It has been a long relationship with Ekta : Ravindra Gautam

The moment you look at Ravindra Gautam words like smart, suave and good-looking cross your mind. Ravindra, one of the youngest and finest directors in the world of television, has sailed a long way since the days of Kasauti… Though initially driven by the desire to become an actor, Ravindra made a mark as a director as he went on to churn out one famous show after another. The master administrator is currently directing the mature love story Bade Acche Lagte Hain on Sony. In an exclusive t?te-?-t?te´ with TellyChakkar, Ravindra Gautam shares his stint behind the camera. Excerpts from the interview. On his journey as a director… It has been a long journey. I hail from Lucknow and came to Mumbai in 1996. I quit my bank job in Lucknow and decided to become an actor. And I did not come alone. I came with my wife, Anju. I married pretty early in life at the age of 23 and it was a love marriage. So I needed to support both of us in Mumbai and my parents were not in the position to send money every month. I took up a job as a video editor in order to make a living. Gradually things fell into place and I went on to cut many music videos. I became quite successful as an editor and people started recognising my talent. But I wanted to become an actor but ended up doing editing. Editing became boring and stagnant. So I thought if not acting then it’s better to do something more creative. That is how I started directing in the year 2000 and finally got recognition as a director with Kasauti Zindagi Kay in 2002. Initial days were full of struggle but my wife and I were prepared for it when we packed our bags and came to Mumbai. I still remember the time when we stayed in a one room kitchen. But I owe everything to my wife who supported me throughout even though I left my job after marriage. She allowed me to follow my dreams and live happily. It’s true that days were tough but the entire journey was an experience of a lifetime and it helped me to grow as a person. On first successful show… My first successful show would be Uttaran. The show was not only liked by the masses, but also its concept was in alignment with my train of thoughts. It was realistic and hard-hitting and quite different from regular dramas. I had a great time directing Uttaran. On Bade Acche Lagte Hain … Bade… again is a realistic show. I remember how excited I got when the storyline was narrated to me. It is a beautiful love story revolving around a mature couple, which is quite new in the Indian television industry. And people love the show. In the future we are going to experiment a lot and bring in new and exciting elements in the serial. On relationship with Ekta Kapoor… I can say that I have been extremely lucky and honoured to be associated with Ekta. It has been a long relationship and I have tried to deliver as per her expectations every single time. She is extremely passionate about her work and creatively way ahead of time. Though primarily people know her as a producer, but her ideas are truly trend setters. On launching his own production house… RG Media and Entertainment was always on the cards. I had a dream to launch a production house. The only folly in me is that I get bored pretty easily and the moment I feel stagnancy I try to do something new. So if at all I get bored in the future with the kind of work I am doing, then through RG Media I want to churn out shows that will be creatively satisfying. Till date, RG Media has come out with one show Armanon Ka Balidaan- Arakshan which was based on the entire reservation issue. Since then, the production house has been lying dormant but very soon two shows will go on floors from the month of September. I cannot say much about the shows as it is too early to comment. I am also planning to start a feature film under RG Media banner in the month of December. On Bollywood ambitions… I have always wanted to make films. And I am seriously working towards it. I am working on a script and after everything gets finalised I plan to start shooting in the month of December. Personally, I want to make commercial movies but with some social message. I loved movies like Lagaan, 3 Idiots, Munnabhai MBBS, among others. I don’t want to make movies for a particular segment of the society but for every one. On the current scenario in television… Television has evolved and it will keep evolving. In the last 15 years the scenario has changed completely. But we are still missing on some good biopics and history based shows. Something is lacking when it comes to experimentation. It is true that shows will always be governed by TRPs, but we need to come up with concepts that not only entertain but also educate the masses. Television has the power to ignite minds and create awareness on diverse subjects. But all said and done, the future of Indian television is certainly bright. On directing daily soaps… It is not easy as you have to handle so many things. As a director, you are the captain of the ship and you have to keep an eye on everything right from the pre-production to the post-production stage on a regular basis. It is not humanly possible for one director to handle everything, so we have creative directors, episode directors, and assistants working together as a team to make a show successful. It is true that sometimes the individuality of a director goes missing, but at the end it is all about making the show likeable and successful. On actors who are really talented… The industry is full of good actors. Personally, I think Sushant Singh Rajput and Ankita Lokhande are very talented. I keep telling Sushant to audition for films. He has the potential to go a long way. Pushtiie is also a very gifted actor. Then there are seasoned actors like Ram Kapoor, Ronit Roy, Sakshi Tanwar, Shweta Tiwari, who are truly the gems of Indian television. On future plans… In the future I intend to make my production house more active. I want to launch at least three shows under RG Media. Furthermore, I want to start shooting for my feature film in December. And if the script demands, I might act as well in the film as I have always wanted to become an actor. There is lot in store and planned and hopefully I will keep entertaining the audience for a long time in the future.