'I want to cater to the entire family'

Given that most entertainment on Indian television comprises largely of
saas-bahu serials or reality shows, it comes as a refreshing change when one takes a path unexplored.

Television director and actor TN Seetharam, popularly known as TNS, is one such artiste, who has not only made serials with unconventional storylines but also succeeded in portraying new themes on the small screen. After a brief gap, the director is back on ETV Kannada with a new series called Maha Parva, a political satire that revolves around the lives of three women and how they overcome the challenges that they face.

During the launch of the show, the director says that the most challenging thing about making a Kannada serial is trying to grasp the attention of the viewer. “A lot of people either watch Hindi serials or are hooked to reality shows. To gain their attention, one has to not only have a good storyline but also package it in a different way, so they feel that the 30 minutes they spend watching the show has not gone to waste,” says TNS.

Maha Parva, which means great transition, focusses on how people are slowly forgetting the meaning of Indian dreams and are blindly following the big American dream. “After independence, there was a lot of transition in terms of figuring out what being ‘Indian’ means. But I feel the biggest transition can be witnessed now, when the young are not aware of their roots but are ready to pursue the American dream,” he adds.

Apart from directing, TNS is also playing the role of a criminal lawyer, Chandrashekhar Prasad, in the programme. “The court scene is a common factor in most of my serials and in this too, fans will not be disappointed. But yes, if there is a change, I have brought that in the way that I have packaged the serial. There was a time when people used to call my serials the ‘mother of all serials’ and slowly, they started referring to them as the ‘serial for all the mothers’. I want to cater to the entire family now,” he adds.

Parameshwar Gundhkal, programming head, ETV Kannada, says, “There has always been criticism that Kannada serials are inspired by the Hindi counterparts but I would like to clarify that on our channel, we have only two adaptations and nine original formats. That should say a lot. The association that the channel has had with TNS has been a long-standing one. And now that he is back after a break, there is definitely a lot of expectations and hype and I hope that people will enjoy it.”

Maha Parva also stars Sushma Bharadwaj, Sparsha and Varsha. The music is
composed by Praveen Godkhindi. The show airs on ETV Kannada from Monday to Friday at 9.30 pm.