Shabbir Ahluwalia can't stop smiling, the reason being his brand new production house, Flying Turtle Films, that he has set up in partnership with two other people. The company has fetched its first project and the actor simply can't stop talking about it.
He says, "We are working on Ganga Kii Dheej. It's a daily TV show and will be aired on Sahara One. The show is set in a village in Bengal called Kaliganj. It revolves around the trials and tribulations of a girl called Pakhi, played by Leena Jhumani, who goes against the 'pratha' of the village. She refuses to go through the purity test before marriage and thus has to face the consequences of the family and the village."
Though a brand new company, Shabbir is happy with the fact that several biggies from the TV and film industry are associated with the project. He is co-producing the serial with Harry Baweja's 'Baweja movies', which has produced Bollywood films like Main Aisa Hi Hoon and Love Story 2050. Also acting in the serial will be veteran actor Kabir Bedi and Ashwini Kalsekar.
Despite being an actor, Shabbir will not be seen in the show. "I will not be acting in Ganga Kii Dheej for sure. You need to plan before you take up TV as it is a long- term commitment. However, it is not like I am bidding adieu to acting in television, for me the role is important, not the medium."
Ganga Kii Dheej goes on air from November 15, every Monday to Thursday at 10 pm on Sahara One.
Edited by WarriorCats - 13 years agoNew Delhi: Winner of television reality show Khatron Ke Khiladi and small screen actor Shabbir Ahluwalia has recently launched his own production house in partnership with two of his friends who are already engaged in various areas of TV show production. The production house was named as Flying Turtles.
Ganga Ki Dheej, is the first production of the company and will be on air on Sahara One, next week. The show's promo went on air in September and was expected to launch much earlier.
"Blame the 'shraadh' period for that," Ahluwalia said.
"The period is not considered auspicious by Hindus. Also, there were too many big shows being launched after that. We didn't want to lose out on visibility."
The actor's company has tied up with film producer Harry Baweja's production house to co-produce the show. "Baweja was keen on launching the TV production wing of his company. We wanted a strong financial base. So, we decided to tie up with Harryji. Fortunately, there has been no clash of interest. We've all been on the same page," stated Ahluwalia.
Ganga Ki Dheej is also actor Kabir Bedi's Hindi TV soap debut. Was he difficult to convince? "Kabir was apprehensive," admitted Ahluwalia.
"But while brainstorming on our cast, we couldn't think of anyone else to play the role. So, we approached him. He took some time to decidebut after that he was comfortable in Dada Bhai's skin." The show revolves around the tradition of testing a girl's purity before marriage, followed in remote parts of the country.
"It's strange but it's still practiced. It's sexist and unfair but followed religiously. It was unheard of for me. So we thought that it would be interesting to weave a story around it for our viewers," he explained.