Rang de Aasmaan

Sequels have become a successful formula in Bollywood. However, just the mention of this word invokes the wrath of most Tellywood producers. But that doesn't deter them from coming up with the second edition. Last month, Star One unveiled Dill Mill Gayye, earlier called Sanjeevani. The channel has now launched the second edition of Saara Akaash, now rechristened as Chhoona Hai Aasmaan. This daily, with an entire new star cast, will hit the airwaves from October 15th at 9.00pm. Though, there's a new star cast, the plot rather the goal remains the same i.e. combating the enemy of the state. Group captain Arya Veer Pratap (Narendra Jha) heads a team of six young air force officers whose mission is to eradicate terrorism. The team is named as Hawks. The air force officers are played by Iqbal Khan, Janvi Chedda, Vivaan Bhatena, Aparna Kumar, Manish Paul and Vani Sharma. Creative director, Sandeep Sikcand had this to say, "Though it's a defense show, Chhoona.. has all the basic elements of a soap. There's emotion, love and drama. Unlike usual soaps where all the drama takes place in the kitchen, here it will take place at the air force officers' base. Chhoona… isn't all about the Hawk squad; the likes of Chetan Hansraj, Amita Vahi and Daljit Kaur will feature later". Balaji protégée Iqbal Khan makes a return after a long break. A reluctant Iqbal says "I play Flight Lieutenant Abhimanyu Adhikari who is a man of few words and has a dry sense of humour. Loves means nothing to him. His first and only priority is his nation." Vivaan Bhatena, who plays Flight Lieutenant Samrat Singh Shekhawat says, "Samrat is cocky guy who hails from a rich family. He's into the air force just for the thrills. He wants to fly super jet and for him a speed of 300-400 mph is nothing. He's cocky, flirtatious but is good at heart. He also specialises in defusing bombs" Debutant Janvi Chedda enunciates "I play Weapon Systems officer Sameera Singh, who's basically carrying her father's legacy. She never saw her father, who always wanted her to succeed him. She's one of the first women pilots to fly a Sukhoi (fighter jet)." Janvi adds further, 'Sameera is very much like Janvi. Both of us hail from middle class families. As the eldest child in the family, they have to look after the financial requirements" Defense subjects, which are always aimed at the Indo-Pak rivalry, are no longer finding favour with the audience on the big screen. So, how will our telly junta react to it? Sandeep Sikcand is quick to defend, "I'd like to make it clear that we aren't targeting Pakistan or any country. Terrorism exists in every country. So, it's totally unfair to pinpoint one country. The terrorism angle is just a part of the show." The sky didn't prove big enough when the show was earlier called Saara Akaash. Now that it's rechristened as Chhoona Hai Aasmaan, only time will tell whether they'll touch the skies.