Sony gears up to take on the saas-bahu sagas

Sony Entertainment Televison is tightening its belt in the 10 to 11 pm band. Going ahead with its strategy of providing the right mix of fiction and non-fiction, the channel is now ready with two new refreshing shows - Durgesh Nandini and Jeete Hain Jiske Liye. Durgesh, produced by Shobhna Desai productions is a story of a tomboyish rural girl, who's a fine mix of traditional and contemporary values. Whereas, Jeete Hain is adapted from a Spanish telenovella. It's an emotional journey of an orphan girl who in her later years is framed for a murder and sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment Elaborating on the thought behind the two shows, Sandeep Siikcand, Chief Creative Director Sony TV says, "Fiction is the regular dal chawal and non fiction reality programming is the sweet dish that one keeps serving to satiate viewers. Bigg Boss dealt with showcasing real time emotions of people. Now, in the same time slot these two shows will do the same; emotional stories of two extraordinary characters. Moreover, our attempt has been to come up with something different from the regular saas-bahu sagas." Durgesh Nandini is a story of a bright young village girl who is orphaned at a very young age. The show has a new comer Rinku Ghosh in the lead. The show hopes to touch a chord with viewers by reminding them of simple values, emotions and compassion which is missing in the daily urban grind of our lives.. Jeete Hain, which is slotted at 10.30 pm, is a psychological thriller. It stars Renuka Shahane, Ayub Khan and Varsha Usgaonkar. When queried about the time slots alloted to these shows, SET India CEO, Kunal Dasgupta said, "There are more audiences in the 10 to 11 band as of now, so we might as well hit where the belly is the biggest." So, is the channel also looking at targeting the 11 pm band? To which SET India COO, N P Singh said, "As for now, we're concentrating on the 8 to 11 pm band and we're not looking at the 11 pm band. Also, we'll soon be announcing a few more shows in the coming months." Throwing more light on Jeete Hain, the producer of the show Tony Singh says, "Our effort has been to make shows which caters not just to the mainstream audiences but also for the niche or alternate viewers. After Jassi, we were supposed to do a show for Sony and now when the right concept is with us, we 're putting our best efforts to make it more interesting. Also, we've found the right protagonist in Renuka Shahane." With this show Renuka Shahane makes a comeback after a five year hiatus. She chirps, " "For five long years, I was busy looking after my children and now Jeete gives me an opportunity to essay the emotional journey of a woman who loves her family."