Balaji battles time to put Hum Paanch back on track

The Hum Paanch sets, badly ravaged by a fire that broke out on November, are unlikely to be recreated in the same grandiose splendour that you saw in the initial few episodes. Balaji Telefilms has definitely overcome the incident which took place early this month but the dilemma persists. The three bedrooms and the hall which were affected leaving nothing but ashes, cannot be refurbished. Same is the case with sets of Kasamh Se, a show which is still to come out of Balaji shell. They are now looking out for a new set for Hum Paanch. Rajan Wagdhare, the director of Hum Paanch says, "The day this happened we were done with the schedule. And our next schedule will start from 26 November. Till now, we have not decided which sets we will shoot on." Will it be a problem maintaining the continuity with the new set, he says, "Yes it will be, and we have no clue as of now as to where we are going to shoot. Besides that, to retain the same look is next to being impossible. This is because the original interior of the set took nearly three to four months and as our next shoot is scheduled for the 26th, we won't be able to retain the same look." A new set plus a new design, will they be able to convince their audience? Balaji's creative head Nivedita Basu says, "It is definitely a major problem. As I am just back from Hong Kong, I don't know much about the progress of this situation. Convincing the audience? Well, it is going to be a little difficult. We are not planning to bring in any changes in the episodes saying that there will be a new house for family, as they have already been scripted. That is for sure."