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In the box again

SaharaOne takes viewers to the pre-cable era with Buniyaad's rerun

GOOD PERFORMANCES Alok Nath plays Haveli Ram, a schoolteacher while Anita Kanwar is his love, Lajo

Like any significant historical event, the Partition too has inspired many stories. And here, if you have to name a serial, particularly on Indian television, that has beautifully brought out the emotions of the Partition, it is Buniyaad that first comes to mind.

Lajoji, Veerawalli, Brij Bhan, Professor Saheb and company, the characters in the serial, are still remembered with nostalgia by many.

Ramesh Sippy, who directed the path-breaking film Sholay, also directed the serial. The Manohar Shyam Joshi script was serialised into a 105-episode soap, which is now a classic, on Doordarshan in the 1980s.

For the youth

"But sadly, it is remembered only by the older generation. As little as 15 per cent of today's youth has seen Buniyaad and some others have just heard of it," says SaharaOne Chief Operating Officer, Purnendu Bose.

And, this exactly became the starting point that finally led the channel to rerun this Ramesh Sippy soap, says Bose.

Deepti Bhatnagar, former actress-turned-teleserial-producer, has bought the rights from Sippy and started beaming it on SaharaOne, Monday to Thursday at 8 p.m.

Says Deepti: "We have made a few cosmetic changes to the serial to air this two-decade-old work for today's audience. For instance, touching up the colour, replacing Anoop Jalota with Sonu Nigam to croon the theme song, and so on. We didn't want to touch the dialogue because we realised that every word has something to do with the development of the story."

As to why she chose to buy the rights of only Buniyaad, Deepti says: "It was easy. You wouldn't think twice before buying the rights of Sholay, and on TV, it is clearly Buniyaad."

Besides, Buniyaad had not only laid out the norms for a good TV serial those days, it also brought to light quite a few talented actors such as Anita Kanwar, Alok Nath, Krutika Desai, Neena Gupta, Vijayendra Ghatge and Kanwaljeet. Sippy met his future wife Kiran Joneja, who played the role of Veerawalli, on the sets of Buniyaad.

Backing Deepti's point on good content, Bose talks about the lack of it on television these days despite the increase in the number of serials. "In this melee, one doesn't take much time to realise that the soul of TV is missing."

NG Take

To "offer something different", Bose counts yet another programme, NG Take, which has begun airing on Saturdays on the channel at 7.30 p.m. It is also from Deepti's production house. "It is an interesting format. Almost all films have reels and reels of takes, which get cut in the final editing. We have procured these tapes to show them to the viewers and so the name of the show, NG (Not Good) Take," says Deepti. She has chosen films like Sholay, Parineeta, Ajnabee, Beta, Dil, Vaah! Yeh Meri Life Hai, Baghban and Raja, the unused takes of which will be shown on the show.

"I am sure people will like it. Take for instance, Sholay. Ramesh Sippy had shot two endings for the film. The one which was edited out will form part of NG Take," she explains.

Let's hope this proves to be as different as Deepti promises.

SANGEETA BAROOAH PISHAROTY

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