Star TV honchos Gaurav and Nachiket talk about their latest venture, Saraswatichandra

Star Plus is pulling out all the stops to make its new show Saraswatichandra a big hit. This modern day interpretation of the most popular Gujarati novel of the same name written by Govardhanram Tripathi and presented by noted filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali will air at the 7.30 pm slot from 25 February (2013). Speaking at the press conference, Gaurav Banerjee, Star Plus Head of Content Strategy said, “After a long time, we will have an emotionally rich love story on television. The production values and the grandeur sets will make it look that cinema has landed on the small screen. Also the jodi of Gautam Rode (Saraswatichandra) and Jennifer Winget (Kumud Sundari) is going to set the screen on fire. They will soon become youth icons.” Gaurav added, “Last year when Mr Bhansali called for us dinner cooked by his mother, he had showed us some pictures of the above story and said he wants to tell this story on TV. It took us less than a minute to say yes. Since then we have been working together for the past one year, where we have lots of fights, but it has been a fun journey. We have also learnt a lot, from him as well. He is the master to say grand romantic stories and also create iconic characters through his films like Devdas and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam.” Moving on, Nachiket Pantvaidya, General Manager of Star Plus added, “We at Star have always attempted to push the envelope since the past twelve years when we have been leading the GEC pack to take risks when others have hesitated to do so. It is time that rich literature was properly told on TV. We have also decided to allow big personalities from all medias i.e. theater, films and TV to come and use our platform to tell their stories.” Nachiket defended the early evening slotting of Saraswatichandra by saying that, “Latest research indicates that if there is any time slot which most people tune in to, it is 7.30 pm. Sasural Genda Phool was the number one show in many metros at the same slot. This 7 pm-9 pm time band is also getting important as the values of smaller towns in the TRP matrix goes up. Saath Nibhana Saathiya which again comes at 7pm has had the highest ratings which any show has enjoyed in the past two years. I see that in the coming times definition of prime time will shift from 7-9pm.” Well, we hope Saraswatichandra weaves magic on the small screen!!!