'Reality shows are like T20 matches'

For many, Jamna Das Majethia, better known as JD, will flash across minds as the character of Himanshu he played in Khichdi. His latest venture is Sukh By Chance, where he is the producer.

Quiz him over his new project and he says, “It is the story of a middle class family who gets three crore rupees all of a sudden. This story is very close to my heart, as I too hail from a middle class family. I’ve tried to put lots of elements from my own life which I’ve observed when I was with my parents.” This story takes him back to his younger days.

Ask him about his upcoming projects, and he shares, “I’ve two-three more serials in the pipeline. Apart from that, we are shooting for a film but I can’t share the details about it. Also, I’ve been working on conceptualising a reality show, although I feel reality shows are like T20 matches and soaps are like ODIs or test matches.”

About the television soaps and shows on the prime time slot, JD feels, “It is very important to have family based shows that give clean entertainment and not like the shows where it is all about quarrels or fights in the family. I make it a point to keep my daughters away from such shows as I feel such serials are not good for them.”

We probe him on why there are so many new faces across the television industry and he says, “Television has its budget constraints and thereby, we cannot keep running after television stars who charge too high. Instead, if we as producers are getting a new face and talent, we prefer launching them in the soap. And television is a medium that accepts new talent very easily. And unlike films, a soap is not successful because of stars but because of its content.”

Gujarati culture and rituals seem to be followed very minutely in his serials and he asserts, “Sometimes I cannot relate to those Gujarati characters in certain films and serials that are introduced to bring in the humour element. I think that Gujaratis have a good cultural background – be it in art, drama, rituals. But some producers portray them in a very cheap way.” He signs off.

Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tv-/