Paanch is a well-timed show considering the angst that people have against the political system today - Producer Sudhir Sharma

Producer Sudhir Sharma who has three entertaining shows on Channel [V] in The Buddy Project, It’s Complicated: Relationship ka Naya Status and Paanch: 5 Wrongs make a Right is a happy and content man as his shows are doing very well for the channel. Talking about his working relationship with Channel [V], the Producer states, “If you have three of your shows on air on the same channel, it surely simplifies things for both the parties. And after dealing with Channel [V] for few years now, it is easier to understand their format of work. There is more scope of time and understanding when you are catering to the same network. The enjoyment of work is more, when you get into a long-running professional relationship with the same group of people. We very well know how to keep the content of our three different shows different, yet unique. While The Buddy Project has been on for a while now, our newer shows have done very well. Paanch especially has notched great numbers, considering the fact that it is a bi-weekly show airing at an early evening slot.” The concept of short formats has created a trend of sorts in Indian television. And Sudhir feels Channel [V] is benefitting a lot by adapting to the shorter formats of programs. “These concepts give more variety and freshness. Though many channels are looking at having the shorter versions, this seems to be working well for Channel V. They have recently started four bi-weeklies and all of them are doing pretty well. The shorter formats are here to stay. Earlier, producers were apprehensive of going for such concepts, but that is not the case anymore.” Ask Sudhir whether Sunshine Productions are at ease in producing youth-oriented shows, and he quickly answers, “Well, you can say that as we started our journey as producers with Miley Jab Hum Tum, and have three ongoing shows catering to the young blood on Channel [V]. But the fact is that we have never tried to restrict our genre to only youth. If you see, a show like Saraswatichandra which is a drama soap is also a very good show. We have earlier worked on GECs, and our next few new launches will be on GECs. We are working on a show for Life OK at the moment. Yes, we definitely understand romance and relationships well, but would want to have an equal take in youth shows as well as on other GECs.” Ask him about the hard work that has gone into the minute detailing seen in his shows on Channel [V] and he explains, “Even though I passed out of my college two decades back, there are certain issues that are universal and fresh in mind. Of course, we do update ourselves with newer things. The best part is that we have young writers on board these shows who are raw and fresh. They bring in the immaturity in writing, and the grammar is set by us. Take for example, Aseem Arora who is writing Paanch for us. He is a young 27 years old guy, who has the writing style and graph that I might not be aware of. This blend in our team is working well for us. Also, our Creative Director who has been hand-picked from Delhi does not fall into the age group of the usual CDs, but this was a deliberate move by us to bring in the rawness into our team.” Talking about the work load and the balancing that Sudhir and his wife Seema Sawhney Sudhir do, the Producer tells us, “We both are completely hands-on into any new launch happening. After that, we see to it that we distribute our duties well between us. We take all the final calls and have a right balance. Yes, we do have our own arguments, fights as we are not at all like-minded. We do have our share of difference of opinions. But we see to it that we have healthy and constructive arguments. We see to it that we appreciate the other person’s efforts and argue it out when not in the same range. We are blunt about our opinions, but the best part is that all this brings out the real creative essence. And this is what makes us happy at the end.” Taking about the TV viewers of today, the man ascertains, “Serial making was pretty easy at the time when we entered the scenario five years back. Any show which had a basic amount of creativity and talent was sure to be a hit. But now, there is no guarantee of success as viewers have so many platforms to look at. There is so much of TV happening, there are these online communities, lots of fims which have good content. In today’s time, one needs to work very hard to crack a really good content. However, the key is not to lose focus at any point of time. Even if you launch a show successfully and lose focus say after the 50th episode, all your good work will go down the drain. So there has to be a constant thought of giving a good quality product. And as I said earlier, this is why the shorter formats will thrive and prosper." Paanch: 5 Wrongs make a Right, produced by Sunshine Productions is doing a phenomenal job with numbers. Ask him how such a concept was brought into light, and he states, “See, Paanch is a thriller on face value. However, it is an emotional journey of a girl in getting justice for her dead sister. It is a heart wrenching tale of a girl who is in despair. At a time when there are lot of reports about rapes, injustice and molestations, I would say this is a well-timed show considering the angst the people have against the system. It is not working because we have sensationalized the issue. It works because we depict in the show that you can take this in your hands and still do things in a right manner. This is where our show aptly fits into the current tagline that Channel [V] has – Emotionally correct, politically incorrect. That’s exactly what our protagonist is. This nicely written and executed show has all the ingredients in it to do well, and we are on path.” On his favourite Channel [V] show among the three ongoing shows, Sudhir hand-picks Paanch as the one. “All our three shows are different. It is indeed hard for me to choose one. Paanch is a great product, while with It’s Complicated, we try out comedy. With Buddy Project, we have proved quite a lot as it is beyond 350 episodes now. I am happy with all our three shows, but when you look at totality, it has to be Paanch. It is like we are doing two films in a week. Our schedules are in that way,” he explains as he signs off.