Always wanted to adapt 'Gunahon Ka Devta': Ashwin Dheer

Hindi author Dharmvir Bharti's famous novel "Gunahon Ka Devta" is getting the small screen treatment with director Ashwin Dheer adapting the tragic love story in a 20-episode series "Ek Tha Chandar Ek Thi Sudha".
Dheer, a fan of the novel, said he always wanted to do something on the book which first introduced him to the wealth of Hindi literature.
"This was the first Hindi novel that I read and I became a huge fan. The story introduced me to Hindi literature. This is one book that will make you fall in love. It is a very beautiful and emotional story. Life has come full-circle for me with the adaptation of 'Gunahon Ka Devta'," Dheer told PTI in an interview.

Dheer said he had his fanboy moment when he first came to Mumbai and called Bharti and met him briefly because he wanted to see the person who wrote the love story.
Set in Allahabad, it is the story of a young, fervent and mischievous Sudha and researcher Chandar who is a protege of her father. The bond that Chandar and Sudha share is that of two good-humoured, inseparable friends, and neither understands that their relationship may have a name.
Dheer said he initially planned to make an infinite series on the novel but then realised that it would be an injustice to the story.

"There was a magic in Bharti's writing so we have tried to remain as close to the text as possible. We have the blessing of Pushpa Bhartiji. That gave us a lot of courage because I was initially scared about touching the great work.

"We complete the story in 20 episodes. There was a slight delay because we were initially planning a long series. I realised that it would be wrong because then we would need to add stuff from our side... We did not want to do that."
"Ek Tha Chandar Ek Thi Sudha" stars Rahil Azzam and Umang Jain in the lead roles. It will go on air from September 21 on Life Ok.

Bharti's other novel "Suraj ka Satvan Ghoda" was adapted into a film by Shyam Benegal. There have been attempts to adapt "Gunahon Ka Devta" too but it has been a difficult book to translate to the screen.