‘Ek Hasina Thi’ is about women empowerment: Siddharth P Malhotra

I can’t even watch half the shows currently on air because in most of them, everybody looks upset. There are just black or white characters, whereas in real life, all characters are in shades of grey. Why do people in TV have to be Ram and Sita? Can’t we have normal people? We are really creating a new benchmark in writing through the show.
As far as the title of the show is concerned, it was later changed to Ek Hasina Thi from its previous title, Daag. We changed it because we thought Daag implied negative emotions and for a show about empowerment, it didn’t work. The plot is just not about the hero and heroine. The show amalgamates Durga’s journey (Sanjeeda Sheikh) to the journey of Simone Singh’s character (Sakshi Goenka). Both these characters and their journey interconnect to form a big plot. Even the mother and father have a story. Sanjeeda Sheikh was the first girl I wanted for the show but her casting took a long time. Pratyusha Banerjee came in between but then she went for Bigg Boss. For me, there was only one heroine — Sheikh with whom I had earlier worked in Jaane Pehchaane Se… Ye Ajnabee. She is a thorough professional and never complains. When I asked Vatsal Seth if he would play a grey role, which is completely opposite to his chocolate boy looks, he readily agreed. He was also offered Bigg Boss and he let go of 12 to 15 shows because of this show.

We have never made such an edgy and commercial show for television. It is high voltage, high on energy and not over the top. But the greatest challenge would be the 8 pm slot we have been given, which is a huge headache. There are competitive shows across channels at the same time. My family watches Jodha Akbar (Zee TV) while Balika Vadhu (Colors) also has its own set of loyal followers. But Jodha Akbar is an amazing show and Ekta (Kapoor) is a good friend whom I talk to everyday. I look up to her for vision and creativity. The challenge would be to provide good content, from one episode to the next.