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Sudeep Sahir's most remembered for being the affectionate doc in Sony's Ayushman. The actor's now has struck gold after bagging the lead role in the channel's next big show, Jabb Love Hua. Not only does the actor get to play Raghu, a villager, but he also gets to share screen space with veteran ators like Suhasini Mulay and Rameshwari. And with his impending marriage this month, Sudeeep's cup of joy is surely brimming!
Kavita Shyam spoke to the actor about his role and life.

My role in Jabb Love Hua
I play Raghu who is a sweet, simple, straight forward and hard working villager in Jabb Love Hua. He loves his village immensely and is a complete contrast to Anya played by Priya Badlani. How they fall in love eventually despite their differences is what the story is all about.

Why I took up the role
After Ayushman there was nothing much happening in terms of work. I was in Delhi and was called by the DJ's for an audition. The show has an amazing content and DJ's have done good stuff in the past from Banegi Apni Baat to Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahi. There shows are not just based on women rather they bring about a variety in every character. I think I have come a long way from the Chana ve music video to Ayushman to the present show. Jabb Love Hua is a very balanced show and DJ's are chilled out in their working style.

Preparing for the role (playing Raghu)
We had a couple of workshops and Deeya kept giving us inputs about our characters. Since I am from Delhi so Hindi wasn't a problem! I made sure I didn't go over the top with my character and could maintain a subtle body language.

Do I relate to the character?
I do relate myself to the character. He's a simple, shy,helpful and relaxed person besides being very clean hearted and emotional.

What kept me away after Ayushman
I was in Delhi after Ayushman. I got engaged in June, we are Punjabi's so we had a rokka ceremony in June as we had decided to get married in April. Jabb Love Hua happened but it was supposed to be launched in early this year and somehow it got delayed. So it's lady luck for me this month with me getting married on 29 April and my show launching on 24 April. I couldn't have asked for more.

Looking forward to my marriage
Marriage is on my mind for now, I did all the preparations for the wedding before Jabb Love Hua started but now that I have got busy with the show , my family is looking after the arrangements and preparations in Delhi. I will go home three days before my wedding since I have no time left. My honeymoon will happen in July and I plan to go to Europe. My wife is an MBA and we have known each other for more than three years now.

Future plans
I am open to doing ads but I have no time for theatre or any other show. I want to do one show at a time and relax. I had been replacements in Kyun Hota Hai Pyar and Ayushman but this is my first lead role. I don't want to take up any other shows as I believe in concentrating on one show at a time. I need to strike a balance between my personal and professional life.

Himanshi Choudhary is one of the lucky few to have bagged Tony and Deeya Singh's new Zee show Jab Love Hua. Himanshi has had quite a long journey in the five years she's spent in the television industry. She started with Balaji's Kahin To Milenge on Sahara One, followed by Kutumb, Lavanya, Des Mein Nikla Hoga Chand, Kareena Kareena, Kasshish and Bhabhi. This Delhi girl has been associated with some good shows and is confident about Jab Love Hua where she plays a character similar to Basanti in Sholay.
Kavita Shyam chats up the pretty lady.

What's your role like in Jab Love Hua?
I play Chamkee , a village belle; she is a very loud character, likes to dress up, loves to get attention and gets over-excited at the drop of a hat. Chamkee gets inquisitive about the town people and given an opportunity, she would run away to become an actress.

How did you bag the role?
I was called for an audition by Deeya and the next day I had to go to Wai (the same place in interior Maharashtra where Ashutosh Gowariker shot Swades) for shooting. I had a mind blowing experience shooting in the breathtaking locales, besides the unit gels well and the production house is really nice. I began shooting in January for the show, but the unit had already started shooting from October 2005.

Is your character inspired by the film Bunty aur Babli?
My character is inspired by Basanti in Sholay. Chamkee is someone who talks non-stop, has a rustic, ethnic ghagra choli and decorative look and is very much inspired by town people.

How did you begin your career in acting?

I harboured dreams of becoming an actor since childhood. I did not begin with modeling as a stepping stone to acting. I studied musical theatre in the US for two years.

I am basically from Delhi and moved to Mumbai by the end of 2000 and circulated my portfolio pictures and went around for auditions for films and serials.

