Riya Deepsi fourth time lucky with Swastik

Actress Riya Deepsi is someone who has been quite lucky with well known production house Swastik Productions. The young actor is actually working for the fourth time with Siddharth Kumar Tewary. Riya worked in shows like Mahabharat, Begusarai, Razia Sultan and now Riya is working in Porus as Barsine. Speaking on her character Riya says,"I am playing the role of Barsine, the daughter of King Darius played by actor Praneet Bhat. This is my second time with Praneet before this we have played brother-sister (Gandhari-Shakuni) in Mahabharat and now we are playing father and daughter. Audience will get to see a great equation between us." When asked about Siddharth Kumar Tewary Riya adds,"He is a person who has immense knowledge on television, he is a through professional man and knows his job so well. I often seek advice for him. And when an offer from him came to me directly I knew this is going to be big." Riya is a parallel lead in the show and sports a new look for her character. Riya adds,"The costume designer of Porus Ketki mam knows her work so well. The costume which I have been given is not revealing but sensuous at the same time. And also jewellery which am using is so pretty people will fall in love with it immediatel

Dipti Kalwani: 2017 was challenging but helped me grow

Producer Dipti Kalwani of Sunny Side Up, whose show Badho Bahu is doing very well, says the she has grown a lot in the past year. The producer adds that the year also brought with it different genres and stories. “2017 was challenging in a lot of ways but helped me in becoming more disciplined.  I am hoping 2018 will be more fun and happiness for everyone.  2017 was about a lot of good stories narrated with humour, a trend I feel that will continue for some time,” she says.

Dipti looks forward to interesting work in the future. “Have written some new stories and I am looking for new platforms to tell them. Will be announcing my new projects soon. The only way to face competition is to remain yourself and write stories that you will believe in,” she says.

She further adds,  "I started my production house cause I wanted to tell the stories I liked. It was a very simple reason," she says.  The young producer has been making a mark for herself with the right choice of projects. However, it is not as easy as it appears. "Producing a show comes with many challenges on a daily basis, it is exhausting by the end of the day, but the creative satisfaction of work balances it out for me," says Dipti.

Many accuse television to be dominated by the TRP game. However, Dipti defends the norm. "Yes, at the end of the day it’s all business so the TRPs do govern our lives," she says. With the arrival of digital space, the television audience is getting divided. Dipti predicts that the competition will get tougher for the world of television one day or the other. "Digital space will affect television sooner than later, a lot of television sponsors will move to other platforms. I feel it’s going to get far more competitive," she says. Badho Bahu ion & TV is still going great guns keeping the audiences glued to its story with twists and turns regularly.

From Digital space to return of the veterans, Rajan Shahi analyses TV’s last year

From variety on television to foray into the digital medium, the last year has brought in a lot of new tends in the television industry. ProducerRajan Shahi, whose show Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai is probably one of the longest running shows on the tube, says that he has observed many changes in the last one year.

To start with, Shahi says that one major trend was that long running shows continue to enjoy good ratings. “One very consistent trend which appeared and in 2017 was that the shows have been running consistently, have been giving good TRPs. They have been the backbone of the channel. These are shows like Yeh Rishta... and Yeh Hain Mohhabbatein on Star Plus, Kumkum Bhagya on Zee Tv and Tarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashma on Sab TV. So that was something which is quite consistent over the year,” he says.

The producer adds that there were also different genres which were introduced in TV. “Another trend is that a lot of shows started and quickly shut. But a lot of supernatural, mythological and historic shows were again loved by the audience. There's a lot of variety on every channel. There are family dramas, supernatural, mythological and other genres,” he says.

The on screen chemistry shared by the lead actors was also a highlight of the shows on television this year. “The top-rated shows are relying on the chemistry shared by the leads. A lot of shows have seasoned actors and successful shows are running because of the chemistry shared by the actors. Karan and Divyanka, Nakkul Mehta and Surbhi Chandna, Sriti and Shabbir are amazing with each other on screen,” says Shahi.

A lot of seasoned actors have also made a comeback this year, says Shai. “Also, there are a lot of good, seasoned actors, on TV. I saw less of newcomers working in shows and television is once again working with old actors. Good actors are coming back to television and are in demand,” he says.

The foray into digital space is an amazing advancement this year, says Shahi. “A lot of makers are going towards the digital platform with the kind of story they want. It would be explored much more in the coming year,” says the producer.

