The show is set in a Muslim family of contemporary Lucknow, the city known for its rich culture, heritage, architectural grandeur and age-old traditions. But it is a passionate love story and not social drama. The emotion of love strikes everyone but culture, family, tradition, caste and religion give it a different texture and colour. When the saga of love is set in a Muslim family against the cultural heritage of Lucknow, you can’t do away with certain clichés and trappings. So Rehan, the hero of the love saga, has nawabi lineage. Following his father’s assassination, Rehan was hastily sent away by his mother to London while he was a child. But he always yearned to return home. Cut-off from his beloved Dadi, childhood friends and his true love Sana–how truly can one fall in love at the age of eight or nine is a matter of imaginative wonder– Rehan harbours a deep resentment and bitterness towards his mother for sending him away.
The story kicks off with Rehan’s return to the city of his birth after 15 years and traces the emotions, situations, journey and life of each character as they reconnect with Rehan after so many years. Sana’s reluctance to open herself up to Rehan for fear of being rejected again, a new entrant in Rehan’s life in the form of Anisa, a bright and effervescent girl from a lower social standing who strikes a chord in his heart, all these situations and more twists and turns will play out in the saga of love and passion. “Amidst all the family dramas and multi-generational conflicts, we are proud to present a pure and unadulterated love story for the young at heart. It is a classic love story, set in the heart of Lucknow and full poetry and passion, pain and sacrifice,” says NDTV Imagine’s executive vice president, content, Shailja Kejriwal.
Chand Ke Paar Chalo is a co-production of Tangrine Digital and Morpheus Motion Pictures. The former is headed by Puneet Johar who was the head of marketing at Star TV not long ago while the latter is headed by Gul Khan and hubby Gorkhi, both experienced hands in direction. The show is Gul and Gorkhi’s baby. Why they chose to set the serial in contemporary Lucknow? “Because Gul and Gorkhi understand its tradition, culture and way of life better. Besides, Lucknow provides a rich cultural backdrop,” says Puneet. Why is the love story set in a Muslim family? “It is incidental. Love happens to everyone and everywhere,” adds Puneet.
It really isn’t incidental. Marketing and programming brains have worked in tandem for the simple reason that there is no show on air which is set in a Muslim family or has Lucknow as its backdrop. Gul agrees, “The backdrop definitely gives the show a differentiating feel and visual appeal. But despite Muslim setting, the show has mass appeal because unlike other dailies, religion is not in the forefront here. The language is Hindi with a tinge of Urdu. “ Shailja provides more perspective, “Most of the GEC programming is pro-Hindu. Muslims are the largest minority community in India but very few serials have been made on Muslim subjects. Currently, there is none. We tried Ramayan and it worked. Chand Ke Paar Chalo is yet another new endeavour and we hope it will work.”
It will work if the content is compelling enough. But doesn’t a story set in a Muslim family come with a restrictive platform? “No, it doesn’t. As I said, it is not a social but a love story. People will follow the story and characters and it will work on the strength of characters and emotions,” says Shailja. The reason, according to the show’s director Deepak Sharma, why it will make compelling viewing is that the show will tell a proper story from beginning to end. “After a point dailies become stagnant and the story moves in circles. We have worked for about six months on the broad story, characters and sub-plots and will stick to our creative conviction. The rest will depend on viewer’s response,” he explains.
Given the fact that Chand Ke Paar Chalo is a daily, doesn’t it run the risk of suffering on the quality front because of speed? Also, since the serial’s fate will depend on consumer’s response, will it undergo churning if certain characters and sub-plots do not get positive response? “End-user is important. But if you take a look at programming of Imagine, viewers have responded positively to some beautiful stories. We are quite confident of maintaining a fine balance between speed and quality,” says Deepak. Adds Gul, “Ours is a finite story. There will be no beating around the bush, any vamps, reincarnations, loops and repeats.” But since consumer is the king, Gul says they are open to a few changes. “We have ten variables in our hand and depending upon the response, we will use them if necessary,” she admits.