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That's the story, folks!
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Veteran director Shakti Samanta's son, Ashim, is busy with his second serial
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Photo: Sandeep Saxena
HE IS so soft-spoken and refined that you wonder how he deals with the hard-boiled ways of Bollywood. Filmdom invariably makes one so flashy that you consider it relevant to ask whether he is actually in the wrong profession.
"Things have definitely changed from the time my father began working for Hindi cinema and also the time when I started off," says Ashim Samanta, the son of renowned filmmaker Shakti Samanta. His shy smile reminds you of a confident and yet not so confident schoolboy appearing in a public event. But then, he is no beginner.
Having started film-making way back in 1976 as an assistant to his illustrious father who gave us memorable films like Aradhana, Amar Prem, Kashmir Ki Kali and Awaaz, Ashim says, the primary focus of a film those days was a good story. "But now it comes last. The frills have got the centre-stage and that is why, we see so few box office hits these days," he comments. Having directed films like Main Awara Hoon, Palay Khan, Aakhri Baazi, Ahankar, none of which could hit the jackpot, Ashim also looks at filmmaking as "a calculated gamble."
New film
"Last year, we produced Devdas in Bengali. We are not venturing into Hindi films for some time because we are still convinced that a good story holds the key to success. Only last week I came across a solid story and if everything goes well, we will start filming in the next six months," he says.
Talking about his second Hindi television serial KalCchakra, which recently went on air on Star Plus, Ashim says he somehow looks at even serial-making as a film. "If you see the serial, you would know what I am talking about. With the lead girl playing a triple role, lot of outdoor shooting, various shots... the approach to it is almost film like," he describes.
Waiting for a good story to happen, Ashim meanwhile, got into dubbing Hollywood films of Paramount Films, Dreamworks, United Artists, Universal Films etc into Hindi. Some of the big names that he dubbed in Hindi are Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, The Lost World, both the series of Mission Impossible, James Bond films, Mummy I and II.
"Since television is getting bigger by the day, I thought let's try it out. So I did Dil Vil Pyar Vyar for Sony TV, which won me the Best Director Award for comedy serial. Soon after that, I also did a Bengali serial with 130 episodes called Durga. And, now with KalCchakra, there is no looking back I hope," he says. KalCchakra, adds Ashim, is based on "a good story picked from a Mexican serial La Chacala."
In the days of dragging Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi and the girl next-door like Jassi, let's see how long can "a good story" hold forth.
S. B. P
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