Did your family have any reservations about you getting into this field?
My parents have been extremely supportive and have given us the freedom to choose our professions. My father was concerned about the kind of work I'd pick up but eventually he was ok about it. My father is a commercial-industrial photographer and my mother has a business of her own.

How has the experience of working in Mumbai been so far?

The first year in Mumbai, I felt a little lost and did not have too much work. But by the second year, I got enough work and could find my way around, besides building many contacts. I made some good friends in the industry like Sanober Kabir and Malvika Shivpuri.

Lastly, what is Jab Love Hua all about?

Jab Love Hua is about how the town people interact with the villagers and how they adapt to each other. It has a bit of all emotions and an essential love track as the title suggests. I will also have an interesting love track in the show. The show has a host of faces like Priya Badlani as the female lead and Sudeep Sahir as the male lead, Suhasini Mulay, Shalini Khanna.The show should be on air by the end of April.

After churning out a successful show like Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahi for Sony, Tony and Deeya Singh are coming back to Zee after two years with Jab Love Hua.

The show introduces Priya Badlani (plays Aanya Shroff) and Sudeep Sahir (plays Raghu) apart from a host of actors like Suhasini Mulay,Vivek Vaswani, Rameshwari, Amir Dalvi, Mehr Acharya, Madhur Somanghamani, Rahul Lohani,Himanshi Chowdhry and Shalini Khanna.

Jab Love Hua revolves around a spoilt rich girl's journey from riches to rags and it's the first time that the production house is dealing with a story set up in a village.
"Jab Love Hua is a mix of drama and comedy. For the main protagonist who is a spoilt rich girl and her life is all about money, casinos, fast cars until she discovers her roots, Indian values and humanity in India. It's sure to be a different and unique story. Tony and Deeya Singh have given us Banegi Apni Baat and we are happy to be associated with them yet again," says Zee programming head, Ashwini Yardi.
"The show is very close to our heart and I'd like to thank all our actors and it's great to be back on Zee. It's been a fulfilling and exciting journey so far from Banegi Apni Baat to Jassi.... The show is not about drawing rooms or board rooms rather its about our native place. It's set up in UP depicting rustic India and gajab happens when the girl meets the guy.

It's like when two worlds meet it's very exciting and we hope to excite our viewers once in every two years," says producer, Deeya Singh looking visibly excited about the new show.

Priya Badlani is making her debut on television as Aanya Shroff in the show and has been a part of a host ads besides the film Silsilay. Sudeep Sahir started out with ads and the popular music video Chana Ve besides playing Ayush in Ayushman (When Vinod Singh was dropped).

Veteran actors Viveck Vaswani plays Percy, Aanya's man-friday while Rameshwari is Janki Raghu's understanding loving mother. Suhasini Mulay who plays GD, is the protagonist's (Aanya's) strong willed, modern grandmother who takes them to the village from the city due to raids in their house and how she goes about controlling the grand-daughters in the village is what the story tracks.She has worked with the production house in Life Nahi Hai Laddu and Mann previously.

The show will have a good dose of musical interludes by Raju Singh depicting the uniqueness and the strong flavors of both the worlds besides the title track has been sung by Himani(Sa Re Ga Ma Challenge finalist) and Raju Singh himself.

Interestingly the dialogues and the lyrics have been written by actor Preeti Puri who has also written for Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahi besides Kittu Sab Jantii Hai and DJ's new show Left Right Left.
Jab Love Hua will be a daily and will go on air from April 24,at 8.30pm.

Think of a rural landscape near Mumbai and Wai seems to be the preferred terrain top of the mind for most television producers these days!

Wai, with its unscathed rural locations, is a six hour drive from Mumbai, just off Panchgani, is suddenly turning out to be the best window to rural India through the TV screen.

Many would like to believe that Ashutosh Gowariker' Swades started the trend of shooting in this little talked about village, where infrastructure is surprisingly well developed. It is a marginally costlier option to shoot in, but Wai is also somehow a cheaper proposition, given the ready and available rustic ambience ,the relatively cheaper 'extras' and the natural scenic beauty. And if at all one needs a posh indoor setting, the unit can rush to nearby Panchgani or Mahabaleshwar, which are just an hour's drive from Wai. The actors and the technical unit are the only essential requisites to take along for shooting in Wai for the production house.

