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Anurradha
Prasad started her career as a journalist. After her marriage
to fellow journalist and now Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Shukla,
the duo decided to focus on news programming.
In 1993, they floated their own production house with a news
show called Aaj Ki Baat on DD. Now nearly a decade
old, B.A.G Films not only continues with news programming,
it has also diversified into all genres of news as well as
entertainment programming. Haqeeqat and Chalti
Ka Naam Antakshri are some of the more popular shows that
B.A.G has on air currently, while Kumkum, a new daily
soap on Star's afternoon band is the latest addition to its
fast expanding portfolio.
Anurradha Prasad, CMD, B.A.G Films took time off from her
hectic schedule during a visit to Mumbai for a chat with indiantelevision.com
correspondent Amar. Excerpts -
How has your journey from journalist to producer been
like?
After my graduation, I started working as a journalist with
PTI TV and later with the BBC. I also headed the Observer
News Channel for a while. My first show on TV was a business
show called Money Matters. As Rajeev also has a journalistic
background, we always wanted to get into news programming
ourselves. So in 1993, we floated B.A.G. Films with a programme
called Aaj Ki Baat and later produced a cookery show
called Zaike Ka Safar.
One
has always been curious to know - what does B.A.G. stand for?
B.A.G stands for Bhagwaan, Allah and God. It's our way of
paying obeisance to the powers-that-be for always having been
benevolent.
What is the ratio between B.A.G's fiction programmes and its
non-fiction shows?
A
couple of years ago, it used to be 1:4. Now, it's almost 1:1.
In future, it is more or less going to stabilise at this ratio,
because non-fiction and news programmes have always been our
strength and will definitely hold importance in our future
scheme of things.
What
is the production set-up of B.A.G Films?
We have a team of about 100 people in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai.
We have a CEO, Avinash Mehrotra, a COO, Rajesh Chaddha, based
in Mumbai, the all-India head of news programming Ajit Anjum,
based in Delhi and a GM who has recently been appointed to
look after our Chennai operations. Anjum has a team of 50
people under him covering news across the country, while Chaddha
is aided by a creative director, Sharad Raj and six executive
producers. We have our own editing and post production facilities
both at Delhi and Mumbai.
A
still from Kumkum, that airs on Star Plus
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"I
feel the incentives offered by channels for attaining
certain TRPs certainly act as morale boosters for producers"
__________ |
How
important a strategic partner is Doordarshan for B.A.G films?
When we started off, we were mainly only into news and current
affairs programming, which meant we had to operate out of
Delhi. As DD was also Delhi based, it was much easier to negotiate
and put our programmes on it. Later of course, this partnership
got consolidated and when DD News came up, we came up with
a daily half hour programme called Rozana. Even though
I must admit that marketing programmes on DD is not easy,
we don't really mind it. One, our programmes have helped build
B.A.G as a brand and two, DD lets us retain the rights over
the product. The latter has been helpful in the case of some
fiction shows we have had on DD.
Which
areas of B.A.G. Films are you personally involved with?
I am involved in every possible way. I may not personally
look into everything but I am regularly updated by our designated
group heads and whenever I am required, I am there for them.
How
is Rajeev (Shukla) involved in B.A.G.'s day to day functioning?
Rajeev plays a very important role in strategy formulation,
planning and formalising our expansion plans. He is not involved
on a daily basis though, because of his political and journalistic
commitments.
What
are B.A.G.'s sources of funding?
We have a tie-up with some financial institutions that provide
us finance on a regular basis. Besides, as we expand, we are
planning to come up with a public issue in the next four to
six months.
| "Non-fiction
and news programmes have always been our strength and
will definitely hold importance in our future scheme of
things" |
A
still from Haqeeqat, that airs on Sahara TV |
Have
you ever felt channel executive producers' attitudes overbearing
or intrusive?
No, I haven't found them to be overbearing. They might
have differed in their attitude but their approach, by and
large, has been positive. See, we must understand that in
the present situation of channel wars, even the EPs are under
enormous pressure, because one faulty programme can mar a
channel's reputation. Besides, being a creative person with
experience in this field, I can tell you that it is very difficult
to identify creativity that sells.
Who
are your favourite directors on TV?
Sanjay Upadhyay and Sourabh Narang. I have worked with them
and found both of them to be very intelligent and sensitive.
How
is 'Kumkum' different from other daily soaps?
Well, the whole attempt was to not make it very different
from the current trend of soaps. So, while it's a normal family
drama, the difference lies in that we have tried to reduce
melodrama and make all characters very real. Besides, to give
it a fresh look we have hired the services of professionals
hitherto unexposed to TV. Binod Pradhan, who did the lighting
for Mission Kashmir has done the lighting for Kumkum.
We also got Omung Kumar to design our sets.
What
is the future programming line-up of B.A.G. Films?
At present, we are looking forward to the revival of Rozana
in a new format on DD from 15 August. Besides, we are working
on a musical game show that will come on Star from October.
We are also working on another daily soap.
Do
you feel strongly about producers not retaining the rights
over their serial as far as satellite channels go?
Well, at least for Kumkum we have worked out an
arrangement with Star, wherein we get the rights over the
serial back, one year after its telecast ends on Star TV.
I wish this clause is contained in more deals in future. Besides,
I feel the incentives offered by channels for attaining certain
TRPs certainly act as morale boosters for producers.
Where
do you see B.A.G. films five years down the line?
(laughs) Over here, it's difficult to predict what is going
to happen in the next 10 seconds. Five years is a long time.
But yes, we will aim at consolidation of our existing programming
content. The next important thing on our mind is diversification.
We would like to venture into film production as I see it
as a logical extension of our existing business. Apart from
production, our other important projects include setting up
a convergence studio at Noida and a training institute offering
specialized courses in film-making.
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