However, Shahi adds that the constant changes in ratings have been putting a lot of pressure on show makers. “One trend which I saw was that there was a pressure on the channels every week, in terms of consistency in TRPs. The  fluctuations happen every month or every week and television has been on it’s toes this year. There will be a lot of change in the way we approach television shows now because of the competition. There will be a huge pressure on the makers and also the budget. I think now cost-effective shows will be looked into seriously and a lot of shows which are not getting good ratings will be sacked,” he says.

From Digital space to return of the veterans, Rajan Shahi analyses TV’s last year

From variety on television to foray into the digital medium, the last year has brought in a lot of new tends in the television industry. ProducerRajan Shahi, whose show Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai is probably one of the longest running shows on the tube, says that he has observed many changes in the last one year.

To start with, Shahi says that one major trend was that long running shows continue to enjoy good ratings. “One very consistent trend which appeared and in 2017 was that the shows have been running consistently, have been giving good TRPs. They have been the backbone of the channel. These are shows like Yeh Rishta... and Yeh Hain Mohhabbatein on Star Plus, Kumkum Bhagya on Zee Tv and Tarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashma on Sab TV. So that was something which is quite consistent over the year,” he says.

The producer adds that there were also different genres which were introduced in TV. “Another trend is that a lot of shows started and quickly shut. But a lot of supernatural, mythological and historic shows were again loved by the audience. There's a lot of variety on every channel. There are family dramas, supernatural, mythological and other genres,” he says.

The on screen chemistry shared by the lead actors was also a highlight of the shows on television this year. “The top-rated shows are relying on the chemistry shared by the leads. A lot of shows have seasoned actors and successful shows are running because of the chemistry shared by the actors. Karan and Divyanka, Nakkul Mehta and Surbhi Chandna, Sriti and Shabbir are amazing with each other on screen,” says Shahi.

A lot of seasoned actors have also made a comeback this year, says Shai. “Also, there are a lot of good, seasoned actors, on TV. I saw less of newcomers working in shows and television is once again working with old actors. Good actors are coming back to television and are in demand,” he says.

The foray into digital space is an amazing advancement this year, says Shahi. “A lot of makers are going towards the digital platform with the kind of story they want. It would be explored much more in the coming year,” says the producer.

However, Shahi adds that the constant changes in ratings have been putting a lot of pressure on show makers. “One trend which I saw was that there was a pressure on the channels every week, in terms of consistency in TRPs. The  fluctuations happen every month or every week and television has been on it’s toes this year. There will be a lot of change in the way we approach television shows now because of the competition. There will be a huge pressure on the makers and also the budget. I think now cost-effective shows will be looked into seriously and a lot of shows which are not getting good ratings will be sacked,” he says. 

Sudhir Mishra's DaasDev is an inverse take on the original Devdas

Director and writer Sudhir Mishra who has given Indian cinema some of the most incredible and memorable films is all set with his next directorial venture, DaasDev. Starring Richa Chadha as Paro, Aditi Rao Hydari as Chandni and Rahul Bhat as Dev, the film is a modern flip of the Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's classic novel ‘Devdas’ set in the modern time of hinterland India against the backdrop of politics. Sudhir Mishra has previously given us path-breaking films like Is Raat Ki Subah Nahi, Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi, Yeh Saali Zindagi, Khoya Khoya Chand and with someone of his repute helming this flipped tale of classic story will surely be something to look forward to. Set in a modern era, Daasdev is a new adaptation that brings some refreshing avatars and is a love saga but set amidst political upheaval background in Uttar Pradesh. DaasDev follows a path contrary to the plot of the classic novel and is a romantic thriller film that talks about addiction to power; addiction to love that is explored through these 3 main characters. DaasDev is a film about power as it gets into the way of love. Director Sudhir Mishra says, "I think it's my right to use any work, everything is my heritage, so I can play with it as long as I admit it. I admit that I took Devdas, I took the three characters Dev, Paro, and Chandramukhi. As I was working, Shakespeare intruded and I allowed him to, what could I do? Ultimately it became a film about power as it gets into the way of love. It became a reverse journey because if Devdas is a journey from a noble person to a 'Das', this is a journey from 'Das', a person who is a slave to his addictions and the dynastic ambitions of his family, to Dev." Presented by Storm pictures and produced by Saptarishi Cinevision production, is all set to release on 16th February 2018 in theatres worldwide.