| NEW DELHI: With Meri Awaz Ko Mil Gayi Roshni, Fox's
Production is launching its first serial in India, which will replace KBC 3.
Fox is also slated to launch another afternoon daily soap in the middle of
this year, Fox Television Studios India country head Deepak Segal revealed to
indiantelevision.com today. Interestingly, this is
going to be a soap with a major difference. It would be a musical, with lots of
songs built into the narrative. Though Segal would rather not call it a 'musical
serial'.
"Do we call our films
'musical films' - though they have songs? In the same way, in our serial, songs
punctuate the path of the story at emotional stress points, happy or sad. And
no, every episode does not have a song," he said. "Good music
and song can only add to the emotional experience," he added, though this
serial would admittedly have a different aspect, and seven songs have been shot
already for the coming episodes. "Given the spate of channels, platforms,
etc all needing more quality content, it now seems the right time to be in India,"
Segal said, responding to a query as to why it took them so long to come forth,
despite a long relationship with Star TV. "We have the story worked
out for about one year-plus," Segal said, There has been nothing of
this sort before, so where did they get the idea from… is there a similar
serial in the west? Segal said, "We had toyed with this idea four or
five years back, but could not get going. And I do not know if there is a similar
show in the west." In this context, he said that the concept is by
Khalil Hasan. The scripts has been written by Irshad Kamil and Reshma Khan, music
is by Jeet Ganguly and lyrics by Nida Fazli. The Creative Director of the project
is Guroudev Bhalla. But what kind of research did Fox do to feel that this
add-on concept of many songs in a serial would do well? Surprisingly, Segal says:
"It is more from the gut." The bulk of the series is shot in Mumbai.
But for the opening few episodes the serial was shot in Pondicherry, he informed.
Asked what Fox bases their TRP projections on for this new show, or the
USP that will bring in sponsors and advertisers, Segal says: "This is better
answered by Star, but just one point - everyone hopes that his or her own show
would set new benchmarks in ratings. The music and promotion based around that
would be a new USP for us," Segal did not wish to respond to who are
the sponsors or advertisers tied up so far and who all are expected to join. Asked
about the cost of production, he parried and said, "Apart from the added
cost of recording seven songs for the first phase of the story, our budgets are
exactly what the current average industry budgets are." And what is
Fox's investment level in India, he said, "There is one more afternoon daily
in production slated for mid year. Current investments are in line with the production
of two dailies. We will bump as and when required." Meri Awaz Ko
Mil Gayi Roshni is the story of a talented 19-year old small-town girl, who
lands up in Mumbai to sing for an audition. But destiny has something else
in store for her, even as her nightingale of a voice goes unrecognised. A heartbreak
is in the offing, and life turns out to be one big bumpy ride. Will she
be able to pick up the pieces, and move on? Will her voice get the recognition
it deserves? Will she get the man she sacrificed everything for The half-hour
serial will be telecast from 23 April at the 9 pm prime time slot that is now
occupied by KBC 3. As for the 9:30 pm slot, it will be yet another Balaji
soap Kasturi. | 
