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The Sagar saga continues...

After beauties hogging the prime time for long, now brawn makes its presence felt with "Prithviraj Chauhan - Dharti Ka Veer Yodha" on Star Plus

PHOTO: RAJEEV BHATT

REELING BACK IN THE Sunila Karambekar

Amidst all the women-oriented soaps comes a show this May about a man considered to be the last Rajput ruler of Delhi. Yes, the man we all know as Prithvi Raj Chauhan is going to be the character highlighted in the latest venture of Ramanand Sagar's legacy, Sagar Productions.

Titled Prithviraj Chauhan - Dharti Ka Veer Yodha, the serial, to be aired on Star Plus, will celebrate the life of the 11th Century ruler. Sagar Productions, having the record of producing great historical serials like Ramayana and Shri Krishna, is producing the show for the channel at its studios in Baroda.

The show, planned by the channel initially to take over the time slot of Kaun Banega Crorepati after it ran its length, will now replace it, as the production of KBC was stopped abruptly.

And so begins this prime time epic on Star Plus from Friday through Sunday.

Jas Arora

According to Shakti Sagar, the show director, the huge sets, the traditional Rajasthani dresses and the ethnic jewellery gel together to create the 11th Century feel. "The show will do everything to keep up the name of Sagar Productions," he states.

According to him, a lot of homework has been done before finalising the star cast. A lot of auditions and screen tests were conducted to arrive at a line-up, which includes Jas Arora as Someshwar, Milind Gunaji as Vijaypal, Benjamin Geelani as Shivendra, Angad Bedi as Prithvi, Sunila Karambekar as Kamalavati, Parivah as Sanyogita and Nirmal Pandey as Ghori.

Jas excited

Talking about his small screen debut, Jas Arora says, "I am really excited to work with Sagar Productions in this grand serial."

However, he tries to "correct the media" that it is his TV debut only in India, as he had already appeared on a TV show called Achar in Singapore.

"However, working in this show has been a totally different experience as it involved understanding the character and preparing mentally to fit into it," he adds.

Milind Gunali

Milind Gunaji, who plays Vijaypal, a warrior in the show, too says, "It was challenging to portray the character." As for his upcoming projects, Milind, who started off well with the film Fareb but couldn't do well for himself in Bollywood, says he is now "working in a couple of Hollywood movies".

Positive Sunila

The actress who plays Kamalavati, the mother of Prithvi, is a known face on television.

After doing quite a few negative roles, Sunila Karambekar is essaying a positive portrayal. She talks about how she "had toiled hard on this role over the past one year."

Apart from the grandiose sets, grand jewellery and star cast, the show is finally about a hero who died at a young age after fighting many heroic battles.

The man Prithvi Raj Chauhan epitomises bravery and heroism, and the directors stress that through the show they want to infuse these qualities into our young viewers. Hope they tune in.

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