Cinderella ki shaadi

It has the perfect ingredients of a daily soap — a village girl, brought up by her cruel aunt and uncle, dreams about her prince charming and gets married to a rich and handsome businessman but only for the story to take a twist!

‘Banoo Main Teri Dulhann’ (Zee) which will replace ‘Tumhari Disha’ from August 14 at the 8 pm slot promises to be a show with a difference. Incidentally, the debuting pair, Divyanka Tripathi (Vidya) and Sharad Malhotra (Sagar), is a ‘Zee Cinestar Ki Khoj’ discovery.

Divyanka is from Bhopal and has done telefilms for Doordarshan. Having an uncanny resemblance to actor Gauri Pradhan, the debutante says, “I am extremely traditional and shy. I am glad to have been given this opportunity. After ‘Zee Cinestar…’ I did not think of Bollywood because I am not comfortable with the glamour attached to it.”

However, for Sharad Malhotra (Sagar) television was a natural progression. “After participating in ‘Zee Cinestar…’ I came to Mumbai from Kolkata and have done several commercials for the last four years,” he says.

Both the stars agree that television is a much safer industry. “The risk factor is much less compared to Bollywood. If you don’t click, you disappear,” says Sharad.  Divyanka is quick to add, “The visibility is also very high in television. People see you every single day.”

Sharad is also unperturbed by the fact that most soaps these days have only women protagonists. “I don’t think it matters. In ‘Banoo…’ there will be several twists and turns and the focus will be equally divided,” he says.

nuzhat@dnaindia.net