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MUMBAI:
Filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali is all set to make his debut
as a producer with the television translation of the 19th
century Gujarati novel Saraswatichandra written by by Govardhanram
Madhavaram Tripathi.
Saraswatichandra
will premiere on 25 February and will be aired at 7.30 pm
from Monday to Friday.
The show will be a modern day revival of the 1800 page novel
written over 14 years and completed around 1887. The show
will feature actor Gautam Rode, who currently co-anchors Star
Plus’ dancing reality show Nach Baliye, as the multi-layered
Saraswatichandra while Jennifer Winget will play the role
of Kumud, the female lead. Actors Monica Bedi and Chetan Pandit
will also play pivotal parts in the show.
While
Sanjay Leela Bhansali is also the creative director, Arvind
Babbal will be the series director for the show.
Star Plus general manager Nachiket Pantvaidya said, "With
Saraswatichandra we are celebrating romance on the channel,
packaged in a never-seen-before format that matches the splendour
and glory of cinema. We are delighted to work with renowned
filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali who has created cinematic
masterpieces. Sarwastichandra promises to mesmerise audiences
with its intensely passionate love story set against a backdrop
of breath taking sets.”
He
also shed light on why the show will be telecast in the 7.30
pm slot on weekdays and not at a later hour in the primetime
band. “India is experiencing a change in the television
measurement system and data tells us that as more and more
markets get digitised and measured, the peak primetime viewing
slot will be advanced. Even earlier, our show Sasural Genda
Phool, which was in the 7.30 pm slot, was ranked number two.
So there is a large chunk of the audience, especially as we
leave the metros and capture the LC1 markets, that tune into
early primetime slots,” explained Vaidya.
Bhansali has earlier translated novels onto the silver screen
with Bengali novelist Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s Devdas
and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam from Maitreyi Devi's Bengali novel
Na Hanyate. By his own admission, Bhansali has harboured the
desire to convert the novel into a motion picture. “I
always wanted to do something like this. I chose television
to express my interpretation of Sarawatichandra because it
has a larger reach and more breadth for creative expression.
It is a new medium and very challenging. Having said that,
I am extremely happy to have partnered with Star Plus for
this as they do know what works in the medium the best.”
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