Ashish Shrivastav explains compromises directors need to make

Mumbai, Aug 20 (IANS) Director Ashish Shrivastav's show 'Tera Mera Saath Rahe' brings out the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law with a lot of twists and turns on-screen. Ashish has retained a lot of actors from the popular show 'Saath Nibhaana Saathiya' as he feels it is much easier to work with experienced actors.

Ashish says: "Obviously retaining old actors is helpful because they have their face value and a loyal fan base. Rupal Patelji, Giaa Manek, Mohammad Nazim, Vandana Vithlani ji are fine actors and audiences enjoy watching them on screen, so getting the old cast on board is helpful."

The director who has earlier helmed popular shows such as 'Shaadi Mubarak', 'Yeh Rishtey Hain Pyaar Ke', 'Piyaa Albela' and 'Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki' continues to share that directing new and young actors is little bit challenging also.

"I have worked with Rupal ji in 'Yeh Rishtey Hain Pyaar Ke'. She is a very professional and fine artist, Giaa Manek is also very good. It's a little challenging to direct new actors because we have to work hard on them. Sometimes we get good raw actors also who have talent, which helps the show to give different prospects. There is a huge difference between working with established actors and young actors. We only need to brief established actors, but with young actors, we have to start from scratch."

While commenting on the storyline of the show, he adds: "We have added a lot of spice into it to make sure it feels like a new story with more entertainment value. At the same time we have stayed in the realistic zone. I enjoyed shooting it and believe that audiences will also enjoy watching the story."

A director is called the captain of the ship. Does he hold that authority in a fast-paced medium like television? And, Ashish answers: "When we start a show, channels, actors and producers trust directors and that's why set up is done by the directors in a way that at least 15 to 20 episodes easily are ready to ease the telecast pressure. Once the show starts on air we increase our speed of work and ensure that we maintain quality."

Ask him if he had to make compromises at times in terms of meeting the demand of the producers or the channels and Ashish answers, "Quality compromises happen on television but it depends on the situation. Like if something is supposed to happen on a big scale, we do it in a smaller way so that the flow doesn't get affected. Now when the show's budget is not high, producers try to maintain quality and sustainability. This happens because we invest more money in initial days and we plan to run the show for three to four years, so there are times when the producers are left with not much money. But these days, producers have become smart when it comes to investment from day one."