Ekhane Aakash Neel
Encyclopedia
Ekhane Akash Neel is a Bengali Serial which is telecasted on 7:30 PM on the Free-to-Air Channel Star Jalsa. The serial is themed on a nursing home, and is themed on the love between Dr. Ujaan Chatterjee, a respected and talented young Doctor, and Hiya, a who is the central actress of the drama. Ujaan is played by Rrishii Kaushik and Hiya is Aparajita Ghosh Das.
Others: Dr. B. D. Mukherjee as Dr. Amolendu Chatterjee, Arindam Sil as Dr. Shamoresh Ganguly, Saswati Guha Thakurta as Mrs. Elina O'brien, June Malia as Annie O'Brien, Kamalika Banerjee as Bashabdatta the Dietitian, Mithu Chakraborty as Matron Eva Das,Tota Roy Chowdhury as Dr. Romit Sen, Priya Paul as Manjari, later replaced by Sneha Chatterjee, Shantamashi-Manjari's Mother,
Chandrayee Ghosh
as Dr. Deepa, Sasawata Chatterjee as Dr. Moinak Roy and Debolina Dutta as his wife Dr. Barna Roy, Dr. Neeta,
Ushoshi Chakarabarty as Dr. Swati Raha, Ashok Kapoor, Anindyo Banerjee as Vicky, Pishimoni, Col Hiranmoy Sen & Mrs. Sen, Bayna the maid. Child Characters Mithai, Imli, Tithi, Kuttush, Diya.
Junior Doctors: Kaushani Roy, Shahana Sen, Ranjan, Saurav, Tukai, Nayona, Gogol, Uma, and supported by other Doctors, Avro and Ayan.
Nursing Staff: Shrabonti, Brishti, Ritu & Lisa
Admin Staff: Ekavalli Khanna as Receptionist Pooja, Romenda, Swapanda, Pobitroda, Muniya, the '(wo)man Friday' of "Tulip"
Directors: Anindo Banerjee & Joydeep Mukherjee
Story, Screenplay and Dialogues:
Title Music: Jeet Ganguly
Singer: Monali Thakur
Camera:Premendu Bikash Chaki, Bapi Seth, Suman Kumar Das
Executive Producers: Indrani Mukherjee, Nishpal Singh
Producers: Aniruddho Roychoudhury, Jit Banerjee
Executive Producer from Star Jalsa: Aratrika Bhoumik
The male protagonist Dr. Ujan Chatterjee, an Oncologist by profession who lost his best friend and mentor, his mother when he was barely a boy and grew into an egotistic, rude, solitary man who preferred to remain cocooned in his own world, welcomed solitude to the point of extremity that he shunned out his own father and considered him an intruder. After successful completion of his medical studies in UK, he returned home and joined the 'Tulip' Nursing Home in Kolkata where once his father Dr. Amolendu Chatterjee-the renowned Neurologist, used to work and was one of the pillars of its growth. After passing away of Dr. Richard O'Brien, the founder of the Nursing Home, his wife, Elina, took over the responsibilities of running 'Tulip'and subsequently handed over charge of Tulip to her competent & efficient doctor-duo Dr. Moynak & Dr. Shomoresh and moved to the hills.
Ujan joined Tulip and came to be known as one of the best surgeons of Kolkata. The Nursing Home was small; its facilities were limited; but it was one of the most reliable places in the city because of its dedicated staff and professionally advanced Doctors.One day, in one of his solitary jaunts, to be with himself, Ujan went to Kurseong where, he saved a person's life by giving him timely medical treatment. The news spread in that sleepy little hill station. The priest of the local Church was Friend-Philosopher-Guide to Elina and in search of a Doctor, he heard of Ujan’s feat and took him to Elina who had suddenly fallen seriously ill.
Ujan decided to shift Elina to Tulip as he found her in a pretty bad physical condition and in need of an immediate and complicated surgery—neither the patient nor the young Doctor realized that they and their families knew each other since years. Elina had two daughters: her biological daughter, Annie and her adopted daughter, Hiya. Ujan first sighted Hiya in Kurseong when she was running in the hills with her kid friends and incidentally singing (a la Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music) his mother’s song. They had a tiff later when Hiya's gang of buddies were taking a feel of Ujan’s Binocular and as usual, he did not like that. What attracted Ujan towards Hiya was her beautiful voice. He found his mother in Hiya's songs, because his Maa was a prolific singer and “full of life” – which is what was mesmerising about Hiya. In Kolkata, Elina's condition did not immediately improve even after the surgery; and as Hiya was lonely without her 'Monima'(Elina), she came to Kolkata to be with her and then as if a magic happened: Elina started to respond to the treatment.
Thus Hiya started her search of life in the concrete jungle of Kolkata. The foster-mother and the daughter had such a connection of their souls which even blood-connection many times can not have. In spite of continuous angry arguments & clashes over various issues in Tulip, the apparently visible antagonism was just a cover for the inward undeniable magical attraction that Ujaan & Hiya kept feeling for each other. It was as if all the events lead to their meeting/facing each other again & again. Hiya's search ended with her most beautiful tryst with Destiny - she fell in love with the outwardly rough-n-rude but inwardly caramel-kernel like soft Ujan and they had a “Mills & Boon inspiring dream-come-true” relationship. Ujan got attracted to her open mindedness and Hiya, to his abrupt-straightforward - principled approach to life. The magical bonding between the two, happened because of their shares of solitude in life which they lived through and the bonding intensified when Hiya had a near-fatal accident in which she had a nasty head-injury and slipped into comatose state. Knowing that paralysis was unavoidable, Amolendu performed a complicated surgery and saved her life. Post surgery seeing 'his sunshine' lying on a bed and wheelchair-bound Ujan was depressed and heartbroken .He finally pushed himself up just for her—not only to instill a zest for life in Hiya but moreover so to keep his “life-source” Hiya forever with him, he decided to marry her. Shortly before the Wedding, Hiya “walked again !” – thanks to Ujan’s untiring efforts that his life (Hiya) lives a full and complete life again.A Hindu groom for a Christian bride. It was a wonderful wedding where vows were exchanged and garlands, too. There were no chanting of hymns or exchange of religious vows. Only songs of love and joy of life, only vows to love & cherish each other always. Angels too tiptoed in to bless them. On their wedding day, Manjari, daughter of Ujan's mother's friend reached Ujan's house.As expected, Ujan was astonished to see Mon[Pet name of Manjari, given by Ujan] after so many years because she remained only as a very special childhood friend to him with whom his mother’s precious memories were associated; though long back when they were kids, Aporna, Ujan’s mother, wrote in a letter to Mon’s mother her wish to see Mon as her daughter-in-law.Now, Mon had sought him out after so many years due to her mother’s serious condition. Her mother’s condition worsened and Ujan had to go and operate her, leaving Hiya at home, in the middle of their Fulshojjya. Even after the operation she died and Ujan took the responsibilities of taking care of Mon. Here the story took a twist. Mon’s desperate and unfulfilled desire of being Ujan’s wife was unknown to both Ujan and Hiya; they accepted her as their friend and ‘daughter’ of the Chatterjee Family;but all these good intentions did not have any meaning to Manjari. She wanted Ujan's love and Hiya's place in his life.So, Manjari started scheming and creating all sorts of practical problems in Ujan & Hiya's happy conjugal life; but her schemings did not have any effect; she started to feel frustrated and lonely .As a foil to Manjari, there was Dr.Romit Sen or Romit (Ujan’s colleague at Tulip), who was always there as single man support system to Hiya and Ujan. He loved Hiya but never expressed it till he was about to leave the world because of Leukemia. Romit left his only daughter to his best friend Hiya and Ujan and they too accepted her as their child; but then, Romit's uncle