Local Flavour, Foreign Land

After Madhubala on Colors — with grand sets, larger-than-life characters and Bollywood for backdrop — opened to a good response earlier this month, another big-budget production is set to go on air. Zee recently announced the launch of Rab Se Sona Isshq, a show set in Punjab and London.

A love story, it offers a mix of old with the new. While it uses Punjab's lush green fields and London as the backdrop, the makers, Jay Mehta Productions, have handpicked Bulleh Shah's poetry to set the mood for love. Noted artistes Reshma and Abida Parveen will be rendering the sufi compositions for the show. "It's a story about people's dreams and convictions and how they chase them, sometimes to be dealt with one reality check after another. Punjab, where it all starts, is synonymous with love. It is the land of legendary lovers Heer-Ranjha, Sohni-Mahiwal, Mirza-Sahibaan. London, where the story progresses, has a unique character that lends beautifully to romance," says Sukesh Motwani, Head - Fiction Programming, Zee TV.

The story revolves around Saahiba, a girl deserted at the altar by her fiance, Ranvir, who dreams of making it big in London. She follows him to the foreign land, determined to win him back. In the past, shows like Des Mein Niklla Hoga Chand (2001-2005) on Star Plus and Hum Pardesi Ho Gaye (2001) on Sony that used the US as settings, were extremely popular and also critically acclaimed.

While newbie Ekta Kaul from Jammu plays the coy Saahiba, Ashish Sharma of Chandragupta Maurya will be essaying Ranvir. Kannan Malhotra, as a sensitive, supportive friend to Saahiba, completes the love triangle. "Some of the greatest stories ever told are of love," says Kinnari Mehta, one of the producers, "With no saas bahu or marriage part of the story, it is a love triangle that will keep viewers guessing," adds Mehta. The daily show will go on air on July 16.

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