Interview of ex creative director of Parichay

  •  
  • Page of 1 Go
  •  
Posted: 11 years ago
Doris Dey, Business Head Fiction, Endemol India

Doris Dey is a name that has launched many successful shows of Balaji Telefilms starting from Karam Apna Apna to Pavitra Rishta to the very recent shows Bade Achhe Lagte Hain, Tere Liye, Kya Hua Tera Waada, Parichay. Doris joined Ekta Kapoor at a young age of 19 when Balaji Telefilms handpicked her as trainee from her college in Delhi. With the passing of years, Doris has grown to be a very successful writer and creative director and has developed many successful shows on television. Doris now holds the position of the Business Head – Fiction in Endemol India and has big plans to give unique and challenging concepts to the television industry.

Here is Doris in an exclusive conversation with Tellychakkar.com for our segment on Behind the Lens.

How did your journey begin?

I was taken into the team of Balaji Telefilms when I was in my college days. They needed a trainee to assist them in one of their existing shows. After three months, Ekta liked my work and wanted to take me in as Creative Head. But at that tender age, I was not sure of what I wanted to do. But after I joined her, I have had a wonderful journey and to meet up to Ekta's standards in everything that I did was a big challenge. I was initially placed as the Creative Head of Kasautii Zindagi Kii which was already a successful show. My first launch came in the way of Karam Apnaa Apnaa and that was the time when Eijaz Khan came into the limelight. From then on, many shows followed like Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, Kkusum, Kahiin Toh Hoga and others. That was the time when Balaji Telefilms did phenomenally well and I decided to go out. I then had a brief tenure as Concept Head in Cinevistaas, after which I developed many shows as freelancer.

So when did you get back to Balaji Telefilms?

It was at the time when the strike had put to a halt the screening of shows on television. Balaji Telefilms was at the phase where nothing was going right, and Mahaabhaarat had shut down. After I got in, we launched shows like Pavitra Rishta and Bandini, shows which were my conviction. I had a great time working with Ekta and she gave me all the freedom I wanted. I experimented with concepts and everything clicked. Pavitra Rishta went on to become the #1 show on the channel. After that came Tere Liye, Bade Achche, Parichay which I truly enjoyed. I also developed few shows for Hats Off Productions, Cinevistaas, Shreya Creations, Panglosean Entertainment. I had a great time writing the first 10 episodes of Hats Off's Choti Si Zindagi. For Panglosean, I developed Yeh Ishq Haaye and even wrote the initial episodes.

How will you define your role in Endemol India?

For most of my career, I worked as a freelancer and did not like the idea of joining a particular company. Considering that, Endemol India is the first big step in my life and I take care of the fiction aspects of the company. We have Savdhaan India on air now, and we worked on one love story for Teri Meri Love Stories for Star Plus. We are presently working on a new show for Life OK which is under production. Though it is too early to talk about it, I can tell that the idea is to give a different programming and shade to television. Many other things are in the pipeline.

Which has been your best phase?

The period when I got back to Balaji Telefilms has to be it. That was the time when television industry was getting up after suffering losses due to the strike. New channels (Colors and Imagine) were coming in, and the competition had doubled up. The market had changed and though Ekta Kapoor had a great vision, we had to move in the new direction and take things forward. I personally liked this phase as it was fun to bring out something new. Pavitra Rishta was just the beginning. To come up with the idea of a 40 year old man falling in love with a 30 year old woman in Bade Achhe Lagte Hain and to provide audience a show which spoke from the male point of view was a challenge. To top it all, channels were open to new and never done before ideas and this encouraged the creativity in me.

So moving forward, what is your goal in terms of creativity?

I have always been known for the genre of love stories. All my love stories have been super hits. Now I do not want to overdo myself. I want to try out different genres, the quality of which matches the international standard.

Which is the concept that you enjoyed writing?

It has to be the initial 100 episodes of Tere Liye. The teenage love story was something wonderful and with the channel's support we were able to give something out-of-the block. Though I continued to be part of the creative team of Tere Liye, I stopped writing it after the generation leap took place.

What keeps you motivated?

Writing keeps me going. I have said no to many shows in my life just because I cannot repeat my work. If anyone asks me today to write a Marathi family drama, my immediate answer will be no because I have done that all. A brand new story always excites me to take a pen and write. I always work towards giving a new setting, new characterization to my characters. The stereotypical way bores me. If you have observed, Parichay did not have a vamp to begin with and only after some time, I was forced to make the other lady negative. I like it when the characters do not behave in the typical way.

So what is it that irks Doris?

I hate to see repeats in television. When Balaji Telefilms started the trend of lavish living, there were many who followed it. When we moved to the middle class family drama, many shows followed with the same thought process. One thing I have observed is that there is quite a lot of young creative talent in the industry, but most of them fail to do a complete research before coming up with ideas. Most of the times, the costume and sets do not match the way of living shown in the show. I always try to do realistic things which are original.

