Starry effect

It was just another sunny-day at the Sri Ram College of Commerce campus. We could see a bunch of students dragging themselves to class while another group cheered around the canteen area. But in another part of the campus, students were trying to peer through a crowd to see what was happening inside. From a distance we could faintly hear words like “roll camera” and “cut.” 

We overheard some over-excited students discussing, “about that girl Kusum from the show Saraswatichandra,” and realised that they were referring to television actress Shiny Doshi. While these girls were star struck, there were several others who went on with their academic pursuits.Doshi, a popular face in television, was shooting a scene at the Delhi college campus for her forthcoming show Sarojini-Ek Nayi Pehal. The few hours of shoot generated such buzz that students from Daulat Ram College and even Miranda House came down to get a glimpse. “When I found out that Shiny was shooting a sequence in the movie I immediately called my friend from Daulat Ram. She used to love Saraswatichandra,” said Payal Gaur, a second year student. 

Accompanying Doshi was her co-actor Mohit Sehgal. After they wrapped up their shoot at the campus, they happily interacted with the students, posed for photographs (read selfies and photobombing) and gave autographs. The campus part of the shoot went hassle-free but they were in for a surprise when the crew took it to the streets. 

People came out of shops, the neighbouring chai wallah forgot to turn off his gas on time, letting the milk simmer out of the saucepan and making his tea stall a little messier and nearby rickshaw wallahs gathered around to see what was happening. It was quite a funny scene considering the fact it was not a film shoot with big stars. 

“The way people have stopped, it almost feels like being a superstar,” Doshi commented, looking around her. We come to know from Mukesh Sahoo, a chuski wallah that it was not everyday that a television show was shot in a college campus. “Specially when the entire star cast in from Mumbai,” he pointed out.  To that Anwar Sharif, a rickshaw puller added, “We generally watch television shows so we know these actors by face. And to watch the shoot of a TV show is a treat for us because had it been a movie, there would have been guards, security and these big men (referring to bouncers). Atleast here, we can watch from close quaters.”

We come to know from Doshi that the shot was purposefully set in North Campus because the makers wanted the show to be realistic. “We wanted it to be realistic. So instead of shooting indoors with props and set surroundings, we decided to shoot in the college campus because I am playing the role of a DU student, aspiring to be a teacher. She is a very practical and strong girl and believes in women empowerment. She thinks education plays very important role in one’s life,” she said.

The show is set in the rustic interiors of Uttar Pradesh, the show traces the journey of a strong, well-educated girl, who believes in Women empowerment and equal rights for every one.While shooting for the show, Sehgal faced a lot of problem while speaking in UP language . “It took a lot of effort to speak like Somendra. But I’m having a great time perfecting the accent,” he stated. Pankaj Tripathi is playing the role of Sarojini’s father-in-law. He is a chauvinistic person refusing to cow down to his controlling way. He believes that women should always be suppressed, they are not meant to compete with men power in any sense.