making of prc serial - the inside story

Making a historical on the life and times of the warrior king, Prithviraj Chauhan, was the late Ramanand Sagar's dream that remained unfulfilled. A few months after the filmmaker-turned-television-producer-director's death, his dream has finally becoming a reality. Ten years after the idea was conceptualised but was put on the backburner because Sri Krishna materialised around the same time, the late filmmaker's sons and grandsons have revisited the idea. Amrit and Shakti Sagar who are directing their grandfather's dream project are all set to launch the mega historical on one of the greatest Rajput warriors of India who did not live beyond 26 years but is known for his exploits on battlefields as well as his great romance with Samyukta.Though the project's idea was mooted a decade ago it was not possible for the Sagars to make the show on a grand scale then. "We have been living with it for so long. It certainly couldn't have been made it the way we are making it now, given the logistics and costing," admits co-producer Prem Sagar. "It is all thanks to Star Plus which has backed us monetarily." Adds Shakti, "If you look at cinema the world over historical films are the in thing now." The Sagars, out of touch with the changing times of Bollywood, also know that what they have been making since their Ramayan days for television is out of demand. It is no surprise that the channel is putting its might behind the show that has seen an initial investment of over Rs 6 crore on the sets, props and costumes. The sets are huge consisting of the Ajmer Palace which cost Rs 4.5 crore, the Kannauj Palace, a fort and the desert. Built on 40 acres of land at Sagar Film City in Baroda, the sets are so huge that they had to build two additional floors for this purpose. Omang Kumar who went to Rajasthan to research the Ajmer Palace has designed the entire set. A professor from the Anand School of Arts was consulted for authenticity, while the designs were sourced from palaces to get the time frame right. "No efforts have been spared to ensure authenticity in details and production values. Anything and everything that will recreate the aura of 11th century has been painstakingly created. It took us over four months for construction and detailing of the sets involving over 300 workers," says Shakti. Inspired by Lieutenant Colonel James Todd's book Rajputs which has a chapter on the Rajput warrior king, the major reference point for Prithviraj Chauhan, Dharti Ka Veer Yodha is Prithviraj Raso besides several other books and documents. Having got everything right from the sets, costumes, historical facts to finance, the major challenge before the Sagars was how to make a historical for the audience of 2006 that is overfed on the melodrama of loud emotions and extreme characters. "We had to get our presentation right," says Shakti. "We have structured the characters and story in such a way that it appears like a normal drama against the backdrop of history of the 11th century." The historical saga will open in Ajmer Palace with Prithviraj Chauhan's father Someshwar, played by Jas Arora. In the second episode Prithviraj, played by Angad Bedi, will be born and will be depicted as a child as the story moves to Kannauj and later, as Pritiviraj grows, the saga will traverse to Delhi and Afghanistan. While historical serials have had a field day on Doordarshan in the 90s mass entertainment satellite channels have never been lucky to get eyeballs for historical genre of programming. Will Prithviraj Chauhan be an exception in setting a new trend on private channels? "There is a risk involved and Star Plus is prepared for it. Probably it fits into their new programming initiative," says Shakti. Even the channel knows it is entering a new programming territory that is probably not the safest bet yet. But their gut feeling is that Prithviraj will yield high returns given the fact that the warrior's life is full of bravery, opulence and grandeur. The serial will be aired in an half-hour tri-weekly format. Will the makers be able to make three episodes a week without compromising on the quality? "It's really tough. May be some supernatural force will come to our aid," laughs Prem Sagar. Adds Shakti, "I know it's extremely though. But then we have been doing such work and we are all geared up for it."