appeared on the scene and took away Romit's daughter, Imli,with him to Kurseong. Hiya shared a very special bonding with Imli because Imli saw her own mother Sabina in Hiya;but when Imli went away, Hiya felt a deep void within her and she wished to become a mother, in the real biological sense..Imli had arisened parental feelings in Ujan too and he also felt Hiya's agony; both of them started to plan about a family of their own.Their Honeymoon was long overdue; so, they went to Pelling just after Christmas. They had a wonderful time, both mountain-lovers as Hiya was from the hills and Ujan was a trekker by hobby, they enjoyed the breathtaking scenery and relived their good old days, far away from the madding crowd's ignoble strife. By that time in Kolkata, scheming Manjari had a co-hort in Vicky, Ujan's cousin brother and the two started to make plans to keep Ujan and Hiya in perpetual trouble .As if these two were not enough,in came established induatrialist Ashok Kapoor with his sinister plan of either to take over “Tulip” or to start a whole new Nursing Home with all sorts of modern medical facilities, to be a tough competitor of “Tulip” which was by then synonymous with Health-Care in Kolkata.What Kapoor did not realize and was incomprehensible to business-minded folk like him, was that the secret of success of "Tulip" was not just its facilities but its cheerful and homely atmosphere, created by its dedicated staff and a bunch of ever energized junior doctors who were there to face any kind of emergency situation at any time of a day or night. As individuals, they used to enjoy their shares of good things of life but while on duty, they were untiring:Drs.Avro-Ayan-Saurav-Ranjan-Gogol-Madhushree-Kaushani-Nayana-Shahana: everyone of them were impatient to learn something new from their seniors; ever ready to assist each other and when Hiya came, they were the ones who befriended her and later became her loyal "knights-in-armour". If "Tulip" was the lifeline of wellness then these Doctors were the lifeline of "Tulip". Elina, because of her absolute faith on her staff and Doctors did not bend to Kapoor's subtle offer of buying her dream "Tulip"; then Kapoor showed his true colours and involved Vicky-Manjari to convince Ujan to come to his Nursing Home: “Zeus" because he knew that Ujan was the main stay of "Tulip". Ujan saw through Kapoor and did not accept his offer. Again Manjari was forced to play a pivotal role to drag Ujan to "Zeus" and this time Ujan did not doubt his childhood friend's intentions:and agreed to her request to join Zeus as a confirmation of wanting to help her because previously, he reproached Mon antagonistically when she expressed her bleak desire of love from him. Ultimately, the secret game of Kapoor came out in the open during the course of a path-breaking surgery, successfully done by Dr.Ujan Chatterjee, in "Zeus", and everyone's conscience came into play: Manjari came to know about Kapoor's real intention of keeping Ujan at any cost; Ujan came to know about Kapoor's wrong ways of running a Nursing Home and Vicky-Manjari both came to know how Kapoor was using them to win this game to further his own ill intentions and grab all the limelight. Dr.Madhusree, who joined "Zeus" from "Tulip" to earn some more money for her Mother's treatment, and was the single witness to Kapoor's dangerous game plan, had a “face-off” with the planner himself. Her razor sharp comments and Ujan's refusal to accept any money after the surgery, awakened that hidden conscience in Kapoor who was a contemporary antagonist and was the real catalyst of all the murky & controversy embroiled situations. Though created by him nothing was ever proved against him rather these incidents became eye-openers for many.
But nothing made any difference in that belief and love which was there between Ujan and Hiya.One fine day, it was known that Hiya was pregnant; Hiya, a "child- woman" who never knew her parents and was nurtured and loved by her foster mother, was happy beyond anyone's imagination; Ujan’s love and affection showered on her at this happy hour and Elina’s gift of the responsibility of "Tulip", inspired Hiya to bring out of her mind’s closet, that calm and matured woman who could gracefully handle both the responsibilities. But suddenly all those happy moments came to a grinding halt as Hiya had a miscarriage. It was traumatic not only for Hiya but for Ujan, also.And this trauma brought a sea-change in Manjari, too.She took the initiative to bring Hiya back to her normal self; she accepted Vicky in her life. In the meantime Hiya was diagnosed as having Myotonic Dystrophy-a genetic disorder, by her Gynaecologist Dr.Deepa who opined that it could be fatal for Hiya to conceive.Hiya's dreams dashed; but still she stood up because she wanted their child. While Ujan did not want to take any risk on Hiya because of the disorder, Hiya was desperate in love to gift back Ujan his lost childhood in the form of their baby. So she went away from Ujan to undergo treatment and make herself physically fit to conceive, obviously without leaving any trace to find her which again made Ujan dejected & life-less, as he was, before meeting Hiya. While Hiya was away, her look alike,a 10/11 years old girl was admitted in "Tulip" and attracted Ujan’s affection; she was a patient of amnesia and during the course of her treatment, it was known that she had lost her parents in a road accident and her only family now was her aunt.Ujan named her Diya; took her to her aunt’s home but when he came to know that her aunt’s family was going to send her to an orphanage, he decided to adopt her as his daughter. Ujan with Manjari’s help announced his 2nd marriage to Manjari, a ploy to bring Hiya back. Hiya came back from her self-imposed exile, accepted Diya as their daughter and after the birth of Hiya and Ujan's baby boy, they had their feel of a complete happy family:it was 'love is in the air' at the end of the series.
"Katukutuburo"-"Ghyanghyanshur"-"Gomratherium"-"Kumropotash" are a few such notable examples. A noteworthy scene of this kind is when Imli describes everyone in Ujan's house as "Ha-Ja-Ba-Ra-La" (the Bengali equivalent of Carroll's Alice in Wonderland). It was unique in her own way and perhaps totally new to the viewers also to hear about this once popular children's book interpreted in such a manner.Simple games, simple everyday habits, daily habits, a small word/gesture of affection/solidarity could be a source of the simple pleasures of life were shown with such elan in this story.
Music was an integral part of it, too. Tagore songs were used and interpreted in a contemporary set up but without losing any of its fervour, appeal and flavour. The innovative & stylish use of poignant Tagore songs which are pregnant with thoughts, enhanced the feelings & expressions of the characters and at the same time inspired the viewers to think, too.
One folk song which created quite a sensation in the music world because of its lilting tune and philosophical meaning, has been used in the series to portray a character’s inner thoughts : "Amar Bhitaro Bahire Antaro Antarey Achho Tumi...". It used to touch that deep quietude of the viewer's heart whenever it was played or sung in the course of the story.
A few modern Bengali songs were also used to show the effect of it in young hearts and it ended in creating flutters.
All these added colours to the imaginations.
If one created the Fairytale atmosphere, the other one brought out those fiendish characters, very important in a Fairytale to show the prowess of the main protagonists.
The use of two Directors brought about the transition of the Fairytale Prince & Princess to Real-Life Prince & Princess within the same tale. The viewers accepted them both. After all, it's one seven coloured wonderful rainbow, both ends of which were closest to their hearts.
