Good looking dude, Manish Goel, has high hopes from his new Colors supernatural/family drama, Tantra. “My rich atheist character has built his dream home, which will come under the influence of black magic. The what, who and why will open up in the coming episodes. Like any other person, Arjun Khanna too shares different equations with different characters; while he is very good with his mother and daughter, relations get very formal with his better half, played by Juhi Parmar.”
Here, Manish accepts that while the supernatural is the undercurrent of the story right now, ratings will eventually tell which genre will reign supreme. “So we have time till next Thursday to exercise the freedom of our creative thought.”
“Having said that, I am confident that my character and show will succeed as we have envisioned, for we have ticked all the boxes – proper story, apt casting, and yes, great visualisation.”
“We have also got very good feedback so far for the initial episodes and the classily cut out promos. I got several calls from industry friends, wishing me luck after the latter first started to hit the airwaves.”
“Still, nothing can be taken for granted and the entire Swastik Pictures team is working very hard to further raise the bar before ratings come out. Today, the numbers of first two or three weeks alone determine success or failure. Word of mouth kicks in big time, as has happened with big films of late.”
Manish, who has returned to TV after a long absence (last being STAR Bharat show Ayushman Bhava), says, “In my second innings, I am more bothered about what my character does. Budget talks come in only if the role tickles me enough.” Manish, long back, was a part of hit shows like Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii, Bhabhi and Saara Akaash.
How was the journey with Ayushman? “Well, it was good but it took a while for my character to come into its own, and by then the show had wrapped up.”
“Also, what I felt was that Star Bharat did not market the show aggressively. No one really knew that I was there. Colors, on the other hand, is effectively using both traditional and social media to whet the appetite of potential viewers. Big cutouts of the leads also dot key roads in big HSM (Hindi speaking markets) cities.”
Best of luck, Manish!!
