Talk:Ekhane Aakash Neel (2008 TV series)

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Note: The unwikified text below was moved from the article. Sole Soul (talk) 23:36, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

There should be no qualms or doubts to easily brand Ekhane Aakash Neel as a beautifully made television series which gave a  very successful start to the Free-to-Air Channel, Star Jalsha – the bengali language channel of the STAR TV Group. The Production House of this serial - Screenplay Films[www.screenplayfilms.com ] is a kind of exclusive boutique Film Production House and also an integral part of "Opus Communications Private Limited (162/A/93,Lake Gardens,Kolkata-700045,India) headed by Aniruddho Roychoudhury, National Award winning film director. The entrepreneur owner & his production house had gone through some real acid tests before the series finally took off because, the theme, nether the artistes nor the director were run-of-the –mill. As mentioned by the first Director in an interview “ it was at the explicit request of the channel for a " FRESH LOVE-STORY " that this kind of story was conceived. The same Director in an interview at the ending of the serial has expressed that they never could imagine the unexpected & insurmountable popularity that this serial achieved for itself . A very fitting result to a path-breaking initiative of the new channel with the by-now famous iconic slogan " Chalo Paltai " - Let's make a change !

 The Artists:

The Protagonists : Rrishii Kaushik as Dr.Ujan Chatterjee, Aparajita Ghosh Das as Hiya

Others : Dr.B.D.Mukherjee as Dr.Amolendu Chatterjee, Arindam Sheel as Dr.Shamoresh Ganguly,Shaswati Guhathakurta as Mrs.Elina O'brien, June Malia as Annie O'Brien, Mithu Chakraborty as Matron Eva Das,Tota Roychoudhury as Dr.Romit Sen,Priya Paul as Manjari, later replaced by Sneha Chatterjee, Shantamashi- Manjari's Mother, Chandreyi Ghosh as Dr.Deepa,Shashwato Chatterjee as Dr.Moinak Roy and Debolina Dutta as his wife Dr.Barna Roy,Dr.Neeta, Ushoshi Chakarabarty as Dr.Swati Raha, Ashok Kapoor,Anindyo Banerjee as Vicky,Pishimoni,Col Hiranmoy Sen & Mrs.Sen, Bayna the maid. Child Characters Mithai, Imli, Tithi, Kuttush, Diya

Junior Doctors: Kaushani Roy,Shahana Sen,Ranjan,Saurav,Tukai, Nayona[],Gogol[],Uma,and supported by other Doctors, Avro and Ayan.

Nursing Staff : Shrabonti, Brishti, Ritu & Lisa

Admin Staff : Ekavalli Khanna as Receptionist Pooja, Romenda, Swapanda, Pobitroda , Muniya,the '(wo)man friday'of "Tulip"

Directors: Anindyo Banerjee & Joydeep Mukherjee

Story,Screenplay and Dialogues: Anuja Chatterjee Aditi Majumdar Joy Mukherjee Kaushik Bhattacharya Joydeep Mukherjee Sayantani Majumdar Nambiar Joy Dasgupta

Title Music: Jit Ganguly

Singer: Monali Thakur

Camera: Suman Kumar Das, Bapi Seth

Executive Producers Indrani Mukherjee, Nishpal Singh

Producers: Aniruddho Roychoudhury, Jit Banerjee

Executive Producer from Star Jalsa: Aratrika Bhoumik

Story:

The tag line of the series was "A Sweet Love Story". It was a love-story but of a different genre, in parts it was like "Mills and Boon" but the similarity ends there. A psychological undertone had given the story a different lining to its otherwise silk smooth texture. The male protagonist Dr. Ujan Chatterjee, an Oncologist by profession lost his best friend and mentor, his mother when he was barely a boy. His father did not spare any time to spend with him, busy with his engrossing medical profession. The boy grew up alone, mostly in the care of care-takers and not home-makers. As a bright young medical student he went to UK to study medical science. In this lonely growing period, a different kind of a personality took birth within him. He grew into an egotistic, rude, solitary man who preferred to remain cocooned in his own world, welcomed solitude to the point of extremity that he shunned out his own father and considered him an intruder. After successful completion of his studies, he returned home and joined the 'Tulip' Nursing Home in Kolkata where once his father Dr. Amolendu Chatterjee-the renowned Neurologist, used to work and was one of the pillars of its growth. Dr.Richard O'Brien, the founder of the Nursing Home was a very dear friend of Amolendu.

After Dr.Richard passed away, his wife, Elina, took over the responsibilities of running 'Tulip'and subsequently handed over charge of Tulip to her competent & efficient doctor-duo Dr. Moynak & Dr.Shomoresh and moved to the hills. The Nursing Home was small, its facilities were limited but it was one of the most reliable places in the city because of its dedicated staff and professionally advanced Doctors. Ujan joined Tulip and soon was on top of the list of successful surgeons of the city.

