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While showmakers say that shooting for the festive tracks is a fun process for the stars and the crew, do these on screen festivities really strike a chord with the viewer who making Diwali preps and TV shows are still thinking Navratri? The TV fraternity points out that adding a festive track abruptly to be in sync with real time celebrations is a sensible option. Producer Asit Kumarr Modi says, We can't introduce a festival episode in an ongoing track, it has to be woven in with the storyline and not seem forced. Daily soaps are works of fiction, so the timing of the festive episodes can be delayed and the audience understands this. Manav Gohil who's just shot a Navratri episode in his show, says, Festive tracks make us feel that we aren't missing out on the actual celebrations, and the airdate of that particular episode doesn't matter.
Shooting a festive track is an expensive affair. Producer Sudhir Sharma says, A festival track's budget can be double, triple or even four times the budget of a regular episode. If a normal episode costs between ' 7 lakh and '7.5 lakh, a festival episode budget could be anything '20 lakh and '25 lakh or more depending on the story line. Agrees producer Rajan Shahi, There's a special budget granted by channels to create the right kind of look and we work out the intricate details from costumes to sets with utmost care, so that takes time too. Sometimes the delay in airing the festive track after the actual celebrations is to make the viewer feel nostalgic about the just concluded festival.
Plus, a delayed airing of a festival special episode also rakes in TVTs, says producer Sudhir Sharma. If a Navratri or Diwali track is aired during the actual festival, most viewers who are busy with the preparations may miss out on the episode leading to low TVTS.
So, in the forthcoming weeks/days, viewers can get set and enjoy some festivity in their daily soaps.
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