The epic retold: K... style

TELLYVISION

What I witnessed shocked me immensely: huddled in this tiny room were two editors racing against time to trim an episode of Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki that had to be aired the next evening on the primetime slot. Outside the room, an employee of the TV channel waited impatiently to collect the CD of the episode that needed to be aired in less than 24 hours.

"We need to show trailers too and it's already so late," she said, biting her nails in anticipation. If this wasn't enough, a call from Madam's secretary confirmed their biggest fear. "Now Ekta wants to see the edited version," screamed the lady editor, throwing up her hands in despair.

"It won't happen before 1 am. Just pray she doesn't have any meetings," she hissed. On my part, I was too scared to look at the TV channel's employee, fearing she may have chewed whatever little was left of her nails.

It was while watching Kapoor's latest offering, Kahaani Hamaaray Mahaabhaarat Ki on Wednesday evening that I remembered this episode. For now, the promos look impressive.

There are background shots of Ladakh that are pleasantly different from the usual sequences the company shoots on sets and the costumes by ace designer Manish Malhotra are, umm, alright too. And though Kapoor and her brand of directors can't think of a scene without jarring camera movements, she and, more importantly her editors, I bet, will breathe easier.

The production house has obviously canned a substantial number of episodes, edited them to perfection (by their standards) and made a tidy library in one of the rooms of the Balaji building. For now, the Mahabharat series will be the darling of the entire production house, a baby waiting to be pampered and nurtured to lure in TRPs and advertisers alike.

But there'll be a time when this baby, worth crores, will grow up to face peer pressure from other channels, other serials and other family dramas. There will be issues about actors too, their contracts will expire, they'll exit for films, live shows and what have you