Here's that rare thing—a Bengali TV serial that is sane, sensible and refreshing.I didn't see Ekhane Akash Neel (Star Jalsha, Mon to Friday, 7-30p.m.) from episode i.
The running Shashuri-Bou battles,the conspiracies over property,the vendetta of political Dadas and the banal humour, often involving a male domestic help(an anachronism) keep me away from the TV set in the evenings.I got hooked to EAN while channel- surfing on an idle evening.I didn't mean to stop for more than a minute or two but the dialogue was so refreshingly sensible.The characters sounded human.The whole bunch of young actors were competent and bubbly.
I kept at it every evening,much to the consternation of my wife but only initially.Very soon, she was hooked too and now it's become a family preoccupation.It's about the cross-currents within a nursing home, the pulls and pressures that dominate the lives of those running it,though at the centre there's a love story and a triangle is developing.
The heartening element is the anxiety of the film- maker to retain his sensibility all through, and not let crass commercialism take over for the sake of TRP.The doctors and nurses do not spend all their time flirting away; they treat patients, perform surgery, administer drugs,unlike in conventional cinema or serials.When they speak. they sound like people I know, and not like Romeo or Gabbar Singh.The sub-plots are being developed carefully,without wresting attention away from the central story.
What I find to be especially interesting, is the central character, Dr.Ujan Chatterjee, who is a hero with a difference.He is efficient, good-looking,respected, a heart-throb of all the girls, but unable to communicate to people.His inarticulate nature is landing him in all sorts of problems.He is too stern, too taciturn,and often rude without any provocation.And—what speaks highly of those behind the film-this is being talked about and a female colleague tells him (almost)that he is making a fool of himself. This is not the way heroes are treated in our cinema, are they?
You have to hand it to Anindya Bandyopadhyay, the director.Rishi Kaushik is highly impressive as Ujan; one would like to see how he fares elsewhere.The two other leading actors,Aparajita Ghosh Das and Tota Roy Choudhury fit the bill to a T.
I am waiting to see how all the knots are untied, and whether TRP forces any compromise.
2. Looking Ahead be Amrita Roychoudhury
The entire unit of "Ekdin Protidin" has come together again for a mega serial titled "Ekhane Aakash Neel", directed by Anindo Banerjee.
Actor Rrishii Kaushik,who is playing the lead said,"I play a Doctor who is very introvert, arrogant and short tempered.Aparajita Ghosh Das who plays a happy-go-lucky girl,is cast opposite me.Post "Ekdin Protidin", our pairing became a hit and people wanted to see more of us."
Though the storyline has some resemblance with the Hindi soap "Sanjivani" and "Dill Mill Gayye", Rrishii claimed that the treatment is far too different.
3. I'm too lazy":Anindo Banerjee by Ruman Ganguly
Are you a Producer's Director?
Absolutely! I don't have a dream script and I'm willing to mould myself according to the producers' needs...
You are working with the same team of "Ekdin Protidin" in "Ekhane Aakash Neel". Is it because you don't want to take risks?
(Laughs) I'm too lazy to start from scratch.I'm working with the same team because they know my working style and it becomes easier to deliver.But at the same time,I have cast a bunch of young artists in the serial who are playing junior doctors.I'm putting in a lot of effort to groom them. It gives me a kick to see freshers turn into better actors.
In megaserials, what is more important—script or direction?
Script. A top-shot or a long-shot does not matter. The audience needs to be glued to the show and it's the script that can actually generate that interest among them.
Everytime Ujan meets Hiya in "Ekhane Aakash Neel", the song "Aamar Hiyar Majhey.." plays. Don't you think it has become very predictable and boring? I agree it has.
4. Entertainment unlimited GenY is the current flavour of the season
A Report
Be it sports, politics and entertainment, the young brigade is making all the right noises.It comes as no surprise then that Star Jalsha too would cash in on the youth quotient.And the verdict is out on the wall.Barely seven months old,the channel is already the new numero uno.
In keeping with the 'Chalo Paltai' theme, Star Jalsha has lived up to its promises of youthful entertainment through megaserials like 'Bou Katha Kao', 'Durga', 'Ekhane Aakash Neel'... The channel is widening its horizon.
Keeping the young tastes in mind, even the channel had briefed Directors to accordingly shape their projects. "Ekhane Aakash Neel" has a Mills & Boon feel to it", says director Anindo Banerjee, while adding that he takes inputs from the young cast about college lingo and tries incorporating it in the show through colloquial dialogues.
5. Straight Talker by Supreeta Singh
Rrishii Kaushik does not know how to sweet talk.The tall and handsome Virgo man from Assam is extremely selective about the work he does. That's why after the hit serial "Ekdin Protidin", he signed up only one sitcom "Ekhane Aaksh Neel" which has taken TV viewers by storm. He will say yes to any other project only if it fits his bill of a good role. Right now all his time is taken up by "Ekhane Akash Neel" and no one is complaining.
Girls have fallen in love with your character Dr.Ujan Chatterjee in "Ekhane Aakash Neel".How romantic are you in real life?
I don't know how much and how many girls have fallen for the character. I am like any other normal guy who used to jhari-maro in College. People don't love me but the image that I portray in the serial. If I do a contradictory character people might not like me. Ujan is a non-romantic guy but in real life I am just the opposite.
6. Curtain falls on the set of "Ekhane Aakash Neel"
One of the leading shows on Star Jalsha, Ekhane Akash Neel comes to a happy ending on Saturday, 29 May 2010. Our most loveable pair Hiya & Ujaan finally resolve their differences & live happily ever after. After completing 484 episodes, Ekhane Akash Neel continues to be the most loved show in the television circuit. Ujaan and Hiya are household names and people tend to look up to the pair as they have become a perfect illustration for couples in love.
On this occasion, Mr. Yubaraj Bhattacharya, Creative Director, Star Jalsha, Mr. Anindo Banerjee, Director, Mr. Annirudhha Roychoudhury, Producer along with the entire cast and crew had gathered at the Technicians Studio 2. The cast shared their fantastic experience on the sets of Ekhane Akash Neel and recalled their days of fun and frolic and the hectic shooting schedules. Rishii Kaushik (playing the character of Ujaan), Aparajita Ghosh Das (playing the character of Hiya) along with Tollywood actors Deboleena Dutta, Chandreyee Ghosh and Tota were in all smiles and gladly pleased the shutterbugs. This was followed by a special cake cutting ceremony and handing over of mementos to the cast from Star Jalsha.
So, as the curtain falls on this love story, truly we can say the pair of Hiya & Ujaan was indeed a match made in heaven. Ujaan who became a heart-throb & Hiya, who was known for her beauty & cheerful nature, will continue to be remembered as the perfect jodi in all the years to come. And it would be quite appropriate here to add in a fairy tale style that they lived happily ever after…
7. Campus calling T'town stars by Priyanka Dasgupta
Few years ago,mainstream Bengali movies, with their washed out look and over-the-top stars mouthing melodramatic lines, didn't have any takers on city campuses.
Movies by SRK, Aamir or even, Ranbir,were a far better alternative. But the recent years have seen a transition of sorts.While Dev gets mobbed shooting on Park Street by a group of students from Loreto, neighbors of Jeet tell him about the growing interest of him among students of city's upmarket schools.
