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READ MORE Sonarika Bhadoria|Nikhil Sinha|Life OK|Devon Ke Dev.. Mahadev

Popular television actor Sonarika Bhadoria who is known as Parvati of Nikhil Sinha's Mahadev feels she has not changed a bit while playing this divine role.

"Before Mahadev I was not any less spiritual but I have become a devotional person after this. I have always been a very spiritual person and like any other normal person I also believe in prayers and God. It's the other way round, once I have started doing television people who never used to give me attention started calling. Even my family is getting extra attention from them. But I have that intelligence to understand between real and fake emotions."

Sonarika also adds, "Definitely this show made me feel humble and grounded. Few days back on the set there was one family of three present and they were all touching my feet and seeking my blessings. During that situation I really didn't know how to react. I was numb for a while. I am grateful to Nikhil Sinha Sir for considering me as Shiv's Parvati. My career has surely changed and so is life. The response to the show is terrific."

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READ MORE Savitri|Saraswatichandra|Madhubala Ek Ishq Ek Junoon|Devon Ke Dev... Mahadev|Shabbir Ahluwalia

Producers are pumping in more money than ever before into daily soaps. TOI figures out why

It's an oft-used cliche these days - television is getting bigger and better. But not just because of all the Bollywood biggies flocking to host reality shows. Producers are now pumping in more money in daily soaps, whether for grander sets, better special effects or skilled directors and writers. Add to that the increasing cost of actors' remuneration and shooting special episodes in foreign locales, which is quite a fad on Indian TV these days, and you have budgets that are more expansive than ever before.

Tech that!
Take for instance the special effects required in mythological serials likeDevon Ke Dev... Mahadev (DKD). "The show has a separate graphic department comprising 90 people. Imagine, 90 people for just graphics! Isn't it huge?" asks Nikhil Sinha, producer of the show, and goes on to add, "TV was never a cheap medium. An average TV soap costs somewhere between 4-5 lakh per episode. Producers today are ready to invest much more, and take a serial into the league of crores." According to sources, a single episode of DKD costs its producers approximately 14 lakhs, by far the steepest in the industry. By the same estimates, Sanjay Leela Bhansali's debut TV productionSaraswatichandra comes second, at 10 lakh per episode.

Get Set, Go
While the majority of soaps are still shot on a single set, day in and day out, the more ambitious shows are not shying away from expanding. As Shabbir Ahluwalia, producer of Savitri, a show about reincarnation of two mythological characters pegged at 9 lakh per episode, shares, "My serial has five different sets for shooting, and each set is huge in itself. I have made such an investment because the script required such visual effects. We are moving beyond the format of shooting saas-bahu serials. Producers are ready to take risks if the script demands and paying greater attention to detail."

On the write track
Apart from escalating infrastructure costs, actors, directors and writers are being roped in for never-heard-before prices for their services. Reportedly, director Ravindra Gautam, who specialises in doing launch episodes, was paid more than a lakh of rupees to direct the pilot episode of Savitri. "It is not only the technology and the sets that producers are investing in, even scriptwriters and experienced directors are being paid a handsome amount," agrees Gautam, and elaborates, "Content is the mainstay of a serial, a lot of emphasis is laid on that. If you see, the top budgeted shows on TV are quite strong with their scripts and direction. TV serials are slowly turning into feature films." That's a sentiment echoed by Ajai Sinha, veteran TV director of Astitva Ek Prem Katha fame. "The cinematographic vision of youngsters working in television today is great. If you see, they are making serials just like films," he remarks.

