He was also offered Bigg Boss and he let go of 12 to 15 shows because of this show. When I asked Vatsal Seth if he would play a grey role, which is completely opposite to his chocolate boy looks, he readily agreed. She is a thorough professional and never complains. For me, there was only one heroine - Sheikh with whom I had earlier worked in Jaane Pehchaane Se… Ye Ajnabee. Pratyusha Banerjee came in between but then she went for Bigg Boss. Sanjeeda Sheikh was the first girl I wanted for the show but her casting took a long time. Both these characters and their journey interconnect to form a big plot. The show amalgamates Durga’s journey (Sanjeeda Sheikh) to the journey of Simone Singh’s character (Sakshi Goenka). The plot is just not about the hero and heroine.

We changed it because we thought Daag implied negative emotions and for a show about empowerment, it didn’t work. Why do people in TV have to be Ram and Sita? Can’t we have normal people? We are really creating a new benchmark in writing through the show.Īs far as the title of the show is concerned, it was later changed to Ek Hasina Thi from its previous title, Daag. There are just black or white characters, whereas in real life, all characters are in shades of grey. I can’t even watch half the shows currently on air because in most of them, everybody looks upset. I am huge fan of Manmohan Desai and Rohit Shetty, in whose films I get the full thali where all the dishes are served. The vision for the show was simple - a show which is like a blockbuster. In all my other shows, only three or four episodes are shot and the show is accordingly changed and shot after observing audience’s reaction.

We managed to write the 12-month-long show in advance, which has never been done before.

Ek hasina thi all episodes