N I R J A G U L E R I
STAR Plus'
Prime-time queen
Nirja Guleri, of Prime Channel, is back in the
thick of things. After 18 months of fighting court battles over Chandrakanta,
Nirja has three programmes in the pipe-line, including a talk show to be
hosted by Jaya Bachchan. And there's a thriller and a daily soap waiting
to hit the small screen.
Production house, Prime Channel, was established with lofty intentions, indeed.
It was to be the vehicle through which Nirja Guleri, its owner, could express
her creativity. Nirja Guleri wanted to break free of the budgetary constraints
of small the small screen and execute big-bucks production for a captive
TV audience. It had a big canvas, it was planned on a scale that would put
some of its big screen brethern to shame and many supposed it was to big
for TV's small shoes. Nirja, the wags said, had blundered. But look who's
having the last laugh!
Chandrakanta has gone on to amass a whopping Rs. 67
crores in revenue for Doordarshan, and still continues to make money for
both channels it is on (DD and STAR Plus) and for its producer, as well.
But when DD dropped the series in favour of Shri Krishna, Nirja faced a potential
business disaster. "I had just erected a huge set, made by Nitin Desai, costing
Rs. 35 lakhs. Not even a day's shooting was done there and during the nine-month
long legal battle with DD, I paid Rs. 58 lakhs towards rent for the place,
before dismantling the set," says Nirja Guleri.
That amount would have wiped off lesser mortals, but
Nirja fought on and won the battle. The Supreme Court directed Doordarshan
to reinstate the series, and Nirja is back in the thick of things on the
channel. Chandrakanta's first week TRPs stood at 60. Nirja Guleri stood
vindicatd.
The gigantic costume drama has come in for a fair
bit of stick from the critics. The viewers, however, can't seem to get enough
of it. Nirja places it success on "modern concepts woven into the story".
She explains: "Being slave to men's cruelty is not acceptable today so we
have to show stronger women. We also convey the message in accordance with
our culture. So if Shivadutt is shown having an extra-marital affair, then
his wife does not retaliate by doing the same herself, a la Bold & Beautiful.
She tries to bring him on the right track.". She plans to shoot the balance
60 episodes as per the old contract with DD-1 for 156 episodes.
While Nirja has made most of her money from Doordarshan,
she has a bigger profile on STAR Plus, where she has three top-ranking serials.
Tu Tu Main Main, inspite of being one of many family sitcoms on the tube,
has maintained a high profile. Viewers readily relate to its saas-bahu premise,
but Nirja admits that there could be an element of viewer fatigue creeping
in. "I agree that after more than 100 episodes the viewers may develop fatigue
towards the programme. We will then either bring in the next generation or
move over to some other family. Or we may even explore the funnier side of
another relationship," she says.
Viewers fatigue was also the reason why Ruby Bhatia
replaced Neelam in Prime Channel's countdown show, Ooh La La. Neelam had
become predictable it was beginning to tell on the shows viewership base.
Ruby's introduction has partially reversed the trend of dipping TRPs. The
shows popularity is evident from the fact that programme sponsor, Bakeman's
Industries, is launching a new line of biscuit called, what else, Ooh La
La.
Once regarded as the hottest production house, Prime
Channel has been in hiatus for the past 18 months. "We believe in giving
quality not quantity," clarifies Nirja. "Moreover, the court battle was time
consuming and expensive. But now that that is behind us, we are planning
a whole set of new programmes."
Among these is a suspense thriller tentatively titled
Cobra that is in the concept and scripting stages. Principal shooting will
start once the artistes and technical support has been finalised.
Besides this Nirja Guleri is also working on a
mythological serial. "Religion has always been a priority with Indian viewers.
The mythological will be based on a story that hasn't been attempted on Indian
television so far," says Nirja. Another project in the pipeline is a daily
soap, a genre that Prime Channel hasn't attempted so far. The lure ws too
great and Nirja is biting. "This will be a story of relationships, minus
any illegitimate relationship and/or children," she quips.
All these programmes will start production simultaneously,
and are intended to go on STAR Plus. To further viewer interest, Nirja wants
to cast mostly newcomers in these productions. "That will give a fresh look
to the serials," says Nirja.
When all these shows come on stream, Nirja will have
a sizeable chunk of STAR Plus' airtime under her belt. "When we shifted to
STAR Plus, we had promised them seven hours of programming a week. These
news shows should complete that requirement" says Nirja. |
