No Copy Right problem

Producer-director Sunil Agnihotri returns with Chandrakanta and two more shows.

One of Doordar-shan’s top fiction shows, Chandrakanta, produced by Neerja Guleri will be back on Sahara One. The director of the erstwhile show, Sunil Agnihotri, is producing its sequel, Kahani Chandrakanta Ki, based on the novel Chandrakanta Santiti, written by Babu Devki Nandan Khatri.

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The show moves ahead from where it stopped nearly a decade and a half ago. “I’m not repeating all the actors but only major faces from Chandrakanta like Shikha Swaroop and characters like Kroor Singh played by Akhilendra Mishra will return,” informs Agnihotri.

Given the stringent regulations that Doordarshan follows with its shows, didn’t the producer-director have problems starting off the sequel? “No, DD has no copyright on my Chandrakanta. It’s an epic like Ramayana and Mahabharata, that are in the public domain. Anyone can make a show based on the stories in these books, and no one can claim copyright on them. It’s a different show that I’m making. I’m not re-running the old one,” retorts Agnihotri, who has entered into a three-show deal with Sahara One.

Chandrakanta goes on floors next week at Panvel, followed by schedules in Mahabaleshwar and Raj Pipla where sets and dress rehearsals have already commenced. Black is currently being re-run on Sahara One under the name Kaala Saya with some portions re-shot.

“The child in the show will be shown as a grown-up pretty fast because the boy who plays the lead has his school exams,” explains Agnihotri. His next show, Laut Aayi Noori, also for the same channel, goes on floors next month in Manali. “It’s a beautiful emotional story, the kind I haven’t narrated to my audience in a long time.”