Getting on track
Court case against him notwithstanding, Dheeraj Kumar is upbeat about his show Yeh Pyaar Na Hoga Kam on Colors and is all set to make a comeback on Doordarshan with two soaps
Dheeraj Kumar, who was among the frontrunners on Doordarshan in the late '80s and '90s before things went kaput due to policy differences, is all set to revisit the national channel with two soaps. According to sources, one is a primetime serial and another is scheduled for the afternoon slot. Admitting that he is indeed producing shows for DD, the producer however refuses to divulge any details except that "it is an attempt to start with the channel on a fresh note". Incidentally, the last serial Creative Eye produced for DD was Jap Tap Vrat, which after a break completed its run on STAR Plus.
Currently, his fiction soap Yeh Pyaar Na Hoga Kam is being aired on Colors, but the serial has been more in the news for happenings behind-the-scenes than on camera. To begin with, the writer Rajita Sharma has gone to Court against Creative Eye for not giving due credit to her in the show. "The matter is subjudice, so I can't speak much about it except that in my career of 30 years, I have always given credit where it is due," clarifies the producer wishing her all the best in her career. There were also reports of the channel being unhappy with the ratings and thinking of roping in a new producer. But, the serial that started with a rating of 1.9, has now settled to 2.3 in the last two weeks, which is not bad at all. That hopefully puts an end to all the speculation about the channel and the show. As Dheeraj says, "It is only 25 episodes old. Did you know that Uttaran was recording a two plus rating for 100 episodes before it zoomed to seven plus becoming the numero uno. Obviously, the channel has a strategy for every show." The show, according to Dheeraj, is appealing both to the layman and the intellectual. Comparing it to a Hrishikesh Mukherjee film and the forthcoming Ajay Devgn-Konkana Sen Sharma film Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge, Dheeraj explains, "There is a freshness to the story and the nuances of relationships have been dealt with realistically. There is no forced drama in the project." The show is targetted at the youth aged between 16 - 25. Touted as one of the costliest fiction shows both for the channel and the producer, it took four months to erect a set representing the Lucknowi mohalla and Ganesh ganj. It has more than 70 shops including a mithaiwala and a kite shop, which form the backdrop for the love story between a Brahmin ka beta and a Kayastha ki beti. Two acres of land with 70,000 square feet built-up area were used for creating a set of two bungalows, the hero's and the heroine's. Dheeraj makes it a point to mention that the bungalows are sans the glitter, huge jhumars (chandeliers) and velvet carpets that are usually seen in other shows. "It looks natural and recreates the flavour of U.P as it was 25 years ago," says the producer, full of praise for his art director Vinod Bagh. In fact, recently, the First Lady of Japan Miyuki Hatoyama along with the wife of the Indian ambassador in Japan, Neelima Singh, were on the sets of the show. "They were supposed to spend only ten minutes on the sets but they stayed on for 45 minutes," smiles Dheeraj, who is obviously proud of the international visit. Incidentally, the First Lady of Japan is a former actress and exchanged notes on how their sets are culturally different from those here. It's a visit Dheeraj is not going to forget in a long time. "It's a privilege," he reiterates. Creative Eye's other show Ganesh Leela has just completed 150 episodes on Sahara One and Dheeraj is now set to introduce a twist in the story. From a mythological, it will turn into a socio-mythological in the coming episodes, which will see the reincarantion of a devotee from the mythological era to the modern times. "I am creating a fusion between the two," he informs, adding that the track is authenticated "to a certain extent in the scriptures."
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
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