In conversation with Ashish Golwalkar, Weekend Programming Head, Star Plus

Remember the story of the rabbit and the tortoise! Though the rabbit ran faster, he lost the race as he stopped by to rest while the tortoise won the race trudging the entire path in his own slow speed. But the Hindi GEC leader Star Plus is firing on all cylinders. Yes, the channel recently launched Mad in India and Ishq Kills as part of its weekend programming, but they are not stopping to breathe easy. And the channel’s weekend star is none other than the weekend programming head Ashish Golwalkar. In a conversation with Tellychakkar.com, Ashish spoke about comparisons between Mad in India and Comedy Nights with Kapil and more. Excerpts. The comparison between Comedy Nights with Kapil and Mad In India has already begun? Yes, we knew that there would be comparisons, but it’s different. This is a mad show. But we are not against comparison for if the content makes people laugh, the audiences wouldn’t mind watching both the shows. In fact, the number of hours given to comedy as a genre on Hindi GECs is so less that we will fill in the deficit. In fact we feel that if someone else also launches a comedy show, it can co-exist. The best examples are the saas-bahu dramas. We have so many of them, yet they are still co-existing. Is that why you chose to beam the new comedy show at 9 pm instead of 10 pm to avoid a clash with Comedy Nights? There is no point in cannibalizing. That’s a great show (Comedy Nights with Kapil) and I am an avid watcher of it. I just feel that we can co-exist and give better entertainment to viewers. How did you handle the controversies surrounding the star of your show Sunil Grover aka chutki? That show (Comedy Nights with Kapil) has gone better and better post Sunil’s exit. So, I don’t think his entry in our show has affected anyone. A similar controversy had engulfed both the channels even after Giaa Maanek’s exit from Saath Nibhana Saathiya. Comments… Since Saath Nibhana Saathitya is the number three show, even post Giaa’s exit, nothing happened to its popularity. I personally feel that the stars of a show are the writers and not the actors. Hence all these controversies are just uncalled for. The set of Mad in India is different. Could you throw light on what all went into the making of the set? Since the creative team wanted to do something different, hence the rotating set. This has never happened in India but in the US, it’s common. We got Omung Kumar on board and shared the idea with him and he loved it. It took about 20-25 days to create the set. The dichotomy that we have here is of the haves and the have nots (first half describes the haves while the other describes the have nots). We have also seen shows like Ishq Kills on Bindass? An XYZ show will look similar to another show. Comparisons are bound to happen, no matter what you make. Hence it’s about how fresh your perspective is.