Says Shalmi Burman, Class xii, La Martiniere for Girls', "Tollywood is bipolar.While on the one hand it has very dhishum-dhishum kind of films, the others are meant for the intellectual crowd. There are some directors who are making effort to woo the young crowd with their middle-of-the-line cinema. Their efforts are showing even though they still have a long way to go."
Illustrating her POV, Shalmi says, "My mother used to pen the script for "Ekhane Akash Neel", and often my friends have asked me to reveal the storyline. Though I haven't noticed a similar kind of craze about Tollywood movies yet,..."
8. Lucky Transition By: Soma A. Chatterjee
Aparajita Ghosh-Das... is not in a hurry to sign films or serials though it was television that made her a household name.A few meaningful films have defined her as an actress of spirit and determination.
Which has been your favourite work till date?
There are many but one that comes up first is Pradipto Bhattacharya’s serial Pinky I Love You as the story had a very unusual angle. It is about the love of a boy named Ujjal, who lives in a world of fantasy and dreams of his love for a girl named Pinky. Most of his love is based on fantasising. Then one day, the girl gets raped and he fantasises that he has rescued her, though that is not the case in reality. Then, when he asks her, “You liked it, didn’t you?” her world collapses. She refuses to marry him and goes out of his life.
Then there are two major serials that I have worked in, Ek Din Protidin for Zee Bangla which is now over and Ekhane Akaash Neel on Star Jalsha which is currently being telecast on the prime slot everyday. Mohor of Ek Din Protidin is very different from Hiya of Ekhaane Akaash Neel but both characters are hot favourites among the young and the old alike. I do not treat television and cinema differently. So far as I am concerned, they are the same.
9. And they lived happily ever after Times of India. e-paper.
Soapaholics were in for a rude shock when the announcement of their favourite megaserial going off-air was made recently.So,for that one last time,the unit of Ekhane Akash Neel came together for a press conference at Technicians Studio 2 on Tuesday evening,where they were shooting for the final episode.As Ujaan (Rrishii) and Hiya (Aparajita) dressed up for a reel church wedding,there were curious glances all around.Said Aparajita,Every beginning has an end.Im glad that the megaserial has ended where it was needed.Else,it would have become tedious. Right now,the actor wants to take a break before taking up other offers.
10. Wind in my hair by Sarbani Sen
All artists love their art. But there comes a time when they need a sabbatical-even if it's for a few hours. This freshens up their perspective to create more magic with their art. We meet the artists who take a step away from art once in a while, to come back rejuvenated.
Rrishii Kaushik, Actor
As the camera rolls, Rrishii Kaushik, 28, dons the garb of Dr Ujaan Chatterjee in the TV soap, Ekhane Akasha Neel. Though his onscreen persona is that of a serious doctor, Kaushik, one of the popular actors on the small screen, is a fun loving and adventurous person. After a hard day of shooting, Kaushik unwinds with a motorcycle ride back home from Tollygunge studio on his trusty Bullet.He is also one of the six core members of the Royal Rider Bullet Club. Born and brought up in Tezpur, Assam, Kaushik had nurtured a love for Bullet bikes even as a young boy.
"Three years back we formed the club with a few like-minded people. I join them twice a year for long trips," says the actor. Among all their bike trips so far, an eight-day trip to Orissa in 2008 was most memorable. "The scenic view was beautiful while we rode our bikes near Mahanadi. We also headed to Tikarpada Wildlife Sanctuary on the Eastern Ghats," recalls Kaushik, adding, "It started raining when we hit the jungle and spotted wild elephants. The experience was exhilarating." Over the years, the actor has covered places such as Santiniketan, Shankarpur and Bhutan. "Because of my heavy work schedule, I squeeze in short trips," says Kaushik.
"We carry a road-map, use mobiles to stay connected and forbid alcohol during these travels." Once a trip is successfully completed, the srtist in Kaushik yearns to return to the TV studio.
By:Manojit Mitra.
Posted on: Friday.Jan 16.2009 at 04:19:49 p.m.
http://www.kolkatamirror.com/index.aspx?page=article§id=10&contentid=2009011620090116161949678ef630753§xslt=.
2. Looking Ahead
By: Amrita Roychoudhury.TNN.Aug.22.2008.12:11a.m.IST
The Times of India,Kolkata,Entertainment
[ 3390024.cms.htm ]
Link:timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/3390024.cms
3."I'm too lazy": Anindo Bandyopadhyay
By: Ruman Ganguly.Dec.11.2008.12:55a.m.IST
Times of India,Kolkata,Entertainment
[ 3819159.cms.htm ]
Link:http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:xrA8PSz0XmYJ:timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-interviews/Im-too-lazy-Anindo-Banerjee/articleshow/3819159.cms+old+articles+on+ekhane+akash+neel+in+times+of+india&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=in
4. Entertainment Unlimited: Gen Y is the current flavour
of the season
A Report
Apr.26.2009.12a.m.IST.
Times of India,Kolkata
[ 4448533.cms.htm ]
Link:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
Entertainment/Entertainment-unlimited/
articleshow/4448533.cms
5. Straight Talker
By: Supreeta Singh
Monday.Aug.31.2009.
Kolkata Mirror-City Diary-Interviews
Link:http://kolkatamirror.com/index.aspx?page=article
§id=9&contentid=2009083120090831110513703572075
c9§xslt=
6.Curtain falls on the set of Ekhane Akash Neel
Kolkata, May 28, 2010
Star Jalsha-Television
www.tollyworld.com beta
7.Campus calling T'town stars
By: Priyanka Dasgupta
June23.2010.TNN.12a.m.IST
Times of India.Kolkata.Entertainment
[ 6079280.cms.htm ]
Link:timesofindia.indiatimes.com/.../news.../articleshow
/6079280.cms -
8.Lucky transition
By: Soma A Chatterji
May22. 2009.
Link:www.screenindia.com/news/lucky-transition/463506/ -
9.And They Lived Happily Ever After
Times of India. epaper.
Link:http://lite.epaper.timesofindia.com/mobile.
aspx?article=yes&pageid=27&edlabel=TOIKM
&mydateHid=31-05-2010&pubname=&edname=
&articleid=Ar02703&format=&publabel=TOI
10.Wind in my hair
India Today.in
Supplement.4 February.2010
Link:http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/82422/SUPPLEMENTS
/Wind+in+my+hair.html
Cast and the crew
The Protagonists : Rrishii Kaushik as Dr. Ujan Chatterjee, Aparajita Ghosh Das as HiyaOthers: Dr. B. D. Mukherjee as Dr. Amolendu Chatterjee, Arindam Sil as Dr. Shamoresh Ganguly, Saswati Guha Thakurta as Mrs. Elina O'brien, June Malia as Annie O'Brien, Kamalika Banerjee as Bashabdatta the Dietitian, Mithu Chakraborty as Matron Eva Das,Tota Roy Chowdhury as Dr. Romit Sen, Priya Paul as Manjari, later replaced by Sneha Chatterjee, Shantamashi-Manjari's Mother,
Chandrayee Ghosh
Chandrayee Ghosh
Chandrayee Ghosh is a Bengali Indian female model and Indian TV and film actress....
as Dr. Deepa, Sasawata Chatterjee as Dr. Moinak Roy and Debolina Dutta as his wife Dr. Barna Roy, Dr. Neeta,
Ushoshi Chakarabarty as Dr. Swati Raha, Ashok Kapoor, Anindyo Banerjee as Vicky, Pishimoni, Col Hiranmoy Sen & Mrs. Sen, Bayna the maid. Child Characters Mithai, Imli, Tithi, Kuttush, Diya.
