Naseeruddin Shah makes TV debut

Monday, July 03, 2006

Mumbai (UNI): Actor-director Naseeruddin Shah makes his debut in a Marathi serial to be shown on ETV from next week. The serial 'Ha Khel Sanchitacha' is a daily soap and will go on air from July six at 2100 hrs. In the serial, he will been seen in a guest appearance, essaying the role of sitar maestro Pandit Nissar Ali Khan. The actor who portrays a villainous Dr Siddhanth Arya in the recently released 'Krrish' and was the alcholic cricket coach in 'Iqbal' last year, has directed a film 'Yu Hota to kya hota' to be released shortly. Naseer had last appeared on the small screen in Gulzar's 'Mirza Ghalib' a few years ago.

The role of the protagonist is played by veteran Marathi film and theatre artiste Vikram Gokhale. In the serial, he would portray the role of a classical singer who has been awarded the Bharat Ratna. The story traces the life and times of the singer and his family's rivalry with another musically-oriented family of 'tamasha' (popular dance form) artistes. Talking to mediapersons here, producer Vikram Mehrotra said music is a language that crosses all barriers and touches the hearts of strangers. ''That is the popular belief. And yet music can also create barriers and break hearts. That is what happened with Pandit Vidyacharan. From a humble origin, he rises to the status of a great maestro of music. With sheer dedication, he goes on to win the most prestigious award Bharat Ratna. And yet all the awards and honours showered on him are not enough to heal the scars of his painful memories,'' he informed.

On Naseer's role, Mehrotra said he plans to extend it provided the actor gives dates. ''Naseer has been a long time friend and when I approached him with this subject, he readily agreed. The actor will be seen in the first few episodes where he comes to meet the protagonist who has just received the Bharat Ratna,'' he informed. Besides Shah and Gokhale, the other star cast includes noted Marathi actors like Smita Jaykar, Kuldeep Pawar, Ela Bhate, Smita Saravade, Trupti Bhoir, Sameera Gujar, Saloni Kulkarni, Shreekant Moghe, Aniket Kelkar, Vighnesh Joshi, Gourang Naik, Angad Mhaskar, Bhagyashree Rane and Sachin Suresh.

The soap was written and directed by Usha Deshpande. Its lyrics were written by Sangeeta Joshi, while the music was composed by Kedar Pandit and sung by Pandit Sanjeev Abhyankar. The cinematography was done by Sanjay Godbole and editing was done by Manoj Mishra, Mehrotra added.

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