A lot like love

New show

Interestingly enough, Dhoop Kinare was originally made in Pakistan almost two decades ago and was written by Haseena Moin. The story is about two doctors who meet professionally, and eventually fall in love despite a significant age gap between them, and the ramifications that follow.

Explains Kamlesh Pandey, veteran script writer who has adapted the show to Indian sensibilities and created Kuchh To Log Kahenge, “It is interesting to know how Dhoop Kinare was created. Haseena Moin took up a challenge posed by a friend to write a serial’s story in just two hours and conceptualised the characters — Dr Ahmed Ansari and Dr Zoya. Thus, Dhoop Kinare was born. The show was extremely popular in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s and I still remember standing for hours outside a video parlour to get my hands on the VHS tapes of the serial.”

The Indian adaptation will feature Mohnish Behl and Krittika Kamra in lead roles as Dr Ashutosh and Dr Nidhi respectively. “I always envisioned Behl playing Dr Ashutosh. I like his work as an actor. I knew he would do full justice to his role. For Dr Nidhi’s character, we needed a younger actress and Kritika Kamra fit the bill. I did workshops with both of them and their chemistry was bang on. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised by Kritika. She got into the skin of the character without trying to emulate Zoya in any way.”

While Behl has played the role of a senior doctor in Sanjeevani and Dill Mill Gayee, he admits that this role is different. “Love is an emotion that transcends barriers like age. As long as the couple can connect and have genuine feelings for each other, age is never an issue. The relationship the lead protagonists share in this show reflects a similar sentiment,” explains Behl. He adds further, “For me, playing Dr Ashutosh was a challenge.

I have a lot to live up to since the performances in the original serial were exemplary. But I have intentionally refrained from watching any episodes of Dhoop Kinare as I did not want to get influenced by the original performances.”

Unlike Behl, Krittika watched all the episodes of the original serial. “My character is very bubbly and chirpy, very similar to Arohi — the character she played in Kitni Mohabbat Hai. But Arohi was a loud Punjabi girl while Dr Nidhi is a lot more controlled as an individual. I had to tone down my voice to suit the role.” She adds, “I hope viewers accept me as Dr Nidhi the way they accepted Arohi.”

But haven’t we seen too many of such medical world dramas? Mohnish Behl retorts immediately, “This is a love story where the two protagonists happen to be doctors. The story and treatment is different from other shows.”

Let’s hope it is.