MUMBAI: Sony Entertainment Television (SET) is making a return to the tried and tested as far as the supernatural thriller format is concerned.
Taking a leaf out of the success that the earlier Aahat had achieved as a weekly, SET has launched a new season of Achanak -37 Saal Baad in a weekly one-hour episode format. The serial airs every Monday from 10 pm to 11 pm.
The last season of Achanak..., which was a half-hourly daily show, concluded with the end of the evil Ajinkya in a battle with hero, Ajay. An official release informs that the battle between good and evil rages on in the new series when Ajay comes back to life and Ajinkya's malicious spirit returns in search of a human form, causing terror and mayhem.
indiantelevision.com spoke to Shreedhar Raghavan, the writer of the series, who said, "We have changed the entire format of the show and made it more flexible. The new season contains several mini-stories. Every story in this series will stretch only up to three to four episodes. After that we'll have another story with the same central characters but a different plot."
Raghavan said that while the central characters - Ajay and Ajinkya - remain the same, they have added a lot on new characters to the show.
"We have worked out 12 such short stories presently," he said, "If they do well, we will work on another 40-45 plots." The screenplay is handled by Rajat Arora.
SET's executive vice president Sunil Lulla said, "We have successfully entertained TV viewers with our range of thrillers like CID, Kya Hadsaa Kya Haqeeqat, and Aahat. Achanak, in its all new format, retains the essence of good versus evil in a contemporary gripping series."
With the introduction of Achanak at the 10 pm -11 pm slot on Mondays, it seems like SET is reserving the band for supernatural psycho thrillers. From Tuesday to Thursday, the channel shows one-hour reruns of Kya Hadsaa... in the same band.
When queried on this, Raghavan said, "Thrillers are pacy and can keep the audience hooked. That's why, SET has cashed in on so many thrillers."
