Manasi turns producer

The actor’s dreams have turned real by producing the reality show ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Hungama’

“I felt butterflies in my stomach before the show’s launch,” says Manasi Roy whose first show as a producer ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Hungama’ (Zee Music) went on air last week. The show is an extension of ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2007’ (Zee) and showcases the backstage drama and the goings on in the lives of the talent-hunt contestants.

Apparently, production was something that Manasi always wanted to attempt. “My father (Arvind Joshi) used to write and direct plays and my mother would produce them. Somewhere, I too had resolved to start my production house,” says Manasi. The actor (won recognition as ‘Kkusum’ after replacing Nausheen Ali Sardar) adds, “Moreover, when I used to act, I would often ponder over the way a subject was being treated. I would contemplate other ways of treating it. That’s when I thought of starting a production house and making shows the way I wanted to. So Rohit (Roy, actor and husband) and I set up Magicworks, our company.” 

Manasi is enjoying her new role to the hilt. “It’s exciting to be a producer. There is no limit to how much one can do. It unleashes your creativity to the fullest. Of course, there is lot of pressure and stress. But it’s fun. I am learning to look at things in a different perspective, which I hadn’t as an actor. In due course, I have realised that this job is only for those who are passionate about production,” she says.

Although Manasi has set off with a reality show, she is also open to producing shows belonging to other genres. “We are developing a few non-fiction ideas,” she says. So who really calls the shots, Rohit or Manasi? Manasi laughs, “I’d like to believe it’s a democracy. But mostly, it’s our daughter Kiara who calls the shots.”    

p_sapana@dnaindia.net