Initially shows only followed their story line and talked about the content related to the story, but now the small screen is all about celebrating real life. With much joy and pomp, the celebrations add a different flavour to the soaps. “Today television has a variety of shows which portrays diverse lifestyles. TV is also a part of our daily life. So celebrating festivals come as a welcome break from the daily routine. Festivals are shown for adding a real touch to the soaps and the viewers also connect well. They love to see their favourite stars celebrating different festivals. Celebrations add a certain flavour and colour. Expensive clothes, accessories, dance, songs and celebrations give a touch of vibrancy,” says director- producer Rajan Shahi of Sapna Babul Ka Bidaai.
It’s essential to be innovative as far as daily soaps are concerned. “In soaps we deal with daily life, to get a fresh look, these kind of special episodes are required. We recently celebrated Rakshabandhan in three episodes. Indian traditions are all about interpersonal relations and that is where we get into the details and get innovative story lines for the audience,” says producer Sudhir Sharma of 12/24 Karol Bagh.
With so much of glitz and glam on the small screen, it definitely does not come cheap. So, the special episodes come with a price tag. “There are special budgets for such shows, sometimes we spend around Rs 5 to 15 lakhs for a single episode. There is a raise of about 30 to 100 per cent compared to the regular shows. I had once spent around Rs 22 lakhs for special episode so the budget really depends on the time and occasion,” says Rajan.
Not just the money, there is lot of research and reality check that takes place in advance. “If the writer is not very well-versed then we look at other ways to get it right. We discuss, read books or speak to a team member of that particular religion and then go ahead with the show,” says Sudhir.
The entire unit has a blast while shooting festival scenes like the team of Papad Pol that enjoyed shooting the Janmashtami one-hour episode, to be aired tonight on SAB. TV actors enjoy themselves too even though a festive special would mean long hours of shooting. “I enjoy celebrating festivals on my show. Being a Muslim, I hardly get to celebrate these festivals in real life — we recently celebrated Tej in Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai and it was fun. I also went to Calcutta to celebrate Durga Puja so personally I am learning and getting to know a lot about various festivals. It’s a different experience altogether,” says TV actress Hina Khan.
