sry if its been posted b4!!😉
They are the backbone of any television production. They not only conceive award winning shows but also have the foresight to gauge their potential.They also provide the moolah that keeps these shows alive and kicking for years. In this column, we speak to some of the most vibrant producers who have made shows that have set trends in the television industry and try to find out what makes them tick!
As a TV producer, Sunjoy Waddhwa had almost six shows running simultaneously on different channels. His latest baby Saat Phere (on Zee TV) got featured in Time magazine recently.
This commerce graduate has done it all, from exporting Indian handicrafts to starting a production house that churned out remarkable shows like Aatish, Thief of Baghdad and Des Mein Nikla Hoga Chand. His Saat Phere on Zee deals with the perennial tribulations a dark complexioned girl in Indian society. Kavita Shyam chatted up the simple and hard working director on life and work..
On his first few TV shows -
I always wanted to make films but television happened by chance and I started Kaarnik Communications in 1997 with my cousin and produced my first show Neeyat for Zee. This was followed by Ek Mulakat on Star Plus which had surrogate motherhood as its theme. Soon after followed Aatish on Star Plus and many other shows like Arth for Zee, Thief of Baghdad for Zee, Kasauti for DD and Yehi To Hai Woh for Star One. Phir Se, a telefilm for Sahara won the Rapa awards this year.
On Saat Phere and its star cast -
Zee came up with an one line idea about making a show on a girl who is dark. From there our creative team wove the story, worked around the concept and finally presented it to the channel. We could have taken a known face from the industry but we decided to launch a new face and that is when we auditioned many girls until we found Rajshree for Saloni's character and I think she is doing quite fine. We also got featured in Time magazine thanks to the show.
Rakesh Bapat and I were talking for a long time for a television project, besides he wanted to debut on television too. We wanted a nice and soft face for the role of a lover boy (musician).
Neena Gupta was on our mind for the colorful and loud mouthed character of a bhabhi besides we have worked together in Neeyat and Des Mein Nikla Hoga Chand.
Shweta Kawatra wanted to do a positive role but we were thinking of casting her for some other role but suddenly this came up.
Sadia is doing a fabulous job and it was a unanimous decision to have her in the show.
As Saloni progresses in her life we will have new characters coming in and this will happen in the next one month or so.
On Sphere Origins-
I started Sphere Origins in 2002. We have an ideation team which looks into the creative aspects of every show we make, works on a theme, develops concepts and presents the ideas to the channels.
On his future projects-
We have a detective series titled Don for Star Plus lined up that will have Parmeet Sethi as the lead but the other characters in the show will keep changing in all the series. The look of the show is going to be very different - nothing like CID or other investigative shows on air.
Talks are on for a non-fiction show on Discovery and a reality show too. 2006 will have us making films and many more television shows for various channels.
On his personal life-On his personal life-
I have been happily married for the past 15 years and I have a 13 year old daughter. My wife is into exports of furniture articles and is also actively involved in the look of my shows (set, props, costumes).
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