to make it in the film industry," she says. "The kind of films made these days wouldn't have suited my personality. Television on the other hand is a medium that one can relate to. With so many channels and production houses around, the chances for an actor to get work and carve a niche is much higher."

Initially Saumya did some commercials for Hyundai, Chevrolet Optra and LG, to name a few. "I've also done a bit of theatre in Delhi but the capital doesn't give much scope in this field. Hence I decided to come to Mumbai to look for an ideal show to debut in," she says.

Incidentally, the actress hasn't yet settled in Mumbai as yet. "I'm from Delhi and I've no place to stay. The production house has put me up in a guest house. But eventually I'll be moving into a rented flat," she says. "Everything about Mumbai feels new, especially the work culture and life style. I'm sure I'll get used to it soon."
On the personal front, she says: "I want to keep my personal life away from media glare." What about the rumours about her affair with a Delhi-based model? "I'm neither confirming nor denying it. I know it's difficult to keep things under wraps in this industry. But I'd rather people write about the show and me than my so-called boyfriend," she replies.


• I want to keep my personal life away from media glare. I'm neither confirming nor denying my relationship. I know it's difficult to keep things under wraps in this industry. But I'd rather people write about the show and me than my so-called boyfriend

http://www.mumbaimirror.com/nmirror/mmpaper.asp?sectid=19&am p;articleid=4252006231035437425200623059875

So, what's new on TV?

Text: Srabanti Chakrabarti

http://specials.rediff.com/movies/2006/apr/25slid1.htm