New mantra: Low TRP's, change Production house

Televisionpoint.com Correspondent
There was a time when poor TRP's simply spelt death for a serial. Channels would scrap a show if it didn't meet their expectations without batting an eyelid. However, the new trend on TV is to save the show and chuck its producers instead.

A case in point would be Dheeraj Kumar, who has just taken over Zee TV's hit show Maayka from Klassic Production house. The reason is cited as poor time management, high overhead costs and delays. Klassic production house, owned by Anjaana Sood was aghast. Zee simply asked Dheeraj Kumar's production house Creative Eye, of Ghar Ki Lakshmi Betiyaan fame, to take over.

A source at the channel claims, "Ever since Maayka started, the production house has been unable to meet the deadlines and deliver episodes on time which irritated the channel. Plus, dishing out Rs 5 lakh per episode was on the high end for a serial like Maayka. Instead of wrapping up an episode in eight hours, they took 15 hours."

While the transition seemed smooth for the channel, the actors working in the serial raised their voice against this injustice. The solution to this was simple as well, they were all sacked. When the actors —Sudhir Pandey, Nandita Puri, Arti Singh, Pankaj Berry, Vinit Raina, Mohini Sharma, Urmila Kanitkar and Vikrant, tried to outsmart the channel by calling a press conference to protest against the channel's decision, it irked the channel to no end. They were blacklisted and removed from all Zee shows immediately.

Ashish Kaul, senior Vice-president, corporate communications, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) says, "This was uncalled for. We have done things according to the contract and have the authority to change the production house. We have invested crores of rupees in the shows and when the producers fail to deliver the desired results, we have rights to hand over the show to another producer."

This is not the first time something like this has happened. Sheel Kumar of Shreya Creations has already taken over Ek Ladki Anjaani Si, Twenty Twenty Television's Kaajjal, Sabbki Aankhon Mein Basi, Mamta by Shobhna Desai and is now doing the paperwork for his fourth show, Sony's Durgesh Nandini.

Klassic Productions have asked the ousted 15 actors of Maayka, to be part of a serial based on a similar idea as Maayka with a different name on a different channel, Sahara One. Aarti Singh, Nandita Puri and Urmila Kanitkar are thrilled to play the lead role and soon the show will be on air. Don't know yet if it will be competing with Zee's Maayka on the same time slot 8.30 pm.