Small screen, big set

Zee TV’s much awaited historical Shobha Somnath Ki is all set to launch after a long wait. The show was earlier set for a telecast date sometime in the first week of June but now it will go on air on June 20 at 8pm. The story set in the 11th century in Somnath, Gujarat will explore the relationship between Raja Jai Singh and Mohammad Ghaznavi, who were the prominent Rajput and Mughal rulers in that era. The story sure is gripping but it was the set that took our breath away. With budgets of shows becoming bigger, sets too get bigger and better. Created over nine acres of land on the outskirts of Vapi, Gujarat the set has recreated a palace, a Mahakali temple, the beautiful Somnath temple which is situated at Veraval and the traditional sun-dial. In fact the set looks so authentic that many passers- by mistake it for the real one. The story of Shobha will start from Bharuch when Shobha is six years old. Pre – production of the show was in progress for over nine months and sources say that this is one of the most expensive sets ever created for the small screen. Talking about the show creative director Vikas Kapoor said, “We had been busy with pre- production for over nine months and after a lot of hard work we have been able to create this set. With God’s grace everything worked out fine and such a huge set was created with a lot of ease. Approximately 15 crores rupees were spent on creation of the sets and it took them multiple attempts to finalise the designs. I have done a lot of research and prepared my script and the information on the show will be as good as reality. Any delay in the launch of the show is due to Zee’s planning and it totally fine. I am very happy that I will be presenting this to my audience.” Looks like the stage is set for Shobha Somanath Ki.