Junior Doctors: Kaushani Roy, Shahana Sen, Ranjan, Saurav, Tukai, Nayona, Gogol, Uma, and supported by other Doctors, Avro and Ayan.
Nursing Staff: Shrabonti, Brishti, Ritu & Lisa
Admin Staff: Ekavalli Khanna as Receptionist Pooja, Romenda, Swapanda, Pobitroda, Muniya, the '(wo)man Friday' of "Tulip"
Directors: Anindo Banerjee & Joydeep Mukherjee
Story, Screenplay and Dialogues:
- Anuja Chatterjee
- Aditi Majumdar
- Joy Mukherjee
- Kaushik Bhattacharya
- Joydeep Mukherjee
- Sayantani Majumdar Nambiar
- Joy Dasgupta
Title Music: Jeet Ganguly
Singer: Monali Thakur
Camera:Premendu Bikash Chaki, Bapi Seth, Suman Kumar Das
Executive Producers: Indrani Mukherjee, Nishpal Singh
Producers: Aniruddho Roychoudhury, Jit Banerjee
Executive Producer from Star Jalsa: Aratrika Bhoumik
Story
The tag line of the series was "A Sweet Love Story". It was a love-story but of a different genre, in parts it was like "Mills and Boon" but the similarity ends there. A psychological undertone had given the story a different lining to its otherwise silk smooth texture.The male protagonist Dr. Ujan Chatterjee, an Oncologist by profession who lost his best friend and mentor, his mother when he was barely a boy and grew into an egotistic, rude, solitary man who preferred to remain cocooned in his own world, welcomed solitude to the point of extremity that he shunned out his own father and considered him an intruder. After successful completion of his medical studies in UK, he returned home and joined the 'Tulip' Nursing Home in Kolkata where once his father Dr. Amolendu Chatterjee-the renowned Neurologist, used to work and was one of the pillars of its growth. After passing away of Dr. Richard O'Brien, the founder of the Nursing Home, his wife, Elina, took over the responsibilities of running 'Tulip'and subsequently handed over charge of Tulip to her competent & efficient doctor-duo Dr. Moynak & Dr. Shomoresh and moved to the hills.
Ujan joined Tulip and came to be known as one of the best surgeons of Kolkata. The Nursing Home was small; its facilities were limited; but it was one of the most reliable places in the city because of its dedicated staff and professionally advanced Doctors.One day, in one of his solitary jaunts, to be with himself, Ujan went to Kurseong where, he saved a person's life by giving him timely medical treatment. The news spread in that sleepy little hill station. The priest of the local Church was Friend-Philosopher-Guide to Elina and in search of a Doctor, he heard of Ujan’s feat and took him to Elina who had suddenly fallen seriously ill.
Ujan decided to shift Elina to Tulip as he found her in a pretty bad physical condition and in need of an immediate and complicated surgery—neither the patient nor the young Doctor realized that they and their families knew each other since years. Elina had two daughters: her biological daughter, Annie and her adopted daughter, Hiya. Ujan first sighted Hiya in Kurseong when she was running in the hills with her kid friends and incidentally singing (a la Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music) his mother’s song. They had a tiff later when Hiya's gang of buddies were taking a feel of Ujan’s Binocular and as usual, he did not like that. What attracted Ujan towards Hiya was her beautiful voice. He found his mother in Hiya's songs, because his Maa was a prolific singer and “full of life” – which is what was mesmerising about Hiya. In Kolkata, Elina's condition did not immediately improve even after the surgery; and as Hiya was lonely without her 'Monima'(Elina), she came to Kolkata to be with her and then as if a magic happened: Elina started to respond to the treatment.
Thus Hiya started her search of life in the concrete jungle of Kolkata. The foster-mother and the daughter had such a connection of their souls which even blood-connection many times can not have. In spite of continuous angry arguments & clashes over various issues in Tulip, the apparently visible antagonism was just a cover for the inward undeniable magical attraction that Ujaan & Hiya kept feeling for each other. It was as if all the events lead to their meeting/facing each other again & again. Hiya's search ended with her most beautiful tryst with Destiny - she fell in love with the outwardly rough-n-rude but inwardly caramel-kernel like soft Ujan and they had a “Mills & Boon inspiring dream-come-true” relationship. Ujan got attracted to her open mindedness and Hiya, to his abrupt-straightforward - principled approach to life. The magical bonding between the two, happened because of their shares of solitude in life which they lived through and the bonding intensified when Hiya had a near-fatal accident in which she had a nasty head-injury and slipped into comatose state. Knowing that paralysis was unavoidable, Amolendu performed a complicated surgery and saved her life. Post surgery seeing 'his sunshine' lying on a bed and wheelchair-bound Ujan was depressed and heartbroken .He finally pushed himself up just for her—not only to instill a zest for life in Hiya but moreover so to keep his “life-source” Hiya forever with him, he decided to marry her. Shortly before the Wedding, Hiya “walked again !” – thanks to Ujan’s untiring efforts that his life (Hiya) lives a full and complete life again.A Hindu groom for a Christian bride. It was a wonderful wedding where vows were exchanged and garlands, too. There were no chanting of hymns or exchange of religious vows. Only songs of love and joy of life, only vows to love & cherish each other always. Angels too tiptoed in to bless them. On their wedding day, Manjari, daughter of Ujan's mother's friend reached Ujan's house.As expected, Ujan was astonished to see Mon[Pet name of Manjari, given by Ujan] after so many years because she remained only as a very special childhood friend to him with whom his mother’s precious memories were associated; though long back when they were kids, Aporna, Ujan’s mother, wrote in a letter to Mon’s mother her wish to see Mon as her daughter-in-law.Now, Mon had sought him out after so many years due to her mother’s serious condition. Her mother’s condition worsened and Ujan had to go and operate her, leaving Hiya at home, in the middle of their Fulshojjya. Even after the operation she died and Ujan took the responsibilities of taking care of Mon. Here the story took a twist. Mon’s desperate and unfulfilled desire of being Ujan’s wife was unknown to both Ujan and Hiya; they accepted her as their friend and ‘daughter’ of the Chatterjee Family;but all these good intentions did not have any meaning to Manjari. She wanted Ujan's love and Hiya's place in his life.So, Manjari started scheming and creating all sorts of practical problems in Ujan & Hiya's happy conjugal life; but her schemings did not have any effect; she started to feel frustrated and lonely .As a foil to Manjari, there was Dr.Romit Sen or Romit (Ujan’s colleague at Tulip), who was always there as single man support system to Hiya and Ujan. He loved Hiya but never expressed it till he was about to leave the world because of Leukemia. Romit left his only daughter to his best friend Hiya and Ujan and they too accepted her as their child; but then, Romit's uncle appeared on the scene and took away Romit's daughter, Imli,with him to Kurseong. Hiya shared a very special bonding with Imli because Imli saw her own mother Sabina in Hiya;but when Imli went away, Hiya felt a deep void within her and she wished to become a mother, in the real biological sense..Imli had arisened parental feelings in Ujan too and he also felt Hiya's agony; both of them started to plan about a family of their own.Their Honeymoon was long overdue; so, they went to Pelling just after Christmas. They had a wonderful time, both mountain-lovers as Hiya was from the hills and Ujan was a trekker by hobby, they enjoyed the breathtaking scenery and relived their good old days, far away from the madding crowd's ignoble strife. By that time in Kolkata, scheming Manjari had a co-hort in Vicky, Ujan's cousin brother and the two started to make plans to keep Ujan and Hiya in perpetual