Producer Kinnari Mehtaa is on a high with her show on Sony SAB made under the banner Jay Production, Maddam Sir ending on a high note, after completing a successful journey. The Producer assures her fans that the show will come back with a new season soon.
In a candid and exclusive chat with IWMBuzz.com, the Producer talks about Maddam Sir’s journey, the kind of content she wants to make and the broad vision as a Producer.
Excerpts:
Maddam Sir is coming to an end. How gratifying has the journey been for you as a maker?
Maddam Sir is coming to an end, but we will come up with Season 2. It’s been a three years long fruitful journey since the Covid times. Yes, satisfying and gratifying it has been. As a production house, there is a difference in the kind of content we make, and we want to make and also what we have to make. Sometimes we have to make content that caters to a larger audience, but there is some content that we really want to make and Maddam Sir falls into that category. They were the stories that we wanted to tell, and we are glad that we got a chance to tell them.
Maddam Sir had a great run. What was the need to end it and later come up with a new season?
I believe that if you leave the audiences on a high, the brand value prevails. Nowadays, you see television shows which are going from six days to seven days. This is added pressure and it only means that we need to create more content in a very limited time. So you may end up repeating the stories. A show like Maddam Sir is nothing less than a web series. It was difficult to maintain the quality, and the creative standards. I think it’s a good decision because everyone needs a break, including the actors and the team and then come back with a bang. We can have a longer future that way.
When do you think we can see the new season of Maddam Sir?
There has been a buzz already about the next season being planned. So when the time comes there will be a good announcement of Season 2. But right now we all just need to take a break. Nothing as of now has been finalised. We have surely promised the viewers to not be disappointed and that Maddam Sir will be back.
Jay Productions show on Dangal, Bindiya Sarkar is going through a new phase in storyline. Take us through that.
Bindiya Sarkar is one of my closest concepts. It’s the story of an ordinary girl driving to the CM position and how she struggles. Women are so inspired when they see such stories and right now the show is going through a very big high because Bindiya is dying in the show and whenever we have a lead protagonist dying, we do try to cater huge interest. The audience should watch what next is in store for Bindiya.
Any little bit of details on the track to be seen in Bindiya Sarkar?
Bindiya will be seen in a new look and she will be entering the house in a new look. There will be some fresh casting happening because we want to bring in a love conflict between the hero and heroine. We are still auditioning and once it’s finalised it will be announced.
What is the vision that you uphold as a maker at Jay Production?
Inherently, the vision of any maker depicts one’s own personality. What you are as a person, you will be attracted to those stories. Jay and I have been very fortunate that the way we are, we want to make content that inspires. We want to show women that India is not just about regressive women getting beaten up under domestic violence, but it is about women with a voice, and men with a voice and the recent example of Maddam Sir is nothing less than what we want to portray. Vision wise it depicts what I and Jay are as a personality and we want to do it for the new age India. Positivity and happiness is the key to our storytelling.
We have seen a trend wherein shows are ending in just 3-4 months. What do you think is the reason for this?
The reason behind this is that viewers today, have too many choices and too many things, right from Instagram feeds to YouTube viewing. We started producing shows in 1998 and it was only DD and I think Zee TV that existed then. In those times, it was easier for content makers to nurture audiences’ interests. The shows did run for 2000-3000 episodes. Today audiences get attracted to newer content and that is the challenge for any content creator be it a TV producer, a web series maker or even influencers on Instagram. It’s great since it’s a challenge and we should accept it and move on with that.
Do you think the broadcasters today, are losing patience and ending shows way too quickly?
I think everyone is losing patience. Since the audience is losing patience, the industry is moving at a quicker pace. We are in 2023 and it is not like what it was 5 years back. We have just too many things happening. I think even the makers and producers are very impatient because they also want to play harder and have many shows on many platforms.
There is also this new trend of adapting regional shows to Hindi. What is your take on it.
Regional shows when they are adapted are tried and tested, and there is a sampling of emotions that has already been done and it reduces the risk of both the parties including the broadcaster and producer. So why not, of course they should be made. There is no harm in repeating the stories.
What do you as a maker do if your show is forced to shut shop in just a few months of airing?
I don’t have any show like that. It’s very heartbreaking for everyone involved because if you see an average period of any show from the first pitch you make to the day on air, it is somewhere close to a year. So if it goes off air within 2-3 months, it is a huge financial and emotional loss. We don’t try to experiment. There are too many shows that are made with niche audiences in mind. So maybe we should try and cater to the larger masses and larger emotions. That’s why we always get attracted to Rajshri Films’ storytelling and Yeh Rishta for that matter. Rajan Ji knows it so well. The story of mass connect is always better.
Lastly, what is your take on the controversy surrounding your two women in Maddam Sir, Gulki Joshi and Shilpa Shinde?
I had no reaction. Maddam Sir has always dealt with the current mood of the country and we have incorporated them into the plot. When we read the newspaper in the morning, I just see what plot and story we must do so that our mass audience connection remains intact. Gulki Joshi is a very sensible actor and she has been the most cooperative actor for us. Shilpa Shinde was the immediate option we could think of for the character of Naina Mathur. We only had her in mind and her cameo had a start date and end date. And it was also pre-decided and communicated clearly. Both my actors have always been very good to me. Both have been supportive and great in their performances. Anything between them is between them, and I cannot comment on it.