Suhasini Mulay has recently come back from Wai where she was shooting for

Tony and Deeya Singh's Jab Love Hua and feels its a give and take as far as Wai is concerned.
"Wai is a rural area with no industries there and has a clean atmosphere. The picture quality is commendable which comes out without any haze so technically, production wise it is definitely a viable option besides the sound quality is clearer too. The spectacular river, old houses or the rich big 'vadas' (huge havelis), the fields and mountains... one can shoot all this in one place.

There are enough hotels in Wai, to put up the unit members in, besides the star actors can put up at Panchgani as well. Wai also has many respectable hospitals and there is no running to other sets when you are shooting there. The Wai citizens have become very smart and savvy, thanks to all this activity," says Suhasini who has shot in Wai earlier for Hu Tu Tu (in 1995) and Jab Love Hua.

Wai can be hellishly hot in the months of April, May and June while the preferred months to shoot there are October, November and December. Shooting away from Mumbai also seems to bind the unit members and allow the actors to concentrate on their work away from any kind of distractions.

Producer Tony Singh has had all kinds of experiences shooting in Wai and feels it costs twice as much to shoot there.

" Wai is an extremely pretty place and its proximity to Mumbai is an advantage for us as they don't get stuck away in a far away place. It is definitely costly to shoot out of Mumbai, but if one wants a different location then one will have to pay the price for it. Besides, most of the locations in Mumbai are exhausted and there is no space to shoot, so Wai has become a film city on its own now. The moment one steps out of Mumbai, you have to spend on everything possible, starting from a pin to paying up the surpanch of the village, the land we use for shooting, all of which becomes expensive for the producers.

For instance there was this guy who supplied property to us and cheated us so badly that I had to throw him out. We have the added cost of keeping the whole unit, arrange for their food (we take a caterer along), production guys, generator, a co-ordinator, traveling (read AC Taxi and bus),"says Tony Singh who shot in a place in Wai where the road was extremely muddy.

He adds "We have listed doctors in case of an emergency. We have had bad shooting experiences there and people can be very unprofessional there. There is no place quite like Mumbai to shoot in. The beauty and serenity of the place draws people to shoot there, I guess," he surmises.

Kaushik Ghatak, director of Pyaar Ke Do Naam Ek Radha Ek Shyam is struck by the natural beauty and authenticity of the village.

" We wanted Wai for the look of the place, the ambience is very authentic and we wanted the 1960's village look for the show. We wanted mountains, river and the natural beauty as a backdrop. When we had an emergency, when my executive producer and another unit member had hurt themselves, we could send them back immediately to Mumbai.
Prakash Jha had tapped Wai earlier in his films before Swades. The extras might be cheap, but they are not trained enough; they have no idea about the camera angles but are still very co-operative. We shot in Wai during winters and I am looking forward to shoot there during monsoon, but personally I think every season Wai would have a different kind of natural beauty."
Himanshi Choudhary who plays Chamkee in Jab Love Hua feels Wai is not a

dead village and is a convenient place to shoot in. " It's a breathtakingly beautiful place and very cool in the mornings and evenings. We could go to restaurants even at 11.30 in the night, besides we had a cyber cafe there too! I go to Wai with a few of my friends from the unit or the production guys in a car or bus and its quicker to get back to the city from Wai if you travel at night,"chirps Himanshi who has her shooting schedule well planned out in advance if she has to shoot in Wai.

There are lots of hotels in Wai and but there is a tremendous amount of load shedding due to which the actors complain endlessly. The producers vouch for the place which looks exotic during winters and hot during summer months. Wai to go, we say!

Indiantelevision.com Team

(18 April 2006 8:30 pm)

"We have something different in Jabb Love Hua. A serial, set in a rustic backdrop, is something we don't see often, and we have explored this aspect with Jabb Love Hua," says Zee TV programming head Ashwini Yardi.

 TELLY BUZZ  : Impossible love story

Spoilt rich girl. Poor village bumpkin. A love story. A cliche!

Jabb Love Hua is all this, but fortunately, it's one of those shows that grow on you. Deeya and Tony Singh's latest venture on Zee uses the tried and tested formula of the 'poor guy falling for the rich brat' syndrome. What's new about the whole thing is the fact that this is one cliche that hasn't been used for a loooooooong time!

