| Interview with Manish
Goswami, Managing Director, Siddhant Cinevision |
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"I like to prove wrong the notion that TV is a female dominated
medium" |
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| Posted
on 19 October 2002 |
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| Manish Goswami turned
television producer in 1993 with the successful Zee serial Parampara.
In a span of nearly a decade, he went on to produce several top quality
soaps, making him one of the most consistent TV producers on the scene.
Daraar, Adhikar, Aashirwad, Kartavya and Milan constitute
some of the successful serials produced under his banner, Siddhant
Cinevision. |
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| Currently, Manish is riding high on
the success of his new daily on Zee, Kittie Party, which is
among the more talked about serials in town. Kittie Party in
a way also launches Siddhant's second innings in the industry. In
1993, Parampara was one of Zee's channel drivers helping the
new channel get a foothold among DD viewers. Today, when Zee is trying
hard to regain its lost glory, it's again one of Siddhant's
offerings that it is using as one of its trump cards. |
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| In a tete- a-tete with indiantelevision.com,
Manish Goswami holds forth on a wide range of issues concerning his
company and the industry at large. |
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How did you start as a
TV producer?
I had a company called Simran Videotech and we were in the business
of hiring out hardware equipments for shoots. In 1992, when Zee started
operations I sensed a major opportunity in providing software content
to the channel. I shot my first pilot, Parampara and the serial
soon got approved by Zee. Parampara ran successfully for five
years and that was how we got launched into the business. |
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As producer, which subjects
appeal to you?
I like soaps. But even among my soaps, each has had a riveting story,
very different from the other. Moreover, I prefer soaps that have
male dominated stories because I like to prove the notion that TV
is a female dominated medium wrong. |
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How was 'Kittie Party'
conceived?
Shobhaa De came up with the concept some two years back when we were
doing Sukanya with her. I was instantly drawn to it as I found
it very different yet very interesting. I felt that if packaged well,
this could turn out to be a great serial. |
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Are you satisfied with the way 'Kittie
Party' has shaped up so far?
I am more than satisfied. In fact, in the last one and half years,
no new serial apart from the routine family dramas has generated such
positive responses as Kittie Party. |
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Personally, which are
your favourite characters in the serial?
See, when we were working on the story, for a major chunk of the
initial episodes, we had decided to focus on four characters only
- those of Poonam Dhillon, Kavita Kapoor, Achint Kaur and Shveta Salve.
Of these, personally I like the characters of Achint Kaur and Shveta
Salve as their dilemmas are pretty identifiable for the common TV
viewers.
At the same time, Poonam Dhillon and Kavita Kapoor are identifiable
for a lesser chunk of the high society viewers. Overall, Kittie
Party has something in it for every female viewer. |
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On what basis do you choose a channel?
Zee TV seems to be your favourite.
The fact that most of my programmes have been on Zee is more
a matter of chance. It's just that Zee came first and we struck up
a great working rapport with them. |
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What is your production set up like?
We have a well developed all pervasive team. My brother, Sanjeev heads
the overall administration and operations. Our creative team is headed
by Vinod Ranganath who has an ideation cell supporting him. We have
five to six executive producers carrying out the task of execution.
There are four production controllers, each having a production manager
aiding him. Then, we have our own post- production facilities and
the best of camera equipments. |
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What are your sources of
funding?
Primarily, it's the rotation of profits. Whenever required, I avail
of bank loans. |
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"Channels
have become very particular on two counts - the look of the
show and the choice of actors"
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You have been dealing with
satellite channels since 1993. Do you find their interference in creative
matters on the rise?
I would say they have become very particular on two counts- the
look of the show and the choice of actors. But I wouldn't blame them
because one must understand that today the level of competition that
exists is really unnerving.
Moreover, with the dominance of dailies in the last few years, the
total number of available time slots has reduced drastically. TV watching
has become more like reading a newspaper, where unless the viewer
develops a habit to be cued on to a channel daily, even the very good
programmes don't work. In this situation, it is only natural for the
channel to be more involved on all fronts. |
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India is probably the only
country where producers don't get a share of the channel revenues
even after forfeiting their rights over the product. Is this fair?
(laughs)Well, every producer feels he is underpaid. But then things
have been this way always. It's not that the channels have introduced
some new rules lately. Personally, I'm okay with this because I feel
that the channels also incur a major risk in developing new programmes
and if it's a success, they should be rewarded for it. In any case,
we do get incentives on attaining higher TRPs. Moreover, at times
the basic appreciation for good work can be very satisfying. |
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Do you feel we have reached
a dead end as far as programming initiatives are concerned?
No, I don't think so. See, while all of us crave to create good shows,
I guess eventually a good show is one that is successful. But again,
beyond a point, if the viewers continue to be enamoured by the same
old family dramas, it is because they do not have a choice. If they
are given a good alternative they will go for it and Kittie Party's
success has proved this. |
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Several of your programmes
were on Doordarshan. Do you still see DD as a viable option?
Not any more. And there are several reasons why I say so. The kind
of bank guarantees DD demands is just exorbitant. Besides, their attitude
is too bureaucratic and inflexible and it becomes an impediment in
creating a good product. Today putting a programme on DD would mean
blocking a huge capital - something to the tune of eight to nine million
for a weekly. In this situation, I certainly don't consider it to
be a viable option. At the same time, I am not closed to it altogether.
I won't mind putting one of my programmes on it and just being present
on the channel. |
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Which areas are you personally
involved with as producer?
I'm involved with most areas even though my thrust is more on the
basic concept. At any point, I am aware of how a story moves over
the next 20 episodes. Besides, I'm very much involved with the casting.
I am also particular about the look of the show, which in turn, requires
a good understanding of the technical details. |
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Some two years back you had a huge
assortment of serials on air. What went wrong suddenly?
I think it was just a case of bad timing. I had three programmes on
DD, three on B4U, one on Channel 9 and one on Zee. While B4U and Channel
9 died all of a sudden, around the time this happened, my serials
on DD were almost completing their quota of episodes. So, for no fault
of mine, most of these programmes were off air within a span of three
to four months. |
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Who are your favourite
writers?
One of my favourite writers in Shobhaa De because her ideas are
very different and fresh from the way a hardcore TV writer thinks
and they have always appealed to me. Among my other favourites are
Sachin Bhoumick, Reoti Saran Sharma, Mir Muneer and Vinod Ranganath.
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Who are your favourite directors?
Lekh Tandon, Sanjay Upadhyay, Suhail Tatari and Tamara Nedungadi.
In hindsight, do you regret any of your programmes?
No. That's because whenever I have seen a pilot episode and found
it sub standard, I have scrapped it right away without even taking
it up with the channel.
Which are the projects that you have in the pipeline?
We have a serial called Chinar which is set in the backdrop
of terrorism. This is being directed by Sanjay Upadhyay. Apart from
this, there are two dailies that will be taking off soon. Some other
concepts are also being negotiated with the channels.
Which would you consider to be the highpoints of your career?
The telecast of the first episode of Parampara and the
success of Daraar, Ashirwaad, Adhikaar and now Kittie Party.
What is your vision for Siddhant Cinevision in the next few years?
See, very few producers manage to strike the right balance between
making money and creating credibility for themselves as far as quality
of programming content goes. We have consistently achieved this in
the last ten years, wherein we have produced more than 1500 hours
of programming content. But now onwards, my thrust will almost entirely
be in creating some real top quality stuff and that is the reason
the quantity of serials we are doing has decreased somewhat.
While TV will always continue to be our bread and butter, we are also
venturing into movies and hopefully by early next year our first film
will go on the floors.
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