View from the couch

On April 3, it’s time for the illustrious Rajshri banner to get on Star Plus with the traditional-sounding Pyar Ke Do Naam Ek Radha Ek Shyam. “It’s a story about reincarnation featuring Barkha Bisht and Indranil Sen Gupta. So obviously the soap has a long lifespan,” laughs Deepak Sehgal of Star. Kavita Barjatya (who’s Sooraj R. Barjatya’s first cousin) heads the TV cell of Rajshri Productions. The Rajshris have had stupendous success with their first daily soap, Woh Rehne Wali Mehlon Ki, on Sahara. They’re hoping to encore the success with Pyar Ke Do Naam?

“We’d naturally want this soap to be a success,” says Kavita. “But the most important thing for us at Rajshri is to live up to the standards and traditions of our banner in both our films and TV serials. It pleases me no end when I’m told we’ve done a turn-around soap on Sahara One with Woh Rehne Wali Mehlon Ki. Pyar Ke Do Naam?will target itself at both the young and the family audiences. With two dailies on our anvil it’s going to be a busy time for us at Rajshri. But we’d never allow quality to suffer.”

Interestingly, Kaushik Ghatak who directed the initial spell of Ekta Kapoor’s Kyunki?Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi? has been roped in to direct Pyar Ke Do Naam Ek Radha Ek Shyam. Is this an attempt to provide a new soap thrill removed from what Ekta Kapoor has been doing on the channel? “Not the least,” protests Deepak Sehgal. “In fact, Pyar Ke Do Naam goes very much with the profile of Star Plus. If we want to do something different we do it on Star One.”

Something different is what Heartbeat, the new KBC-Star One alliance will purport to provide. “It’s actually based on the concept of the heartbeat,” says Star’s Deepak Sehgal. “Instead of timing the contestants by the clock they’ll be timed by every heartbeat. This will give the quiz an exciting never-before edge. Plus the phone lines and the Internet will be available to contestants throughout, so they can call up for help any time.” The show is scheduled to go on Star One in May.