Media news: Sai Baba marks Ramanand Sagar's return to the small-screen after a long hiatus

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Media news: Ramanand Sagar is back By: Shaheen Parkar September 17, 2005

The small screen’s pioneers of mythological dramas, the house of Sagars, are

back with their latest offering, Sai Baba. This project, which they prefer to

term as a mytho-biopic, has been conceived by the grand patriarch Ramanand

Sagar himself.

Launching in OctWhat’s interesting is that Sagar made history with Ramayan in

1987, and then made Krishna in 1996. Now, it’s Sai Baba in 2005. This weekly

one-hour show airs on Star Plus on Sundays at 8 pm, beginning October 9. It

will precede Kaun Banega Crorepati 2 — a case of the living god before the

screen god?

History repeats itself“Three generations of the Sagars are simultaneously into

production and each with varied fare according to their tastes,” says Prem

Sagar, son of Ramanand Sagar. Incidentally, the third generation of the Sagars

is making youth centric shows like Hello Dollie Aur Uska Magic Bag (Star

Plus).“Even though our father is 87 years old, he is totally involved. After

Ramayan, he was overwhelmed with Krishna, which came a decade after Ramayan.

Now that it is almost 10 years post Krishna, he is fully immersed with Sai

Baba. He has researched and executed it thoroughly,” adds Prem Sagar.

No stars, pleasePlaying the title role of Sai Baba is Mukul Nag, a National

School of Drama graduate, who was earlier seen as Sudama in Krishna. “We can’t

take stars to play such roles, their starry presence will overshadow the

character,” says Prem. Also essaying key roles are Anu Kamal and Kumar

Hegde.Sai Baba is being shot at Sagar Film City, near Baroda, Gujarat. “We have

recreated Shirdi in our sets.We have taken great care in exact detailing of the

most minute aspects, even the location of the neem tree,” he adds.Incidentally,

two years ago, the Sagars took a break from mythos with a soap titled Arzoo Hai

Tu, which aired on SaharaOne as their new generation had new tastes. Sagar

Entertainment has also produced Vikram aur Betal, Jai Ganga Maiya, Shri

Krishna, Alif Laila, Gurukul and Hatim for the small screen.

Sai Baba returns to small screenPosted online: Friday, September23, 2005 at 0000 hours IST

Several movies have been made on this saint, even the small-screen has devoted

space to this legendary soul and now the Sagars are producing a serial on Sai

Baba for Star Plus. Sai Baba marks Ramanand Sagar’s return to the small-screen

after a long hiatus. The pioneer of mythos on the small-screen, Sagar had

directed the record-making Ramayan in 1987. His next Godly serial Shri Krishna

made Rs 130 crores for Doordarshan and now in 2005, the thespian is back to

produce and direct Sai Baba. The series will be aired from October 9, every

Sunday evening between 8.00-9.00 pm just before KBC 2. As Prem Sagar jests,

“People will first pray to Sai Baba and then get ready to win the moolah.” Sai

Baba is the story of the humble fakir who became a saint from Shirdi, a town

situated in the far off Nasik, in Maharashtra. To this day the birth and

parentage of Sai Baba is still a mystery, but today Sai Baba is worshipped by

devotees from all religions and faiths. If Ayodhya is closely associated with

Lord Rama, Mathura with Lord Krishna then Shirdi is known only for Sai Baba,

the humble barefooted saint who was always there for the needy. His ‘miracles’

brought people flocking to meet him. For the series, the Sagars have

constructed a special set costing Rs 30 lakhs in Sagar Filmcity in Baroda. It

took over three months to recreate the entire township where Sai Baba resided.

“Pains have been taken to adhere to authenticity and erect the Khandoba temple,

Dwarkamai, neem ka ped etc,” informs Prem Sagar. A NSD actor Mukul Nag who had

played the role of Sudama in Shri Krishna is playing the title role.

source:screen India & web mid-day

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