Producer Saurabh Tiwari regrets having started the maha episode trend

Saurabh Tiwari, the man who initiated the trend of maha episodes while he was with Colors in 2009, now regrets his decision. He has come up with his own production company Nautanki Telefilms that we all are aware of. He’s producing Madhubala -Ek Ishq Ek Junoon for Colors under the same banner. Recently, the producer had to shoot for the first maha episode for Madhubala that went on air on 21 July. This is when he learnt that making maha episode was not an easy task though the channel demands for it every now and then. “We were literally fighting then for our first maha episode” says the producer adding, “I remember in 2009, before Sa Re Ga Ma Pa had its finale, I was sitting with Ashwini Yardi, the then programming head of Colors, four our usual strategy meeting. We knew the TRPs would go up on the weekend because of the finale episode. But at the same time, we also had Ichcha-Veer’s wedding in Uttaran. The wedding sequence was to be aired in two halves. Hence, I suggested for a one hour special episode on Saturday.” Once the episode went on air, the trend caught up like wild fire. Today, it’s back to Saurabh as he tells us “Today as a producer, I understand that coming up with a maha episode is not an easy task. I started a wrong trend. I am sure all the producers must have hated me then (laughs).”