It's also perhaps a plus that the show comes on at 8:30 pm when the other shows on air on other channels (Kaisa Ye Pyar Hai on Sony and Kasautii Zindagi Kay on Star Plus) have been running for some time, and seem to be dragging a bit . So, viewers who are looking for fresh fare are sure to tune in to Zee.

Jabb...is a pleasant surprise! Sudeep Sahir as Raghu is good as the moralistic and somewhat hard headed village boy, who finds peace in the rustic environs in which he lives; Priya Badlani as Aanya is just the opposite! Aanya is a city gal, who refuses to believe that there's no 'discotheque' in the village, no swimming pool and not even a proper loo. She chooses to wear high heels and tank tops even if she's told they are inappropriate - Priya is the surprise package here. She looks the part, and that's half the battle won! On the plump side, Priya looks cute and utterly forgiveable for the misery she causes for the villagers. She's not hot or sexy, but plain lovable and somehow city dwellers used to the 'good life' (that's entirely relative) will not only identify with her predicaments, but will also sympathise with her cause.

But there are people who don't agree with me as far as Priya is concerned. Even as I pen this piece I hear people telling me that Aanya is snobbish and that they disliked her - but isn't that the point????? She is a snob because she is supposed to be that...she's supposed to be irritable, cranky and impossible!

One thing that I found was a trifle out of place was the reason for the four ladies to move to the security of the village - what about savings, relatives in other cities????? Although the reason for their condition is explained...it's not convincing enough! Well, since I am on the 'out of place' track, I was wondering how Suhasini Mulay manages to keep herself so prim and proper despite having lost all she had. Moreover, it seems that the two sisters have an endless supply of makeup and designer wear...how else can we explain their city look, so well preserved in the village!

Wai, as usual, acts as the perfect locale. The setting of the story in this scenic beauty gives the show a very genuine feel. The only thing that should bother the makers is that once the conflict between the leads become intense....care should be taken so that the track keeps evolving. Aanya too should show some changes in her attitude...her growth as an individual would be critical to the growth of the show itself!

...and as for missing a disco, well, girl...I completely sympathise with you!

"We will have to speak to our competitors and see how they are placed before scheduling our press conference," says a PR executive who works for one of the leading Hindi general entertainment channels. The interesting comment came when we told her about the big day '24 April' that would witness the launch of about five programmes across the channels.

Yes, this summer is about to witness a programming bonanza in the general entertainment channel (GEC) space, with not less than eight prime time shows being lined up for launch during this April-May phase. Both the weekday and weekend prime time bands will witness a flurry of activity and the shows gearing up for launch include some big budget projects as well. Star Plus, Sony, Zee, Sahara One and Sab, all will be launching an array of soaps during this time.

Star Plus will replace its daily soap Milee with the much-awaited Ravi Chopra production Viraasat. The show will run Monday to Thursday in the 9 pm slot, starting 24 April. The channel has also lined up two shows -- Prithviraj Chauhan, Dharti Ka Ek Veer Yodha and Ek Chaabi Pados Mein -- for launch in May.

According to Star India senior creative director Shailja Kejriwal, Prithviraj Chauhan will run Friday to Sunday, while Ek Chaabi Pados Mein is yet to be scheduled. "Prithviraj Chauhan will run Friday through Sunday. Internal discussions are going on to decide the time slot for this show, as well as the exact schedule for Ek Chaabi Pados Mein," says Kejriwal.

The channel has been working on these three projects since a long time as it required strong properties to fill the void left by its weekend driver show KBC 2. With the launch of these three big projects -- two in the weekend band and one in the weekday band -- Star Plus' attempt will be to bring in some significant improvement as well as consistency to its performance in the prime time band across the week.

Sony, on the other hand, is now eyeing weekdays and is introducing two new shows on 24 April, after strengthening its Friday band with its Shukra Hai Shukravaar Hai package. Aisa Des Hai Mera will be aired at 9 pm and Thodi Khushi Thode Gham at 9.30 pm from 24 April. The shows will run from Monday to Thursday.

On Monday and Tuesday, these two new shows will replace the second season of Indian Idol, which is coming to its end. Whereas, on Wednesday and Thursday, the two shows will substitute Deal Ya No Deal, which is now being made into a weekly and will air only on Friday at 8 pm.

The channel is unveiling its programming strategy gradually. While the first one was to strengthen the Friday line up, the second is to ramp up the 9 to10 pm band on weekdays.

