It all began with a brief affair with journalism. After doing freelance writing on entertainment for E-Times, The Metropolis on Saturday (both no more), Bombay Times, the Sunday Times of India, Sunday Review, Mid-day, The Asian Age, Screen, Cosmopolitan, Femina, Zee Premier and Raga to Rock, television beckoned. And this first class graduate in Physics went whole hog for it.
He began as a production executive on The Bournvita Quiz Contest (Zee TV), went on to become assistant director on a weekly talk show Point Blank (In Mumbai) and worked as host-cum-director of Adaraniya Pradhan Mantri (Zee TV). He again got back to Bournvita Quiz Contest, this time as a production manager, where he designed the look of the production for a brand new season.
Assistant director and scriptwriter on Duniya Gol Hai (Home TV), India's answer to America's funniest home videos, he went on to script 13 episodes of Superhit Muqabla (DD Metro), scripted 13 episodes of Bakeman's Ooh La La (Star Plus), developed and contributed to scripting of about 15 episodes of Movers and Shakers (Sony Entertainment Television) and Uncensored (Sony Entertainment Television), wrote and directed one MTV Filmi Funda, directed the introductory spot segments for Femina Miss India- 1998, edited an audiovisual on 75 years of Hindi cinema for Filmfare Awards 1999... and worked on many live events.
Oh, what a list! It's about time he did some talking. Meet Cinevistaas' creative director Namit Sharma, in conversation with indiantelevision.com's Vickey Lalwani. |
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Why did you try your hand at so many things? |
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You opting out of Sony and joining Cinevistaas had raised many eyebrows? What really happened was that I was offered an opportunity where I could grow and I went for it. I had been associated with Cinevistaas in a small way before. I had written a musical game show for them which was hosted by Talat Aziz and Archana Puransingh and aired on UTV but withdrawn after a few episodes. However, we had a wonderful relationship going. Siddharth Malhotra and I had become good friends and were frequently in touch. One day Siddharth called and asked if I was interested in taking up the post of a creative director in Cinevistaas. At that point of time, I had pretty much done whatever I could at Sony. I wanted to move on to the next possible level and grow further. So, I joined Cinevistaas in November '02. First I was associated with the making of three pilots Saathiya, Zaroorat Hai, Zaroorat Hai (coming up on Sahara from August in all probability) and Jeevan Mrityu (now titled as Saaksshi). From January '03, I was asked to take over Sanjivanis. |
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But you opted out of 'Sanjivani' in October '03. Why? I even took a two-month sabbatical from being involved in the storylines. I got involved in the marketing of Saathiya and Jeevan Mrityu. Sahara bought the former, Sony bought the latter. |
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What are the creative challenges you face? In a nutshell, a creative professional has to meet the channel's expectations and yet deliver something that he is convinced about. As for me, since I have worked on both sides of the fence -- production house and broadcast channel -- it's relatively easy for me to connect the two. |
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But doesn't it happen sometimes that you deliver something that you are not convinced about? Does the interference of channels irritate your sensibilities at times? |
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Which is? |
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Go on... |
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How important is it for you to get along with writers? What happens if your final creative product (designed by you and the channel) is eventually challenged by the director or actor on the sets? |
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How do you develop the characters? |
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Punj was dropped, but now we hear you'll are contemplating to bring him back? |
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After which it underwent changes? |
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Back to creativity aspects. Do you think creativity is really encouraged on Indian television? Or is it mediocrity? |
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But there are higher stakes involved in films? There is no larger godfather in film business. Mind well, the huge set-up of television is not a dampener on creativity. If a creative person understands how television functions, he can still find several nuances where he can offer valuable inputs to the final product. It is just the question of how innovative you can get within the parameters. |
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All shows don't click. Can you spot a winner beforehand? |
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But doesn't it worry you that 'Saathiya' is on Sahara where the TRPs of the channel per se are not high? Wouldn't it have been better if it had been on Star or Sony? |
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Isn't it possible that some other production house lays its hands on the project while it is lying with some channel? You said you don't work on all shows. This is quite unlike Balaji Telefilms where… |
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You earlier said that you sit a lot with your scriptwriters. Are you seriously satisfied with the scriptwriters' lot in today's times? Can creative people become good business people? Who are the TV producers you admire apart from Cinevistaas? Now that your 'Saathiya' locks horns with 'Kasautii…', which one will you see? Where do you see yourself five years from now? |