What Women Want

Sahara One, the current number three general entertainment channel in Hindi, believes in the family while steering clear of the saas-bahu stereotypes. That was the message sent out at The Mayfair Rooms in Worli, Mumbai, last week through the launch of two serials — Solhah Singaarr and Kuch Apne Kuch Paraye. And if there is a strong presence of women in both, that is because keeping Indian culture alive is the channel's other mantra, "something that the women of the family do"!

"All our leading ladies are strong and confident yet endearing and compassionate," said Kalyan Sundaram, Sahara One's head of programming. There is yet another reason for the woman-centricity, though. "About 70-80 per cent of our viewers are women," the channel's CEO Shantonu Aditya added.

In attendance at the premiere were Akangsha Rawat, who plays the young protagonist Meerra of Solhah Singaarr, her screen mother Mrinal Kulkarni and grandmother Sudha Chandran. From the Kuch Apne Kuch Paraye camp, Vikram Gokhale, Gunjan Walia and Chaitanya Chaudhary did duty, with the first named being the busiest of them all, reaching late and leaving midway for yet another TV shoot.

If Sudha Chandran is the widowed matriarch of the Bharadwaj family, Gokhale is Vijaypath Raichand, father of a grown-up and diverse lot of seven. The showreel of Solhah Singaarr revealed expansive outdoor shots. "The story is set in Benaras. So our first schedule happened there," said producer Jay Mehta.

Akangsha Rawat and her friends get to frolic on the steps of the Scindia Ghat and in the adjoining markets. "We were a bit apprehensive, thinking it would be hot. But such was the ambience of Benaras that there must be no place left where we did not shoot," laughed the bubbly girl, who has featured in the Dabur Chyawanprash advertisement featuring Amitabh Bachchan.

Her 'grandmother' Sudha Chandran is delighted at the chance to shed her villainish persona of K Street Pali Hill. "For five years, Ramola had become the standard for negativity on TV. It was courageous for the producers to cast me in a positive role. Earlier it would take me four hours for that elaborate make-up. Now I am ready for a shot in 20 minutes," she said, looking every bit the widow in white, complete with sandalwood tika on forehead.

Commenting on the choice of Varanasi as the setting, producer Mehta said: "The city, despite being the seat of Hinduism, has not been explored on the small screen. It is very difficult to go outdoors for a daily soap. We have shot adequate footage for the first few months. Let's see how much we can do."

For now, Varanasi has been replicated at Aakraman Studio in Goregaon. The show rolls on October 30 while Kuch Apne Kuch Paraye's turn comes on November 13.