A LOVE STORY GOES FROM CHANDIGARH TO LONDON

For their new show, Rab Se Sona Isshq, Zee has gone all out. The mega-budget show will travel from Chandigarh to London, and is being described as a cross-continental love story aimed at today's global Indian by the producers. Actor Ashish Sharma, who became popular with Chandragupt Maurya, will play the lead, alongside debutant Ekta Kaul.

Producer Kinnari Mehta, of Jay Mehta Productions, says, "For love stories, you need lead actors who not only look good but can perform too. Ashish has proved his talent and has a huge fan following. Ekta Kaul is a beautiful Kashmiri girl who we found after auditioning over 500 girls."

Sharma's character Ranvir desperately aspires to go to London, and he even wears a helmet with the Union Jack painted on it and a leather jacket, during the hot summer of Punjab. Kaul plays Saahiba, a girl who is deserted by her fianc on their wedding day and follows him to London.

The show aims to highlight the larger-than-life dreams that people from small-town India harbour about foreign cities. It will also look at realities of racism and the culture shock faced by new migrants.

The unit shot in villages near Chandigarh and Patiala for 40 days. A major portion of the cast will soon fly to London for a three-month schedule, while another team continues shooting in India.

Mehta says, "We will shoot at London Bridge, Big Ben and around Madame Tussauds. We will capture the flavour of London with the Olympics and the Queen's Jubilee celebrations. We couldn't have chosen a better time to shoot there."

The show will also feature local bistros, trams, galleries and opera houses.

"The locales will bring out the novelty in a quintessential love story," adds Mehta. The show is expected to go on air in July.