Sony to bring Bankimchandra's novel, 'Dur

After Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin, Sony is all set to introduce its next do-gooder on screen.

This time the lady is going to be called Durgesh Nandini. The show will be an adaptation of famous novelist Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay's first Bengali novel of the same name, published in 1865. The novel has been made into a Bengali and a Hindi film as well. The show will be produced by Shobhna Desai Productions and directed by Vipul A Shah.

The novel, a milestone of sorts during that era, had a Rajput hero and a Bengali heroine as the lead pair. Our sources tell us that the Sony show, based on the Bengali novel is a family drama that deals with the complications that arise after the family patriarch's death.

The show, touted to be the next big thing on Sony, has been compared to Jassi…in the way the plans are being made for it. The launch date though is not yet fixed. The preparations for the show are much under wraps, and a mere two to three days' shooting has been canned. The tentative cast has been decided, but some of these may opt out due to date problems.

While the lead protagonist is likely to be played by Bhojpuri film actress Rinku, there are

several prominent television stars, scheduled to play major characters in the show.

"Yes, I am doing the show, and have just shot the pilot. I play this out and out negative character, who is the bahu of the house and who tries to manipulate her husband into doing things according to her whims and fancies," says Sonia Kapoor.

The story is based on the age old fight between the good and the evil. The head of the family appoints Durgesh as the trustee of his property and thus she incurs the wrath of the rightful heirs. They gang up against her and try to drive her out of the house, only to realise that it has been bequeathed to her by their own father. From thereon begins Durgesh's struggle to make the brothers realise their folly and become worthy of the wealth that is theirs to claim.

"I play one of the three brothers and it is a good role. He is rich but cannot claim his wealth," says Anupam Bhattacharya, who has been known to do negative characters earlier.

Rajesh Kumar, who plays Rosesh in Star One's Sarabhai vs Sarabhai, has also shot the pilot, but he is a little unsure about doing the show due to severe time constraints. "I would love to do the show. But I work 18 days for Ba Bahu…and then there is Sarabhai as well. I haven't taken a call yet," says Rajesh.

Maninee De, who has recently quit The Great Indian Comedy Show to do movies has also been approached for the show along with hubby Mihir Mishra, but the pretty lady is undecided about committing to the show. "It's a negative character and I don't know if I want to do it," sighs Maninee, while also agreeing that she might give in to the temptation of the opportunity of acting with Mihir, but she has her own share of date problems too.

Although the show's tentative cast is ready and raring to go, the time slot and the days that the show will be aired on remains to be decided.

This is the tentative cast of the show...