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 Alok
Nath Dixit and Dr. Vishwanath Dixit of Guruji Entertainment Network
(GEN) have to their credit a wide genre of television programming.
Their daily soap Aparajita had an uninterrupted run of 815 episodes
on Doordarshan, remains the longest daily fiction on Indian television
till date. Loyal to Doordarshan for nearly 13 years, with over 1500
hours of original software in their library, the Dixit brothers
have now spread their wings to satellite channels. Having done one-off
episodes for Zee and Star Plus earlier, the duo is presently backing
Niilaamghar.
Their tele-route
started in the late 80s with commissioned programmes for Doordarshan,
with Alok Nath as cameraman and editor and Vishwanath as director,
they made documentaries, tele-films, sitcoms and children’s
shows. Four years ago, the duo decided to make a daily soap for
DD, which proved to be their trump card. For Aparajita not only
established GEN as a major production banner, but also brought the
Dixit brothers into the limelight. Alok Nath says, “We are
happy that today we have reached a position where our name is associated
with good work.” Their early work was inspired by Hindi literature.
Prasad Ki Kahaniyan, their first commercial venture for Doordarshan
was based on noted writer Jaishankar Prasad’s short stories.
They had also made a satire on the works of Prakash Purohit and
documentaries on the life and times of Mahadevi Verma and Sant Gyaneshwar.
Aparajita was
also based on a literary work called Gale Gale Pani by Ram Kumar
Brahmar and covered various facets of man-woman relationship. Not
expecting the serial to do so well, “But I guess it’s
all because of more emphasis on women characters and their positive
portrayal besides detailing on smaller nuances of relationships
and emotions, lot of drama and movements,” Alok Nath elaborates.
The show took a few months to get established with the viewers and
attract the attention of advertisers; because Aparajita was competing
against BR TV’s Aurat, Balaji Telefilms’ Itihaas and Adhikaris’
Waqt Ki Raftar. “The Adhikaris, B.R. and Balaji were well-established
television banners, whereas Guruji Entertainment was a small entity
then,” recalls Vishwanath. “So obviously, initially they
attracted the attention of the advertisers. But as the TRPs of Aparajita
zoomed and it became a favourite daily soap for women on DD’s
afternoon band, the response from advertisers was so great that
we had difficult time in accommodating ad spots in our FCT.”
While Aparajita,
ruled DD’s afternoon band, the Dixit brothers came up with
another winner Ardhangini, a daily soap again, which depicted women
in varied shades — as symbols of love, sacrifice, greed, passion
and ambition. Dr. Vishwanath says, “Ardhangini was much more
challenging than Aparajita, because every month we covered one story
with new logistics, different technique, editing, camera work, art
direction and characterisation.”
GEN’s
follow-ups included Adaa, a weekly soap on DD Metro about a modern
urban woman, who despite being exploited gets an identity of her
own; Aahuti which was based on the freedom struggle, was telecast
on the eve of 50 years of India’s independence; Aaina, was
a beauty care show for women and others like Chhodo Baat Purani,
All In All, Film Point, Taaliyan and Aaiye Huzoor. Besides, the
duo also made stand-alone episodes of X Zone for Zee and Star Bestsellers
for Star Plus. Three months ago, when Zee set about their programming
revamp, the Dixit brothers approached Zee with the pilot of Naam,
which was to be partly shot in Dubai. The channel kept Naam on hold
and instead asked the duo to make Niilaamghar. A simple game show,
which even a child, can play and win a prizes, the questions are
not based on general knowledge but on common sense, presence of
mind, logic and judgment.
Alok Nath says
the USP of Niilaamghar is its simple format and of course, the anchor
Shekhar Suman. After signing the contract with Zee, when it came
on deciding the host, “We didn’t think of anyone else,
because when it comes to anchoring a game show, Shekhar is the best.
Besides, the channel was also keen on having Shekhar on the show.
So we discussed the format with Shekhar which he found very interesting
and moreover, he also found the show big in terms of size and magnitude.”
Over the last 13 years, GEN has emerged as a complete production
house with in-house marketing and post-production studios in Mumbai
and Delhi. While, Alok Nath is largely in charge of creative development
of software and direction, Dr. Vishwanath looks after production
and channel liaison. Their three senior siblings - Amarnath, Ravi
and Raman - who are Delhi-based look after the marketing and financial
aspects. Almost a corporate entity, Guruji Entertainment is poised
for major expansion and growth with several shows lined up for Doordarshan
and satellite channels.
These include
Abhi Khushi Abhi Gam, Antaral and Asmita for DD, Naam for Zee and
Arpan which has been shot in Nainital for Star Plus. “Having
achieved a certain level of growth, the idea is to grow faster and
compete with other production houses by doing a variety of programmes
for all leading channels. Besides, we are looking at regional language
programming and co-productions,” discloses Alok Nath.
—ALC
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