In the next couple of months, Sony will also be revamping the 10 to 11 pm band as well as the afternoon band, where the latter at present comprises re-runs of old shows and repeats of prime time shows. Also, Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahi, which airs from Monday to Thursday at 10 pm will end its run in May and new shows are likely to be introduced then.

Says Sony Entertainment Television (SET) India chief operating officer NP Singh, "We will be rolling out our new programming strategy step by step in the coming months. The beginning was made with the Friday lineup. By July, the programming schedule of Sony will be completely transformed."

Sony's move to strengthen its weekday programming with fiction will also see the channel taking a deliberate retreat from the reality terrain. Once Indian Idol 2 bids adieu, the channel will have its reality dose further scaled down with only Fear Factor there to represent the genre.

Sab TV will be also be launching a new show - Twinkle Beauty Parlour in May in the 9 pm slot. However Sab business head Vikas Bhal declined to comment whether it would be a weekday or weekend show.

While Sony is making some calculated moves to regain lost glory in prime time, the Zee camp is not sitting on its laurels but banking on some big launches. After launching its biggest project of the year Business Baazigar on 31 March, Zee TV will flag off another key property on 24 April. The soap Jab Love Hua will replace Rubba Ishq Na Hove and Sarrkkar in the 8:30 pm slot to run Monday through Friday. Then viewers can also expect some fireworks from the latest Sa Re Ga Ma Pa version Ek Mein Aur Ek Tu. It is learnt that the channel has ensured a high doze of reality-oriented excitement in the forthcoming episodes of the talent hunt show.

Ek Mein Aur Ek Tu along with Zee TV's soap brigade have their task cut out: block any resurgence by Sony and make the viewers thank Zee TV as well - be it a Monday or a Friday.

On Monday, 10 April, Sahara One will be launching a new fiction show - Suno… Harr Dill Kuchh Kehtaa Hai in the 10 pm slot. This show will run from Monday to Friday and will replace the re-runs of Virasaat on the channel. Once Buniyaad gets over in May, Sahara One will be launching another show - Sati to replace it.

Reshuffle in Prime time rankings; Sony & Star One push Zee to fourth spot

Interestingly, since the re-launch of Shukra Hai Shukravaar Hai on 10 March, Sony's prime time performance has seen a radical jump. Last month, the channel strengthened its Friday lineup, which included Deal Ya No Deal (8 pm), Fear Factor (9 pm), CID (10 pm) and Kandy Floss (11 pm). While Fear Factor has been the top rated show on Sony for three consecutive weeks; the new format CID has also been rating well consistently for the channel.

In the week beginning 26 February, Sony's prime time (8 pm to 11 pm) channel share was 12.9 per cent in the C&S 4+ Hindi speaking market according to Tam. Whereas, in the week beginning 5 March (when the new Friday lineup was introduced), the channel's prime time share jumped to 20.3 per cent. In the corresponding week (12 March), the share further increased to 22.1 per cent. However, in the week beginning 19 March, the prime time channel share fell to 17.2 per cent.

The latest prime time picture is as follows:

Star Plus' share in the prime time fell from 56.9 per cent in the week beginning 26 February to 46.8 per cent in the week beginning 5 March and further to 43.4 per cent in the week beginning 12 March, according to Tam. In the week beginning 19 March, Star Plus' prime time channel share rose to 49.1 per cent.

Star One meanwhile has overtaken Zee TV in prime time to claim the third position with 14.8 per cent channel share as opposed to Zee's 11.6 per cent in the week beginning 19 March. The shows which have triggered the good performance for Star One include Saarabhai Vs Saarabhai, Remix, The Great Indian Laughter Challenge 2, Kya Hoga Nimmo Ka and Mano Ya Na Mano.

On the other hand, Sahara One, which has claimed to be the number three channel in the week ending 25 March, is still way behind Sony as far as prime time channel share is concerned. Sahara One's prime time channel share in the week beginning 19 March was 5.3 per cent. Star One has overtaken Zee TV in prime time to claim the third position with 14.8 per cent channel share as opposed to Zee's was 11.6 per cent in the week beginning 19 March.

As the prime time action heats up across the networks, expect to see an ongoing jostling for leadership positions over the next two months. Behind Star Plus of course.