WITH RAMAYANA and Shri Krishna on their side, the Sagar group of companies founded by late Ramanand Sagar is poised to produce yet another grand mythological tele-serial—Jai Durga Mai.
It was conceived by Sagar and now his son Prem Sagar is working overtime to give it the shape of epic proportions. The serial is expected to hit the floor next year.
“The hunt for Durga is on,” says Prem Sagar. He adds: “I’ve already carried out screen test of 466 girls for that perfect look. But none seems to fit in the scheme of things. I do hope that I would soon stumble upon Durga and then it would be just a matter of time for this much-awaited serial to go on air. We’ve done screen tests everywhere except in UP. And who knows, we might get her right here!”
Says Prem Sagar: “I’ve been trying hard to make the serial for the last 15 years. But somehow or the other, the project got delayed. Now we want to go ahead with it at the earliest once we get a perfect face that gels with Goddess Durga.
Since she is the sole character of the serial hence we do not want to take nay chance by picking just any girl for the same. We’re confident that the serial would shape up nicely.”
{{/usCountry}}Since she is the sole character of the serial hence we do not want to take nay chance by picking just any girl for the same. We’re confident that the serial would shape up nicely.”
{{/usCountry}}The grandeur of the forthcoming magnum-opus serial could be gauged from the fact that a studio floor measuring 120x80 ft is ready on the Sagar Film Industry premises in Baroda.
The ink sketches, costumes and other nitty-gritty required for the serial is almost complete. The million-dollar question is what stopped him from shooting the serial now after 10 years of Shri Krishna’s getting over.
Besides, Sagar group of companies is also working to come out with a number of publications on “ancient wisdoms of India.” The publications would showcase the work of late Dr Ramanand Sagar in black and white form. “A set of 39 books would comprise Ramayana, 56 books on Shri Krishna, 46 books on Alif Laila and 10 books on Vikram Betal,” he said while talking to HT Lucknow Live on Tuesday.
Shri Krishna on DD, Lucknow
Dr Ramanand Sagar’s television blockbuster Shri Krishna will soon be on the Lucknow Doordarshan spreading its magic and Bhakti to viewers in the remote villages and urban cities of UP. The serial was successfully run on DD-I in 1996-97. For over 100 weeks, the serial then maintained its Number 1 position on the DD national network.
This week the Sagar group of companies also released a pack of nine VCDs and DVDs containing 26 episodes of the popular TV serial Vikram aur Betaal directed by Prem Sagar. This was the first television success of the Sagar family.