Star Role

Star Role
SANJUKTA SHARMA

FEBRUARY 10: The creative team behind Antaral - A Gap In Time the Tuesday night prime time tele-serial knew they had a solid USP when Om Puri signed to play the lead role. Puri's long association with associate director Aparajita Krishna and a good script lured him back to the small screen after a long gap his last brush with the small screen were serials like Govind Nihalani's Tamas, Shyam Benegal's Discovery Of India, Sadgati and then Kakkaji Kahin. Antaral, of course, is in a different league altogether. It is "a dramatic TV soap", says Puri. "Preeti Dayal and I had developed this story long back, before Star Plus showed interest and even Om came to know about it," says Krishna.

Shri V, played by Om Puri, is a small-town-librarian-turned-new-age-guru. He has mastered the art of marketing new-age lifestyle a villain trapped in his lost love that haunts his emotional and moral being. Was that good enough? "The serials being churned out on TV these days are mediocre, typical "fast-buck-making" rackets.This script had the right blend of a good story and duality in characterisation," says Puri. Which is why Krishna is not overly concerned with TRPs. "I want to generate an opinion among the audience used to watching serials on the new urban lifestyle."