What goes around, comes around?
It's simple arithmetic for Saurabh Tiwari, producer of Madhubala Ek Ishq Ek Junoon, which costs an estimated 9 lakh per episode according to industry insiders. "The TV industry is more aggressive in its attitude now," he opines, adding, "The newer producers are ready to invest any amount of money in their shows because the returns are greater. There was a time when special episodes, which required a more expansive budget, were shot once in a blue moon. But now, nearly every month serials have a special episode wherein from costumes to sets, everything is larger than life. Toh iss sabse cost of production toh badhegi na!" Adds Sinha, "Producers are investing more because their serials are getting huge money in return from commercials aired during breaks. Once a serial is a hit, every product wants to get associated with it and FMCGs also have bigger budgets to be able to do that without thinking about financial restrains.  

Mouni, who is currently portraying the role of Meera in the showJunoon — Aisi Nafrat, Toh Kaisa Ishq, says she is in touch with all her earlier co-stars. "I am in touch with all my co-stars including Mohit. And if given a chance I would love to be part of a mythological show if the same people make it," she said. So, are the rumours of her and Mohit being a couple true? "I don't want to answer any personal questions," comes the reply. Mouni was earlier dating actor Gaurav Chopra but she always kept mum about their relationship and break-up. 

Actor Mohit Raina, who plays Lord Shiva in Nikhil Sinha's Devon Ke Dev Mahadev, seems to have found his lady love in real life.

The actor loves to talk about his professional life, but prefers to keep his personal life under wraps. However, we can now reveal that the actor is in a relationship with Mouni Roy, who played his first wife Sati in the show.

The two fell head over heels in love during the shoot of the show. Informs a source from the show, "It all began when Mouni and her former beau Gaurav Chopraa hit a rough patch in their relationship. A rather dejected Mouni found a friend in Mohit and their friendship soon blossomed into love. Apparently, in those days, Gaurav had objected to her proximity to Mohit, but she brushed it off as mere rumours."

So, why is Mouni silent about her relationship with Mohit while she was open about her affair with Gaurav? "Mohit doesn't want her to talk about him since he is playing a God and feels that it would hamper his image. Also, he values his privacy. While hanging out together, they are very cautious about not being spotted," says the source.

Both Mohit and Mouni did not revert to our text messages. But guess what, we have managed to get an exclusive get a picture of Mahadev and Sati spending quality time unguarded. Don't they say that a picture speaks a thousand words? See it for yourself.

Contiloe Telefilm's Adaalat aired on Sony Entertainment Television seems to be on roll. 

The show is bringing in some of the popular and well-known faces of TV through their courtroom drama series. 


The upcoming episode of the show will feature two beautiful and talented actresses of TV, Nandini Singh and Sunila Karambelkar. 

Nandini, who has earlier done an episodic of the show where she played the Vishkanya has been once again finalized by the makers for an interesting role. 

Sources inform that Nandini will play the role of Madhura Bhansali who can for see future. Madhura gets sudden visions of incidents and accidents that are yet to happen. She gets trapped into certain circumstances as all her dreams starts coming true. She is then accused of a murder and advocate KD comes to her rescue. Sunila Karambelkar, last seen in Devon Ke Dev..Mahadev will also be seen in a pivotal role on the show. 

When contacted, Nandini confirmed the news and said, "It's a very interesting role and I am working on Adaalat for the second time. I am also waiting for a right role to make a comeback in a full-fledge way so if anything interesting comes my way, I will definitely take up."
 

Creative Eye's Niyati aired on Sahara One has recently gone through lot of changes and it seems that the makers of the daily are leaving no stone unturned in giving the show a fresh look. 

After finalizing Aastha Chaudhary and Tabrez Khan as the new leads, the production house has now roped in Khyati Khandke Keswani and Roma Bali.


Sources inform that Khyati Khandke of Kyunkii Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi Fame will play the role of Ishwar's (Tabrez Khan) mother whereas Roma Bali last seen in Punar Vivah has been finalized to play the role of his aunt Durga. Durga will be a positive character but will have funny characteristics both will essay positive roles on the show. The generation leap which was expected to air from 10 March has been now pushed to 18 March 2013. 

When contacted, Khyati and Roma both remained unavailable for comments.