One day, in one of his solitary jaunts, to be with himself, Ujan went to Kurseong. There,he saved a person's life by giving him timely medical treatment. The news spread in that sleepy little hill station. The priest of the local Church was Friend-Philosopher-Guide to Elina. In search of a Doctor, he heard of Ujan’s feat and took him to Elina who had suddenly fallen seriously ill. Elina did not have any clue that the young Doctor who had come to see her was her old friend Amolendu's son and Ujan, also, did not know that his patient was actually the owner of "Tulip" and  of this age-old friendship between the two families. Ujan decided to shift Elina to Tulip as he found her in a pretty bad physical condition and in need of an immediate and complicated surgery.

Elina had two daughters. Her biological daughter, Annie and her adopted daughter, Hiya. Ujan first sighted Hiya in Kurseong when she was running in the hills with her kid friends and singing (a la Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music). Incidentally she caught his attention as she was singing his mother's song. Later they had a tiff over his Binoculars when he visited Elina. While he was visiting Elina, Hiya's gang of buddies were taking a feel of his binoculars and Ujan, as usual, did not like that. In spite of his displeasure at anything frivolous, happy & full-of-life, what attracted Ujan towards Hiya was her beautiful voice. Ujan found his mother in Hiya's songs, because his Maa was a prolific singer and "full of life"-which is also what was mesmerizing about Hiya. In Kolkata, even after the surgery done by Ujan, Elina's condition did not immediately improve. As Hiya was lonely without her 'Monima'( Elina), Hiya came to Kolkata to be with her and then as if a magic happened ! Elina started to respond to the treatment. Thus Hiya started her search for her dreams in the concrete jungle of Kolkata. The foster-mother and the daughter had a such a magical soul-connection rarely found even in blood-relations !. In spite of continuous angry arguments & clashes over various issues in Tulip, the apparently visible antagonism was just a cover for the inward undeniable magical attraction that Ujan & Hiya kept feeling for each other. It was as if all the events led to their meeting/facing each other again & again. Hiya's search ended with her most beautiful tryst with Destiny when she fell in love with the outwardly rough-n-rude but inwardly caramel-kernel like soft Ujan. They had a "Mills and Boon inspiring dream-come-true" relationship. Ujan got attracted to her open mindedness & joie-de-vivre and Hiya, to his abrupt-straightforward-principled approach to life. Both had gone through solitude in life and that very experience of solitude created the magical bonding between the two. The bonding intensified, when Hiya had a near-fatal accident in which she had a nasty head-injury and slipped into comatose state. Knowing that paralysis was unavoidable, Amolendu performed a complicated surgery and saved her life. Post surgery seeing 'his sunshine' lying on a bed and wheelchair-bound Ujan was depressed and heartbroken. He finally pushed himself up just for her & proposed to her as he had decided long ago to get married to her. He took the decision to not only instill " a zest for life in lifeless" Hiya but moreover so to keep his “life-source” Hiya forever with him. Shortly before the Wedding Hiya “walked again !” – thanks to Ujan’s untiring efforts that his life (Hiya) lives a full & complete life again. A Hindu groom for a Christian bride. It was a wonderful wedding where vows were exchanged and garlands, too. There were no chanting of hymns or exchange of religious vows. Only songs of love and joy of life, only vows to love & cherish each other always. Angels too tiptoed in to bless them.

On their wedding day, Manjari - Ujan's mother's friend's only daughter reached Ujan's house. Years ago, when Ujan & Manjari were still kids, Aporna, Ujan's mother, wrote a letter to Manjari's mother that she would love to see Mon[Manjari's petname given by Ujan] as her daughter-in-law. After that everything changed. Aporna had an untimely death due to a serious illness and Mon remained only as a childhood friend for Ujan. A special friend with whom his mothers precious memories were associated. As expected, Ujan was astonished to see Mon on his wedding day after so many years. Mon had sought him out after such a long break due to her mother’s serious condition. After the wedding, Ujan brought Hiya home. Mon's mother's condition deteriorated so much that Ujan had to go and operate her in the middle of his Fulshojjya. However she still passed away even after the operation. Ujan took the responsibility of taking care of Mon. Here, the story took a twist.

Ujan did not know that Mon had nurtured desire of being his wife all through these years. He brought her home as his good friend and his mother's friend, Shantamashi's daughter. Hiya welcomed her & accepted her as her friend, too. All these good intentions did not have any meaning for Manjari as she wanted to fulfill her long-cherished dream of being Ujan's love and take Hiya's place in his life.

So, Manjari started scheming and creating all sorts of practical problems in Ujan & Hiya's happy conjugal life. It is said: "Man proposes, God disposes". The same thing happened here too. Manjari's schemings did not have neither desired nor any effect and she started to feel frustrated and lonely. As a foil to Manjari, there was Dr.Romit Sen or Romit(Ujan's colleague at Tulip), who was always there as single man support system to Hiya and Ujan. He loved Hiya but never expressed it till he was about to leave the world because of Leukemia. Just before drawing his last breath, he expressed his love for Hiya to Ujan. It has remained a mystery whether he said that to inspire Ujan to be a more lovable husband or was it just to say whatever he had not said before. Romit left his only daughter to his best friend Hiya and Ujan and they too accepted her as their child. Then, Romit's uncle (Col.Hiranmoy Sen) appeared on the scene and took away Romit's daughter, Imli,with him to Kurseong.

