Bhansali makes production debut on TV with Saraswatichandra

MUMBAI: Filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali is all set to make his debut as a producer with the television translation of the 19th century Gujarati novel Saraswatichandra written by by Govardhanram Madhavaram Tripathi.

Saraswatichandra will premiere on 25 February and will be aired at 7.30 pm from Monday to Friday.

The show will be a modern day revival of the 1800 page novel written over 14 years and completed around 1887. The show will feature actor Gautam Rode, who currently co-anchors Star Plus? dancing reality show Nach Baliye, as the multi-layered Saraswatichandra while Jennifer Winget will play the role of Kumud, the female lead. Actors Monica Bedi and Chetan Pandit will also play pivotal parts in the show.

While Sanjay Leela Bhansali is also the creative director, Arvind Babbal will be the series director for the show.

Star Plus general manager Nachiket Pantvaidya said, "With Saraswatichandra we are celebrating romance on the channel, packaged in a never-seen-before format that matches the splendour and glory of cinema. We are delighted to work with renowned filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali who has created cinematic masterpieces. Sarwastichandra promises to mesmerise audiences with its intensely passionate love story set against a backdrop of breath taking sets.?

He also shed light on why the show will be telecast in the 7.30 pm slot on weekdays and not at a later hour in the primetime band. ?India is experiencing a change in the television measurement system and data tells us that as more and more markets get digitised and measured, the peak primetime viewing slot will be advanced. Even earlier, our show Sasural Genda Phool, which was in the 7.30 pm slot, was ranked number two. So there is a large chunk of the audience, especially as we leave the metros and capture the LC1 markets, that tune into early primetime slots,? explained Vaidya.

Bhansali has earlier translated novels onto the silver screen with Bengali novelist Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay?s Devdas and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam from Maitreyi Devi?s Bengali novel Na Hanyate. By his own admission, Bhansali has harboured the desire to convert the novel into a motion picture. ?I always wanted to do something like this. I chose television to express my interpretation of Sarawatichandra because it has a larger reach and more breadth for creative expression. It is a new medium and very challenging. Having said that, I am extremely happy to have partnered with Star Plus for this as they do know what works in the medium the best.?