A trendsetter, Balika Vadhu spinned-off soaps featuring little girls and suddenly TV, which was plodding along with the unending saas-bahu sagas had found a brand new protagonists. Colors itself launched Uttaran, a serial about two little girls, one a servant’s daughter and other a rich brat. Mere Ghar Aayi Ek Nanhi Pari and Na Aana Iss Des Lado, highlighted the importance of a girl -child. STAR Plus came up with Sabki Ladli Bebo, Zee started Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Ki Jo, so on and so forth. In short, Balika.. or the girl-child became the new buzzword for success.
Currently, the serial is notching up a rating of 5 plus and is slightly behind STAR Plus’ Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai and Bidayi. “The ratings have been fluctuating but its average is 6. Other serials may race past it but Balika Vadhu is a brand,” says Wadhwa proudly.
Incidentally, Wadhwa who heads Sphere Origins, has also been responsible for changing the fortunes of another channel, Zee. It was with his Saat Phere that Zee, which was then lagging far behind the numero uno channel, STAR Plus, got a boost. The story of a dark-skinned girl shunned by the society because of her complexion touched a chord with the viewers who religiously followed Saloni’s (the protagonist) search for a soul-mate, her marriage, the problems she faced etc. The serial ran for over three years and for most part was amongst the top five on the channel. It petered out when the storyline started thinning. By then, it had completed 900 episodes. As Wadhwa says, “It was the only serial that didn’t resort to a leap for the longest time, 700 episodes, to be precise.” Instead, the serial kept changing tracks and at one point became a mystery drama. Agrees Wadhwa, “We tried every possible thing in the serial but there came a point when it had to end.”
Between Saat Phere and Balika Vadhu, Sphere Origins has handled shows of different genres, a fantasy show Shaurya Suhani, Rajkumar Aryan, besides Betiyaaan Paraya Dhan and Saathi Re. Though they have been consistently producing shows, it is the socially-relevant soaps that have worked big time for the banner. Currently, another of their shows that is having a high recall value on NDTV Imagine is Jyoti, about a girl shouldering all the responsibilities of her family as her father is indisposed. Interestingly, all the hit shows of Wadhwa have been written by Purnendu Shekhar. “Purnendu is a sensible writer and as a producer I am able to visually translate his great ideas with the help of director Siddharth Sengupta,” says Wadhwa, putting things in perspective.
So, what went wrong with Shaurya Suhani aired on STAR Plus? “It was aired on a weekend when channels across show a lot of films. This show got killed somewhere,” he says but admits that sometimes “stories don’t work. Also, these kind of shows need a huge budget and there are times when the channel thinks it is expensive,” he philosophises.
Wadhwa can afford to take failure in his stride, he has been in the business for over a decade. Before launching his banner Sphere Origins in 2001, Wadhwa was working with his cousin’s wife Reena and together started Karnik Productions. After producing a few shows like Neeyat, Thief Of Baghdad and Aatish, the duo parted ways due to creative differences and Wadhwa branched out on his own. Karnik Productions has since wound up. The first show under the banner Sphere Origin was Des Mein Niklla Hoga Chand followed by Yehi To Hai Woh, Zee Horror Show etc. Though Des Mein... did well, it didn’t get Sphere Origin much acclaim because Aroona Irani productions was also involved. It was Saat Phere that brought them acclaim and since then the banner has been flying high. Soon, Sphere Origins will have more shows across channels including Colors, Sony and STAR Plus.
However, it’s the prospect of producing a film next year that has Wadhwa excited. He will have on board director Sengupta but the cast is not yet finalised. “By January 2010, I will have my film going,” he says confidently.