Tell us about Doris Dey's upbringing…

I was born and brought up in Guwahati which is a modern city in terms of the way people think. I have done my masters in History honors. I never had any plans of making it to the media line. I have had a cultured upbringing which the Bengalis usually have. I am trained in classical dance, music and poetry and we grew up learning all this. Honestly speaking, when I joined Ekta I did not even know Hindi. The first day when we met, Ekta asked me whether I watch Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi and I gave a plain answer that I have not watched any episode of it, but know that all houses have the same show on air at a particular hour of the day. Without the zeal to learn, I could not have grown. I slowly learned to read and write Hindi and today, I write all my dialogues in Hindi. The writing aspect of it came naturally to me. Also, my association with music and dance helped me in my creative growth.

Where do you see yourself in the next few years?

I am not an ambitious person and have been satisfied being a freelancer all my life except for this phase where I have joined Endemol India. My goal is to do different things at a far lesser age. I now hold the big responsibility of heading the fiction aspect of the company and I like this new challenge. I started at the age of 20 and all through my career, my contemporaries have been far senior to me in age and experience. I have enjoyed the 8-9 years I have been in the industry. I wanted to head a company before I was 30 and I have been successful in doing that. I am a completely creative person and have left shows when they were at their peak just because I never wanted to repeat myself. The excitement I have when I launch a show dies down when we are forced to churn old ideas again and again for TRPs. Even when I was nobody I used to leave shows as repetition was less challenging for me. I actually want to do things that people usually want to take up ten years later. I want to do lot many unique things in the next 3-4 years and eventually head to direction and writing for movies.

Tell us about your personal life?

I am single and have not found anyone till now. Though I am open to marriage, I have had less time to socialize and meet people. My parents tried hard to get me married, but now they have given up. I would say I have not come across the right guy yet.

What does Doris like the most?

I like to dance and travel. I enjoy watching American television shows.

Who is the one who inspires you?

Anurag Basu's works have inspired me a lot. The way he has conceptualized movies like Barfi and Metro is amazing. There is nobody that I idolize in television, though I have learnt a lot from Ekta Kapoor. I respect her and will always be grateful to her. Movies excite me a lot, hence it is Anurag Basu.

What is your ultimate goal?

To write one movie in a year and change the content of television diametrically.

What is your message to aspiring writers?

I have worked with nearly 3-4 generations in this industry. They have a lot of talent but I have noticed one thing in common. I understand that public relations matter but there is nothing bigger than hard work. And I find this lacking in kids. You have to sacrifice something to attain something big. We are in a creative field and this is not a medium where you work from 9 to 5 and take your money and go home. The passion to strive hard is missing and this is better in today's movies. Ekta has this to the maximum and she was the one who pulled me into all this. Today, all that we can see is that one is desperate to finish work and meet deadlines and that's not it.

Posted: 11 years ago
She was creative director of Parichay from episode 1 till May 2012 .
Posted: 11 years ago
I think she was best creative director of Parichay . she done great job
Posted: 11 years ago
"Forced to make the other lady negative..."

That kind of says it all... How decent ex creatives were made to destroy things...

BT!!!!! 👎🏼
Posted: 11 years ago
Originally posted by LoveTVShows


She was creative director of Parichay from episode 1 till May 2012 .

After which Samir became increasingly unhappy with the way things started going.She did a good job as long as she stayed.

Now it all makes sense.
Posted: 11 years ago
I think that was the initial story where Richa was not supposed to be a negative character, but Kunal's ex-girlfriend who Kunal had wasted his precious 5 years of life and still was hung up on her. 

If you remember the initial promos, Kunal mentioned Richa's name few times in the promos, but Siddhi's name was never mentioned in the promos.

I think this show was supposed to be something else, but later it was changed into something completely different. Richa was supposed to be one of the the main (parallel) leads of this show as a positive character and not a vamp. 

It's a shame that that the story has now turned out to be like any other typical daily soap. Feel Bad for Doris that the show she wanted to be a complete separation from all the typical daily shows has now become just another daily soap. 
Posted: 11 years ago
Why do they not want their show to be a little hatke?? Does this reflect the true taste of the viewers in India? I am amazed at this low quality entertainment concepts.Just so sad!
Posted: 11 years ago
Originally posted by rpmenon


Why do they not want their show to be a little hatke?? Does this reflect the true taste of the viewers in India? I am amazed at this low quality entertainment concepts.Just so sad!

Beats me Radhika It is indeed sad that no one dares to do something different on television. This show was conceptualized as Kunal Chopra second chance at life with 2 leading ladies, both positive, but now it's made out to be just another typical daily soap. Very sad😒
Posted: 11 years ago
Nice interview...hehe good to know we both are from the same place Guwahati...best of luck..
Posted: 11 years ago
Originally posted by rpmenon


Why do they not want their show to be a little hatke?? Does this reflect the true taste of the viewers in India? I am amazed at this low quality entertainment concepts.Just so sad!
 
 
Arre different concept never worked in Indian TV. people love to see rona dhona and love stories . its all for trps and trps nahin to kuch nahin
  1  

Related Topics

No Related topics found

Topic Info

4 Participants 9 Replies 2889Views

Topic started by LoveTVShows

Last replied by LoveTVShows

loader
loader
up-open TOP