Manoj Bidwai’s new ventures

Manoj Bidwai is not seen much on television these days. His last stint was in Meri Aawaaz Ko Mil Gayi Roshni as but now he is out of sight. We caught him in an exclusive interview talking about his show Meri Aawaz…, new show Shaadi Street and Bollywood flicks. You are not seen in Meri Aawaaz…? My character landed in jail. I was supposed to re-enter in September but nothing happened. I don’t know what went wrong. It could be the change in story line or time slot that restricted my entry. I don’t want to enquire into why they are not bringing me back. If they need me they’ll call me. Tell us something about your new show Shaadi Street? It’s a romantic comedy triangle between me, Rati Pandey and Hrishikesh. The story is based on a street in Banaras where you get all wedding materials but nobody over there gets married. It’s a famous street and my character Nikhil wants to build a mall over there. In between he meets a girl and falls in love with her. Rati Pandey will be opposite me. Could you elaborate more about your character Nikhil Oberoi? Nikhil Oberoi is a fun loving person and son of a rich businessman who is just back from the U.S. After studying in Harvard University he settles in India and wants to help out his countrymen. He has his own ideas of running the business and tries to sign in the contracts from the street where he’ll be building the mall. When will this show be aired? Shaadi Street is all set to launch. Maybe it’s after Diwali or by the end of November. It’s a prime time weekly which will air for one hour. The production house is still discussing on it. So what’s the next plan of action? I’ve another show in my pocket which will be again for a mainline channel and I’ll be playing the lead. I can’t reveal much as it’s in the initial stages still. I can just tell you that it will be a prime time tale. Beside television, there are two films I’ve worked in - Riwaaz and The Other Side. Riwaaz should hopefully release this year and the second film will release next year.