Flavour On The Month

Television tubbies this part of the world can finally rejoice. After having had their fill watching Gujju households and their daughter-in-laws and mother-in-laws slug it out...

If you’ve had your fill with Gujju family sagas on TV, there’s now a Punjabi overflow

Television tubbies this part of the world can finally rejoice. After having had their fill watching Gujju households and their daughter-in-laws and mother-in-laws slug it out, channels are waking up to other cultures of the country. And looks like they have fallen in love with Punjab. A few weeks back SAB TV launched ‘Jugni Chali Jalandhar’ and just when you were tuning in there, Sony TV arrives with ‘Meet Mila De Rabba’ with a gigantic star cast. Leading the fray is veteran actor Raza Murad who debuts on television playing a Sikh. “In my career spanning 37 years I have never played such a positive and pious character,” remarked Murad who was consciously looking to break away from his “bad guy image.” The show, set to roll out on November 3, also brings in veteran actor Asha Sharma. “Twenty two years back I played the same character on Buniyaad and now I playing Bebe again,” she smiled to say.

Keeping with the Punjabi theme, the story of ‘Meet Mila De Rabba’ is set in a small village of Punjab. “It’s a unique and emotional love story set within deep-rooted traditions and customs of Punjab and it begins with the excitement and preparation of a wedding,” explained the show’s director-producer duo Alka and Ravi Kaushal. Interestingly, Ravi is an alumnus of PU’s Department of Indian Theatre. “I am extremely proud that I got to come back with a show that boasts of true Punjabiyat,” he remarked. In his attempt to do so, Kaushal has also roped in actors Rajeshwari Sachdev and Kunickaa Sadanand Lall. “I play the vivacious Charni Chachi but it’s more of a cameo,” mentioned Sachdev who is currently toasting to the success of Shyam Benegal’s ‘Welcome to Sajjanpur’. “I am also working on my next album and for the moment I have bid goodbye to radio,” Rajeshwari was a former Big FM jock who has her hands full with Shyam Benegal’s next.

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Quiz the lady, who has been through umpteen saas-bahu sagas, on the all-new Punjabi flavour on television and Kunickaa chuckles to say, “Singh is King these days and that’s the same here too.” Playing a not-so pleasant woman (yet again!) Lall is actually a complete opposite to her character in real life. “That’s the beauty of acting,” the social activist who also runs a salon sums up to say.

Also present at the big launch was the channel’s chief operating officer N P Singh, Sanjay Upadhyay, creative director (fiction), Sony Entertainment Television and the show’s supporting actors including Shivendra Mahal, Mandeep Bhandar, Monaz Mewawala and Saurabh Jain.

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