Zee TV’s forthcoming show lajwanti will narrate a moving love story set in the backdrop of the Partition. Producer Ila Bedi Dutta tells Arjita Mishra that she researched for over a decade to recreate the work by her grandfather Rajinder Singh Bedi
As part of giving homage to her grandfather, Rajinder Singh Bedi, Ila Bedi Dutta has been able to translate his most widely-read story, lajwanti into a television show in the year of his 100th birth anniversary.
We’ve heard about the love stories of Heer-Ranjha, laila-Majnu and Romeo-Juliet. “Partition remains one of Indian history’s most challenging times as it saw the largest population movements ever recorded and a complete breakdown of law and order. It threw up countless human stories — some inspiring, some heart wrenching, many of which have been chronicled beautifully in books. Television has not explored this epochal event adequately and we saw great merit in presenting one such story, lajwnati,” said Pradeep Hemjadi, Zee TV business head.
A similar fiction, lajwanti was written by a prominent Urdu writer Rajinder Singh Bedi which revolves around a woman and her turbulent love story. The story is about separation during partition and a twist of circumstances that question the sanctity of lajwanti’s love and loyalty.
To recreate the magic of the tragic love story, the producer researched and was able to convert the short story into a television series. “Today is a very emotional day for me as I am able to convert my grandfather’s most widely read story—lajwanti into a TV show. I have been working on this story for the past 15 years. The adaptation of his story is my homage to him in the year of his 100th birth anniversary,” said Dutta.
The forthcoming show is based on a love story from the time of Partition of India and Pakistan in 1947. The show will have Sid Makkar and debutante Ankita Sharma as the lead pair.
Talking about the show, Dutta explained, “It is a love story of lajwanti, a village girl who is very courageous and stands up for the truth. She initially marries a city boy, Sunderlal who thinks he owns his wife. He is from the generation where a man’s worth was calculated on the basis of how well he controlled his wife. lajwanti falls in love with Sunderlal and tolerates his temper. The Partition, however, is the turning point in the relationship of lajwanti and Sunderlal.
Makkar will be seen in a daily soap after a long time. According to him, “I haven’t done any daily soaps since the past seven years because I don’t like doing them. There, a single scene is drawn or extracted for two or three days but this story is different. I had never read the story before. The first audition that I gave was really bad, as I was not interested in doing the show but I got a call from Ila and she wanted me to give another audition. I went to her office and she narrated me the story. I liked the story and decided to be a part of it.”
The actor who has earlier worked in films luck by Chance, Turning 30 et al. told that since he is currently busy with the shoot, he would not be signing any movie for now. “I would like to do a film with Ila as she is a very good writer. But I am not going to sign any film because I am doing lajwanti and I want to dedicate my time to it. I work for 25 days in a month so I will not be getting time for any movie.”
Manik Bedi, a renowned actor and grandson of Rajinder Singh Bedi is also a part of the show shared. He said, “My character’s name is Kishorilal and I am portraying Sundarlal’s father. He is a businessman from lahore. I feel lucky to have got a chance to work in this show as the story was written by my grandfather.”
When asked about her role Sharma said, “I got my dream role in my first show. Actresses like Jaya Bhaduri and Vyjayanthimala have played a role in the story by Bedi saab and now I am given this chance to play the role of lajwanti.”