Ziddi Dil Maane Naa producer Sudhir Sharma calls his show a clutter breaker.
Talking about the response to the show, with an army backdrop, he said, “It is surely a clutter breaker. That’s the most overwhelming response we are receiving .TRPs and reach are quite encouraging. We are happy that a story which is not based on the ‘run-of-the-mill’ idea or setting is still resonating with the viewers. There is also a huge fan following on SonyLIV.”
He and fellow producer Seema wanted to narrate a story which propels them to do something for society and for the country but in an entertaining way. “So our aim was entertainment with relevance. I am thankful to Neeraj Vyas and Sudhanshu from SAB TV who saw the merit in the show and gave us the chance to put this story out there,” he said.
According to him, choosing the right actors is always challenging. “Known face, unknown face, flop actors, hit actors, who’s lucky and who’s unlucky…there are many factors the industry looks at while casting. I personally don’t care about all these cliches. My theatre experience has taught me to always look for actors who firstly, suit our character and secondly, one who can connect with the audience. I scout for the actors who are real and not fake,” said Sharma.
“I also look for their dedication towards the craft and am never impressed by their social media presence. I definitely prefer actors who are well educated and well-read, exposed to literature and other art forms. I don’t like to work with accidental actors. An actor must bring more than the script to the screen, it’s his or her life experiences and learnings which enhance the written word,” he added.
The big question for TV content creators today is what will work, what is the audience hungry for, he thinks.
“Having a very strong competition from OTT platforms, this is truly the time for us to start thinking on the fresh approach for television. We must raise the bar on the writing level. I am always very excited to break that barrier on TV shows. I am very happy to take that risk. Hence, we will keep making shows like Ziddi Dil Maane Na, which uses a different narrative. I feel the TV audience is ready for the change,” shared the producer.
Commenting on the title of the show, he said, “We have heard this catchy word ‘ziddi’ a zillion times. Everyone is a bit of a ziddi. We all wanted to keep a title which resonates the passion which all our ziddi dil characters have.”
Sharing his vision for Sunshine Productions, he said, “We are aiming to expand Sunshine Productions in multiple formats without losing our focus on genres in which we are good at like stories of romance, relationships and youth. We are working on some ambitious web series and TV shows too.”
