Back after the break

Raman Kumar and Vinta Nanda are known for their creative capabilities and business acumen. Starting literally from scratch a decade ago, the duo set up Tracinema and made it one of the most successful television companies. Starting with Tara, arguably India’s first small screen blockbuster on satellite television, the Raman Kumar-Vinta Nanda team made several successful serials like Shatranj, Umeed, Rahat, V3+, Raahein and Agnichakra. But Raman and Vinta were not mere business partners. Their relationship was more intense and deep and they shared an emotional as well as a physical bond.
For them, a full-fledged relationship and business were two sides of the same coin as Tracinema was an extension of their relationship. All was well and hunky-dory till a year ago. Then all of a sudden, the duo decided to part ways, both professionally and personally. But after a year of separation, Raman and Vinta have joined hands with renewed vigour and zeal.
Their latest joint venture, Papa, is a daily soap that’s being telecast on B4U from Monday to Friday at 2.30 pm. Well, why did they part ways in the first place? And why are they together again? Over to Raman Kumar.

After working together for a decade why did you and Vinta part ways?
We didn’t part ways or separate. But yes, we worked separately because working together was suffocating.

Why was it suffocating?
Over a period of time, it happens in a long relationship. Probably the relationship became stagnant and therefore we needed a break. But there was no fight. So we decided to go on a holiday separately. Sometimes, even a family goes on a holiday separately.

Did you enjoy the holiday separately?
Yes, we did. We worked separately and we did very well for ourselves. But at the same time we also realised that excellence comes by working together. The merging of minds, ideas, creativity and business acumen gives better results. In other words, we realised that we are complimentary to each other.

So both of you needed the break?
Yes, it was the need of the time. Not only did it resolve the stagnation in the relationship, but it also made us wiser and gave us two different identities.

What kind of relationship do both of you share now?
Now, it is more of a working relationship, purely professional. But we are also very good friends. We have decided that we will stand by each other. Professionally, we will give more independence to each other. We are looking forward to a great period ahead and we want to bring back Tracinema where it belonged. With Papa, we want to relive the success of Tara.

Briefly, what is Papa all about?
It is a story of a joint family headed by Vishal Mehra (Kiran Kumar). Vishal is a businessman who lives with his parents, wife, three children and two brothers with their respective families. This very happy and united family is caught off-guard when one fine day, 12-year-old Saloni lands up with a letter from her mother who is dead. Saloni is Vishal’s illegitimate daughter, a result of an extra-marital affair Vishal had 14 years ago. That’s the turning point of the story as it shatters Vishal’s reputation and gradually the family.

And you are very confident that with Papa you will relive the success of Tara.
I am very hopeful because it is a mega soap with 29 main characters. The story is very strong and gripping and the performances are equally good. Moreover, we have a star and a very good actor like Kiran Kumar playing the lead role. He was totally against doing a daily soap because its pace is very exhausting. But when Vinta narrated him the role he just couldn’t refuse.

So Vinta is writing Papa. In what capacity are you associated with it?
Yes, she is the series writer and heads the writing department. And I am the series director and overall creative head of the project.

Which are the other projects Tracinema has in the pipeline?
We are working on a serial for Zee called Sansar. We have also made a pilot for B4U. Besides there are four more projects at the script level.

How much time do you think Tracinema will take to reemerge as a major player in the software market?
It should happen soon. With two creative and complimentary minds working together, we should be back in the reckoning very soon.

AL Chougule