Kya setting hai!

Of late, the television producers and channels are not only dealing with issues that belong to the other India, the rural India, but are also obviously setting them in the interiors of our country. Makers are making an effort to move beyond cardboard sets and done to death locations within the city to more natural, picturesque locations. So, if 12/24 Karol Bagh is based in New Delhi, Jamunia is being shot in Chattishgarh while Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo was shot in Wai while the forthcoming shows Desi Girl and Sarvagun Sampann are being shot in Chandigarh and Kolhapur respectively, while the initial episodes of Do Saheliyan were shot in Jaisalmer. However, there is an interesting aspect to these serials. Apart from Desi Girl – which is a reality show and based in Punjab and thus had to be shot on location, all other serials after the initial high (of having shot in actual locations, capturing rural flavours) return to the same old sets (read Filmcity) of Mumbai. Is it just because of financial reasons that the makers decided to come back to Mumbai? Most producers seem to disagree on that. The real reason they feel lies in the hassles related to shooting on location. As Yash Patnaik, producer of Jamunia, had recently said that “the biggest headache lies in logistics. A shooting of a daily serial requires the coordinated efforts of many people; it becomes difficult to arrange for everything in a remote place.” However, Patnaik is quick to point out that from the creative angle shooting in those places is a boon. The canvas increases, shooting in natural light reduces hassles and the overall serial looks much better. He also attributes the on-location shoot to the success of the show – both the scenes and the actors look better. Rupali Guha from Filmfarm echoes Patnaik’s feelings. She says, “It depends totally on the concept and the story-line of the show. We have not shot Uttaran and Kashi on outdoor locations. But if the storyline demands, we will certainly explore. In Mumbai we have enough manpower and resources, so you can create any set here. Like for Kashi we have created a huge village in Film City, which saved us the trouble of shooting on location.” Noted set designer Vinod Bagh clarifies, “Most people misunderstand one thing. Going outdoors does not mean they are shooting on the real set. It is the available set in an outdoor location, which will not be available for a long period of time and thus you have to return to Mumbai and shoot indoors.” Bagh is currently working for Sony’s new show Toh Baat Pakki which is based on Mussourie. “We went there to shoot for a few episodes and have returned to Mumbai. This way we could give the viewers the flavour and essence of the show and yet manage the logistics,” he says. Sudhir from Sunshine Productions (12/24 Karol Bagh), however, has a different point to state. “For us, since we were shooting in Delhi, logistics was not an issue. After Mumbai, Delhi is the best metro to get all the resources to create a show. Before 12/24, just a few mini-series have been shot in the capital. But this one is running successfully for the last one and a half years. Most costs like real estate and technical equipment will be the same, so that did not matter.” However, where it mattered were human resources. Sudhir explains how they solved that problem, “We handpicked our cast and crew. If you look at our cast, they are mostly from Delhi or Chandigarh. That is a big help. We could have also done the same thing like others to come back to Mumbai after a few episodes. But we realized that viewers are bored seeing the same outdoors in Madh Island and Film City, so we decided to hang on to Delhi. Plus our show is broadcast from Delhi, so we have the extra edge.” Ratna Sinha, whose Do Saheliyan (Zee) was shot in Jaisalmer and Simla, is now back in Mumbai. “There is always a pressure of telecasting as we have no episode banks. So it’s always better to be back here as the resources are more easily available. Outdoor locations certainly helped our show to look good in the initial episodes and viewers were hooked to it. But coming back to Mumbai and shooting is a more practical solution.” One feels, logistics will continue to play a major role because a serial needs to be shot over months and years unlike a film which wrap up in short schedules. Thus, unless it is a metro like Delhi and a show like 12/24 Karol Bagh, people have to come back to Mumbai after a time for practical reasons. Besides, just shooting the initial episodes in an exotic, unexplored place helps giving the show that much-needed push to break from the clutter and once you have connected with your viewer, it becomes easier for these makers to wean the viewers off that setting and bring them back to the cardboard sets. And as long as the serials are fetching good numbers, looks like it doesn’t really matter where you shoot the show!