trouble .As if these two were not enough,in came established induatrialist Ashok Kapoor with his sinister plan of either to take over “Tulip” or to start a whole new Nursing Home with all sorts of modern medical facilities, to be a tough competitor of “Tulip” which was by then synonymous with Health-Care in Kolkata.What Kapoor did not realize and was incomprehensible to business-minded folk like him, was that the secret of success of "Tulip" was not just its facilities but its cheerful and homely atmosphere, created by its dedicated staff and a bunch of ever energized junior doctors who were there to face any kind of emergency situation at any time of a day or night. As individuals, they used to enjoy their shares of good things of life but while on duty, they were untiring:Drs.Avro-Ayan-Saurav-Ranjan-Gogol-Madhushree-Kaushani-Nayana-Shahana: everyone of them were impatient to learn something new from their seniors; ever ready to assist each other and when Hiya came, they were the ones who befriended her and later became her loyal "knights-in-armour". If "Tulip" was the lifeline of wellness then these Doctors were the lifeline of "Tulip". Elina, because of her absolute faith on her staff and Doctors did not bend to Kapoor's subtle offer of buying her dream "Tulip"; then Kapoor showed his true colours and involved Vicky-Manjari to convince Ujan to come to his Nursing Home: “Zeus" because he knew that Ujan was the main stay of "Tulip". Ujan saw through Kapoor and did not accept his offer. Again Manjari was forced to play a pivotal role to drag Ujan to "Zeus" and this time Ujan did not doubt his childhood friend's intentions:and agreed to her request to join Zeus as a confirmation of wanting to help her because previously, he reproached Mon antagonistically when she expressed her bleak desire of love from him. Ultimately, the secret game of Kapoor came out in the open during the course of a path-breaking surgery, successfully done by Dr.Ujan Chatterjee, in "Zeus", and everyone's conscience came into play: Manjari came to know about Kapoor's real intention of keeping Ujan at any cost; Ujan came to know about Kapoor's wrong ways of running a Nursing Home and Vicky-Manjari both came to know how Kapoor was using them to win this game to further his own ill intentions and grab all the limelight. Dr.Madhusree, who joined "Zeus" from "Tulip" to earn some more money for her Mother's treatment, and was the single witness to Kapoor's dangerous game plan, had a “face-off” with the planner himself. Her razor sharp comments and Ujan's refusal to accept any money after the surgery, awakened that hidden conscience in Kapoor who was a contemporary antagonist and was the real catalyst of all the murky & controversy embroiled situations. Though created by him nothing was ever proved against him rather these incidents became eye-openers for many.
But nothing made any difference in that belief and love which was there between Ujan and Hiya.One fine day, it was known that Hiya was pregnant; Hiya, a "child- woman" who never knew her parents and was nurtured and loved by her foster mother, was happy beyond anyone's imagination; Ujan’s love and affection showered on her at this happy hour and Elina’s gift of the responsibility of "Tulip", inspired Hiya to bring out of her mind’s closet, that calm and matured woman who could gracefully handle both the responsibilities. But suddenly all those happy moments came to a grinding halt as Hiya had a miscarriage. It was traumatic not only for Hiya but for Ujan, also.And this trauma brought a sea-change in Manjari, too.She took the initiative to bring Hiya back to her normal self; she accepted Vicky in her life. In the meantime Hiya was diagnosed as having Myotonic Dystrophy-a genetic disorder, by her Gynaecologist Dr.Deepa who opined that it could be fatal for Hiya to conceive.Hiya's dreams dashed; but still she stood up because she wanted their child. While Ujan did not want to take any risk on Hiya because of the disorder, Hiya was desperate in love to gift back Ujan his lost childhood in the form of their baby. So she went away from Ujan to undergo treatment and make herself physically fit to conceive, obviously without leaving any trace to find her which again made Ujan dejected & life-less, as he was, before meeting Hiya. While Hiya was away, her look alike,a 10/11 years old girl was admitted in "Tulip" and attracted Ujan’s affection; she was a patient of amnesia and during the course of her treatment, it was known that she had lost her parents in a road accident and her only family now was her aunt.Ujan named her Diya; took her to her aunt’s home but when he came to know that her aunt’s family was going to send her to an orphanage, he decided to adopt her as his daughter. Ujan with Manjari’s help announced his 2nd marriage to Manjari, a ploy to bring Hiya back. Hiya came back from her self-imposed exile, accepted Diya as their daughter and after the birth of Hiya and Ujan's baby boy, they had their feel of a complete happy family:it was 'love is in the air' at the end of the series.
Use of Music and Poems
"Ekhane Akash Neel" is a journey and this journey was more beautiful because of the perfect and sequence-synchronized use of Poems and Songs. It's not very common to use Poetry in such Television series but here, it was used not only to enhance the expressions of the characters but also to add a poetic touch to a scene.Renowned filmmaker Satyajit Ray's grandfather Upendrokishore Roychoudhury's and his father Sukumar Ray's writings were the frequently referred to sources. Their Poems, Limericks and the quaint phrases & expressions used in their inimitable style found frequent inclusion in the dialogues to bring that much wanted effect of comic relief even in serious scenes."Katukutuburo"-"Ghyanghyanshur"-"Gomratherium"-"Kumropotash" are a few such notable examples. A noteworthy scene of this kind is when Imli describes everyone in Ujan's house as "Ha-Ja-Ba-Ra-La" (the Bengali equivalent of Carroll's Alice in Wonderland). It was unique in her own way and perhaps totally new to the viewers also to hear about this once popular children's book interpreted in such a manner.Simple games, simple everyday habits, daily habits, a small word/gesture of affection/solidarity could be a source of the simple pleasures of life were shown with such elan in this story.
Music was an integral part of it, too. Tagore songs were used and interpreted in a contemporary set up but without losing any of its fervour, appeal and flavour. The innovative & stylish use of poignant Tagore songs which are pregnant with thoughts, enhanced the feelings & expressions of the characters and at the same time inspired the viewers to think, too.
One folk song which created quite a sensation in the music world because of its lilting tune and philosophical meaning, has been used in the series to portray a character’s inner thoughts : "Amar Bhitaro Bahire Antaro Antarey Achho Tumi...". It used to touch that deep quietude of the viewer's heart whenever it was played or sung in the course of the story.
A few modern Bengali songs were also used to show the effect of it in young hearts and it ended in creating flutters.
All these added colours to the imaginations.
The Directors and their Directions
Two different Directors handled the story of "Ekhane Akash Neel" in two different ways. Both were unique in their style of story-telling.If one created the Fairytale atmosphere, the other one brought out those fiendish characters, very important in a Fairytale to show the prowess of the main protagonists.
The use of two Directors brought about the transition of the Fairytale Prince & Princess to Real-Life Prince & Princess within the same tale. The viewers accepted them both. After all, it's one seven coloured wonderful rainbow, both ends of which were closest to their hearts.
Newspaper Articles
1. Obtuse Angle Blue Sky, Fresh Air by Manojit MitraHere's that rare thing—a Bengali TV serial that is sane, sensible and refreshing.I didn't see Ekhane Akash Neel (Star Jalsha, Mon to Friday, 7-30p.m.) from episode i.
