Rai's new series tentatively titled Kashish revolves around a married couple and their illicit liasions. The director has assembled an interesting cast, which includes Simone Singh, Kitu Gidwani, Aman Varma and Ayub Khan, for the soap. None of his regulars, Mahesh Tahkur, Mrinal Kulkarni or Sachin Khedekar feature in this adulterous drama. Didn't they feel left out? "Jahan pyar ho wahan shikayat to hoti hai," he shrugs.
It was his quest for someone who could break the traditional Tulsi mould, that led him to Simone Singh. "I wanted to show a upmarket working woman of today and Simone fitted the bill," he informs. As for Kitu, Rai confesses that he had tried to rope in the actress for two of his earlier projects but they didn't materialise. "This time it worked out. Also I wanted somebody who was as classy and stylish as Simone, if not more," he offers. "Ayub is so well-mannered in real life that his personality reflects on screen. He had to be Simone's husband. As for Aman he's a big star today and for Simone to leave someone like Ayub, he should be better than best," he explains. The shooting for the series begun last week and it is expected to go on air mid-December or January next year. It is scheduled for telecast on Zee.
Rai conceived the idea for the soap around a year ago when he was chatting with the Zee officials. They wanted a serial that involved a pati patni and woh . "I was more than willing as I had begun my career with an extra-marital affair on screen," he laughs. But this time, he suggested, "lets show a woman having an affair." The idea was accepted and Kashish was born. Next, Rai started scouting for a producer. "I had always been a writer-director even in my own company. Prajakti (Deshmukh) and my brother used to handle the production," he admits. A meeting with K Sera Sera's Azam Khan and Parag Sanghvi resulted in a tie-up between Rai and the company. "They understand creativity and we vibed very well," he says appreciatively. Earlier Rai's company was almost entering into a merger with Reena Wadhwa's Karmik Communication but "just an hour away from the merger it fell through."
With K Sera Sera taking care of the finances, Rai was free to put his creativity on paper. Since it's a daily, Rai wanted to be sure of his groundwork in the beginning itself. "I wanted to start shooting only after puutting everything in order so that there are no last minute hassles," he admits. Considerable amount of time was spent in penning the story, because after Sparsh which happened a couple of years ago, Rai was looking forward to doing another series on relationships. "This is my kind of a soap and I want to give it my best. Even the viewers will be expecting that from me," he enthuses.
The plot sounds interesting and Rai is making sure that his dialogue too lives upto his expectation. The writer-director who has already won awards for Imtihaan and Sailaab earlier, is known for his sensitive and deft dialogues. "I am really working hard," he says betraying a tinge of nervousness.
Like his earlier soaps, this time too Jagjit Singh will be composing the music. In fact, he is going to come up with an album, the songs of which will feature in the soap. Earlier, Rai had used songs of Singh's Insight for Sailaab and later numbers from Marasim in Sparsh. Sony, the channel on which the serial was shown, had marketed the music. This time they are looking at Zee doing the same for the new soap. Shortly, the title of the soap Kashish will be changed to something more poetic. "I am looking at a lyrical title," says the writer-director.
Besides the daily soap, Rai is also working on a series based on one of the greatest poets 'Daag' Dehlvi, which will be aired on a foreign channel. Dehlvi, whose name features alongside Mirza Ghalib and Bahadur Shah Zafar recited his first mushaira at the tender age of nine. The series will trace the journey of this poet through his life and will be set in the period 1857. Jagjit Singh will be singing all the poems while Nida Fazli will be compiling them. "It's a very exciting project which I am looking forward to," gushes Rai. Soon, the director is also planning to take to theatre with a play starring Simone Singh in the lead.
Looks like his hiatus from the small screen has done more than good for Rai who has lined-up a couple of interesting projects, the first of which is an extra-marital affair.
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