The running Shashuri-Bou battles,the conspiracies over property,the vendetta of political Dadas and the banal humour, often involving a male domestic help(an anachronism) keep me away from the TV set in the evenings.I got hooked to EAN while channel- surfing on an idle evening.I didn't mean to stop for more than a minute or two but the dialogue was so refreshingly sensible.The characters sounded human.The whole bunch of young actors were competent and bubbly.
I kept at it every evening,much to the consternation of my wife but only initially.Very soon, she was hooked too and now it's become a family preoccupation.It's about the cross-currents within a nursing home, the pulls and pressures that dominate the lives of those running it,though at the centre there's a love story and a triangle is developing.
The heartening element is the anxiety of the film- maker to retain his sensibility all through, and not let crass commercialism take over for the sake of TRP.The doctors and nurses do not spend all their time flirting away; they treat patients, perform surgery, administer drugs,unlike in conventional cinema or serials.When they speak. they sound like people I know, and not like Romeo or Gabbar Singh.The sub-plots are being developed carefully,without wresting attention away from the central story.
What I find to be especially interesting, is the central character, Dr.Ujan Chatterjee, who is a hero with a difference.He is efficient, good-looking,respected, a heart-throb of all the girls, but unable to communicate to people.His inarticulate nature is landing him in all sorts of problems.He is too stern, too taciturn,and often rude without any provocation.And—what speaks highly of those behind the film-this is being talked about and a female colleague tells him (almost)that he is making a fool of himself. This is not the way heroes are treated in our cinema, are they?
You have to hand it to Anindya Bandyopadhyay, the director.Rishi Kaushik is highly impressive as Ujan; one would like to see how he fares elsewhere.The two other leading actors,Aparajita Ghosh Das and Tota Roy Choudhury fit the bill to a T.
I am waiting to see how all the knots are untied, and whether TRP forces any compromise.
2. Looking Ahead be Amrita Roychoudhury
The entire unit of "Ekdin Protidin" has come together again for a mega serial titled "Ekhane Aakash Neel", directed by Anindo Banerjee.
Actor Rrishii Kaushik,who is playing the lead said,"I play a Doctor who is very introvert, arrogant and short tempered.Aparajita Ghosh Das who plays a happy-go-lucky girl,is cast opposite me.Post "Ekdin Protidin", our pairing became a hit and people wanted to see more of us."
Though the storyline has some resemblance with the Hindi soap "Sanjivani" and "Dill Mill Gayye", Rrishii claimed that the treatment is far too different.
3. I'm too lazy":Anindo Banerjee by Ruman Ganguly
Are you a Producer's Director?
Absolutely! I don't have a dream script and I'm willing to mould myself according to the producers' needs...
You are working with the same team of "Ekdin Protidin" in "Ekhane Aakash Neel". Is it because you don't want to take risks?
(Laughs) I'm too lazy to start from scratch.I'm working with the same team because they know my working style and it becomes easier to deliver.But at the same time,I have cast a bunch of young artists in the serial who are playing junior doctors.I'm putting in a lot of effort to groom them. It gives me a kick to see freshers turn into better actors.
In megaserials, what is more important—script or direction?
Script. A top-shot or a long-shot does not matter. The audience needs to be glued to the show and it's the script that can actually generate that interest among them.
Everytime Ujan meets Hiya in "Ekhane Aakash Neel", the song "Aamar Hiyar Majhey.." plays. Don't you think it has become very predictable and boring? I agree it has.
4. Entertainment unlimited GenY is the current flavour of the season
A Report
Be it sports, politics and entertainment, the young brigade is making all the right noises.It comes as no surprise then that Star Jalsha too would cash in on the youth quotient.And the verdict is out on the wall.Barely seven months old,the channel is already the new numero uno.
In keeping with the 'Chalo Paltai' theme, Star Jalsha has lived up to its promises of youthful entertainment through megaserials like 'Bou Katha Kao', 'Durga', 'Ekhane Aakash Neel'... The channel is widening its horizon.
Keeping the young tastes in mind, even the channel had briefed Directors to accordingly shape their projects. "Ekhane Aakash Neel" has a Mills & Boon feel to it", says director Anindo Banerjee, while adding that he takes inputs from the young cast about college lingo and tries incorporating it in the show through colloquial dialogues.
5. Straight Talker by Supreeta Singh
Rrishii Kaushik does not know how to sweet talk.The tall and handsome Virgo man from Assam is extremely selective about the work he does. That's why after the hit serial "Ekdin Protidin", he signed up only one sitcom "Ekhane Aaksh Neel" which has taken TV viewers by storm. He will say yes to any other project only if it fits his bill of a good role. Right now all his time is taken up by "Ekhane Akash Neel" and no one is complaining.
Girls have fallen in love with your character Dr.Ujan Chatterjee in "Ekhane Aakash Neel".How romantic are you in real life?
I don't know how much and how many girls have fallen for the character. I am like any other normal guy who used to jhari-maro in College. People don't love me but the image that I portray in the serial. If I do a contradictory character people might not like me. Ujan is a non-romantic guy but in real life I am just the opposite.
6. Curtain falls on the set of "Ekhane Aakash Neel"
One of the leading shows on Star Jalsha, Ekhane Akash Neel comes to a happy ending on Saturday, 29 May 2010. Our most loveable pair Hiya & Ujaan finally resolve their differences & live happily ever after. After completing 484 episodes, Ekhane Akash Neel continues to be the most loved show in the television circuit. Ujaan and Hiya are household names and people tend to look up to the pair as they have become a perfect illustration for couples in love.
On this occasion, Mr. Yubaraj Bhattacharya, Creative Director, Star Jalsha, Mr. Anindo Banerjee, Director, Mr. Annirudhha Roychoudhury, Producer along with the entire cast and crew had gathered at the Technicians Studio 2. The cast shared their fantastic experience on the sets of Ekhane Akash Neel and recalled their days of fun and frolic and the hectic shooting schedules. Rishii Kaushik (playing the character of Ujaan), Aparajita Ghosh Das (playing the character of Hiya) along with Tollywood actors Deboleena Dutta, Chandreyee Ghosh and Tota were in all smiles and gladly pleased the shutterbugs. This was followed by a special cake cutting ceremony and handing over of mementos to the cast from Star Jalsha.
So, as the curtain falls on this love story, truly we can say the pair of Hiya & Ujaan was indeed a match made in heaven. Ujaan who became a heart-throb & Hiya, who was known for her beauty & cheerful nature, will continue to be remembered as the perfect jodi in all the years to come. And it would be quite appropriate here to add in a fairy tale style that they lived happily ever after…
7. Campus calling T'town stars by Priyanka Dasgupta
Few years ago,mainstream Bengali movies, with their washed out look and over-the-top stars mouthing melodramatic lines, didn't have any takers on city campuses.
Movies by SRK, Aamir or even, Ranbir,were a far better alternative. But the recent years have seen a transition of sorts.While Dev gets mobbed shooting on Park Street by a group of students from Loreto, neighbors of Jeet tell him about the growing interest of him among students of city's upmarket schools.
Says Shalmi Burman, Class xii, La Martiniere for Girls', "Tollywood is bipolar.While on the one hand it has very dhishum-dhishum kind of films, the others are meant for the intellectual crowd. There are some directors who are making effort to woo the young crowd with their middle-of-the-line cinema. Their efforts are showing even though they still have a long way to go."
Illustrating her POV, Shalmi says, "My mother used to pen the script for "Ekhane Akash Neel", and often my friends have asked me to reveal the storyline. Though I haven't noticed a similar kind of craze about Tollywood movies yet,..."
8. Lucky Transition By: Soma A. Chatterjee
Aparajita Ghosh-Das... is not in a hurry to sign films or serials though it was television that made her a household name.A few meaningful films have defined her as an actress of spirit and determination.
Which has been your favourite work till date?
There are many but one that comes up first is Pradipto Bhattacharya’s serial Pinky I Love You as the story had a very unusual angle. It is about the love of a boy named Ujjal, who lives in a world of fantasy and dreams of his love for a girl named Pinky. Most of his love is based on fantasising. Then one day, the girl gets raped and he fantasises that he has rescued her, though that is not the case in reality. Then, when he asks her, “You liked it, didn’t you?” her world collapses. She refuses to marry him and goes out of his life.
Then there are two major serials that I have worked in, Ek Din Protidin for Zee Bangla which is now over and Ekhane Akaash Neel on Star Jalsha which is currently being telecast on the prime slot everyday. Mohor of Ek Din Protidin is very different from Hiya of Ekhaane Akaash Neel but both characters are hot favourites among the young and the old alike. I do not treat television and cinema differently. So far as I am concerned, they are the same.
9. And they lived happily ever after Times of India. e-paper.
Soapaholics were in for a rude shock when the announcement of their favourite megaserial going off-air was made recently.So,for that one last time,the unit of Ekhane Akash Neel came together for a press conference at Technicians Studio 2 on Tuesday evening,where they were shooting for the final episode.As Ujaan (Rrishii) and Hiya (Aparajita) dressed up for a reel church wedding,there were curious glances all around.Said Aparajita,Every beginning has an end.Im glad that the megaserial has ended where it was needed.Else,it would have become tedious. Right now,the actor wants to take a break before taking up other offers.
10. Wind in my hair by Sarbani Sen
All artists love their art. But there comes a time when they need a sabbatical-even if it's for a few hours. This freshens up their perspective to create more magic with their art. We meet the artists who take a step away from art once in a while, to come back rejuvenated.
Rrishii Kaushik, Actor
As the camera rolls, Rrishii Kaushik, 28, dons the garb of Dr Ujaan Chatterjee in the TV soap, Ekhane Akasha Neel. Though his onscreen persona is that of a serious doctor, Kaushik, one of the popular actors on the small screen, is a fun loving and adventurous person. After a hard day of shooting, Kaushik unwinds with a motorcycle ride back home from Tollygunge studio on his trusty Bullet.He is also one of the six core members of the Royal Rider Bullet Club. Born and brought up in Tezpur, Assam, Kaushik had nurtured a love for Bullet bikes even as a young boy.
"Three years back we formed the club with a few like-minded people. I join them twice a year for long trips," says the actor. Among all their bike trips so far, an eight-day trip to Orissa in 2008 was most memorable. "The scenic view was beautiful while we rode our bikes near Mahanadi. We also headed to Tikarpada Wildlife Sanctuary on the Eastern Ghats," recalls Kaushik, adding, "It started raining when we hit the jungle and spotted wild elephants. The experience was exhilarating." Over the years, the actor has covered places such as Santiniketan, Shankarpur and Bhutan. "Because of my heavy work schedule, I squeeze in short trips," says Kaushik.
"We carry a road-map, use mobiles to stay connected and forbid alcohol during these travels." Once a trip is successfully completed, the srtist in Kaushik yearns to return to the TV studio.
About the Channel and the Production House
There should be no qualms or doubts to easily brand Ekhane Aakash Neel as a beautifully made television series which gave a very successful start to the Free-to-Air Channel, Star Jalsha – the Bengali language channel of the STAR TV Group. The Production House of this serial - Screenplay Films[www.screenplayfilms.com ] is a kind of exclusive boutique Film Production House and also an integral part of "Opus Communications Private Limited (162/A/93,Lake Gardens,Kolkata-700045,India) headed by Aniruddho Roychoudhury, National Award winning film director. The entrepreneur owner & his production house had gone through some real acid tests before the series finally took off because, the theme, nether the artistes nor the director were run-of-the –mill. As mentioned by the first Director in an interview “ it was at the explicit request of the channel for a " FRESH LOVE-STORY " that this kind of story was conceived. The same Director in an interview at the ending of the serial has expressed that they never could imagine the unexpected & insurmountable popularity that this serial achieved for itself. A very fitting result to a path-breaking initiative of the new channel with the by-now famous iconic slogan " Chalo Paltai " - Let's make a change !Links to newspaper articles
1. Obtuse Angle:Blue Sky,Fresh AirBy:Manojit Mitra.
Posted on: Friday.Jan 16.2009 at 04:19:49 p.m.
http://www.kolkatamirror.com/index.aspx?page=article§id=10&contentid=2009011620090116161949678ef630753§xslt=.
2. Looking Ahead
By: Amrita Roychoudhury.TNN.Aug.22.2008.12:11a.m.IST
The Times of India,Kolkata,Entertainment
[ 3390024.cms.htm ]
Link:timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/3390024.cms
3."I'm too lazy": Anindo Bandyopadhyay
By: Ruman Ganguly.Dec.11.2008.12:55a.m.IST
Times of India,Kolkata,Entertainment
[ 3819159.cms.htm ]
Link:http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:xrA8PSz0XmYJ:timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-interviews/Im-too-lazy-Anindo-Banerjee/articleshow/3819159.cms+old+articles+on+ekhane+akash+neel+in+times+of+india&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=in
4. Entertainment Unlimited: Gen Y is the current flavour
of the season
A Report
Apr.26.2009.12a.m.IST.
Times of India,Kolkata
[ 4448533.cms.htm ]
Link:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
Entertainment/Entertainment-unlimited/
articleshow/4448533.cms
5. Straight Talker
By: Supreeta Singh
Monday.Aug.31.2009.
Kolkata Mirror-City Diary-Interviews
Link:http://kolkatamirror.com/index.aspx?page=article
§id=9&contentid=2009083120090831110513703572075
c9§xslt=
6.Curtain falls on the set of Ekhane Akash Neel
Kolkata, May 28, 2010
Star Jalsha-Television
www.tollyworld.com beta
7.Campus calling T'town stars
By: Priyanka Dasgupta
June23.2010.TNN.12a.m.IST
Times of India.Kolkata.Entertainment
[ 6079280.cms.htm ]
Link:timesofindia.indiatimes.com/.../news.../articleshow
/6079280.cms -
8.Lucky transition
By: Soma A Chatterji
May22. 2009.
Link:www.screenindia.com/news/lucky-transition/463506/ -
9.And They Lived Happily Ever After
Times of India. epaper.
Link:http://lite.epaper.timesofindia.com/mobile.
aspx?article=yes&pageid=27&edlabel=TOIKM
&mydateHid=31-05-2010&pubname=&edname=
&articleid=Ar02703&format=&publabel=TOI
10.Wind in my hair
India Today.in
Supplement.4 February.2010
Link:http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/82422/SUPPLEMENTS
/Wind+in+my+hair.html