Hiya shared a very special bonding with Imli because Imli saw her own mother Sabina in Hiya. Sabina was a prolific singer like Hiya apart from their striking physical resemblance. The two bonded at once as if they knew each other since a long time. When Imli went away, Hiya felt a void too deep within her and she wished to become a mother, in the real biological sense. Imli's presence had caused parental feelings to arise in Ujan too & he also felt Hiya's agony. They started planning a family of their own. Their Honeymoon was long overdue and so they went to Pelling just after Christmas. They had a wonderful time in their favourite setting. Both mountain-lovers, Hiya from the hills and Ujan a trekker by hobby. They enjoyed the breathtaking scenery and relived their good old days. It were their days and their nights, far away from the madding crowd's ignoble strife.

By that time in Kolkata scheming Manjari had a co-hort in Vicky, Ujan's cousin brother and the two started to make plans. Vicky, to keep Ujan in trouble and Manjari, to create trouble for Hiya. One evening, after his return to Kolkata, Manjari expressed her hidden desires to Ujan. It was a bleak revelation which received an antagonistic response from Ujan. Manjari continued in her endeavour to disturb Ujan by trying to blame him for all the misfortune in her life. There were no dearth of antagonists in Ujan and Hiya's life. In came, established industrialist, Ashok Kapoor who had this sinister plan of either taking over "Tulip" or to start a whole new Nursing Home with all sorts of modern medical facilities, to give a tough competition to "Tulip" which was by then synonymous with Health-Care in Kolkata. What Kapoor did not realize, and was also incomprehensible to business-minded folk like him was that the secret of success of "Tulip" was not just its facilities but its cheerful and homely atmosphere, created by its dedicated staff and the bunch of junior doctors who were the energizers of not only the patients but also of their senior colleagues. They were there to face any kind of emergency situation at any time of day or night. They knew their patients by name, knew their hobbies and habits as well as they knew their medical histories & ailments. As individuals, they were used to having a good time & enjoy life but while on duty, they were untiring inspired doctors. Drs.Avro-Ayan-Saurav-Ranjan-Gogol-Madhushree-Kaushani-Nayana-Shahana, each one of them were eager & impatient to learn something new from their mentor-like seniors, ever ready to assist each other in every & any situation. When Hiya came, they were the ones who befriended her and later became her loyal "knights-in-armour". If "Tulip" was the lifeline of wellness then these Doctors were the lifeline of "Tulip". Elina had absolute faith in her staff and Doctors so she did not bend to Kapoor's subtle offer of buying her dream "Tulip" in the name of investing more money into it. Then Kapoor showed his true colours and involved Vicky-Manjari to convince Ujan to come to his Nursing Home:" Zeus". Beneath his courteous and suave exterior there was hidden a power-hungry monster who knew that Ujan was the main stay of "Tulip" and so,he wanted him! Ujan saw through Kapoor's game and did not accept his offer. Manjari played a pivotal role to drag Ujan to "Zeus" and Ujan, unaware of any reason to doubt his childhood friend's intentions agreed to her request to join Zeus as a confirmation of wanting to help her. Finally, before, during and after a path-breaking surgery,done by Dr.Ujan Chatterjee, in "Zeus", everyone's conscience came into play. Manjari came to know about Kapoor's real intention of keeping Ujan at any cost(even at the cost of anybody's life!), Ujan came to know about Kapoor's wrong ways of running a Nursing Home and Vicky-Manjari both came to know how Kapoor was using them in this game to further his own ill-intentions and grab all the limelight. Dr.Madhusree, who joined "Zeus" from "Tulip" to earn some more money for her Mother's treatment, was the single witness to Kapoor's dangerous game plan and revealed to the planner himself that she had complete knowledge of his actual intentions. It came down to a "face off" of one of its kind. Her razor sharp comments and Ujan's refusal to accept any money after the surgery, awakened that hidden conscience in Kapoor. He was a contemporary antagonist who behaved more like a man from the corporate world. He was the real instigator of & the real catalyst in all the murky & controversy embroiled situations. Nothing was ever proved against him rather these incidents became eye-openers for many.

Nothing made any difference in the belief and unique all-pervasive love shared between Ujan and Hiya. One fine day, it was known that Hiya was pregnant. Hiya, a "child- woman" who never saw her parents and was nurtured and loved by her foster mother, was happy beyond anyone's imagination. Ujan showered his love and affection on her at this happy moment and Elina gifted her the responsibility of "Tulip". Both gifts of love, inspired Hiya and the calm and matured woman in her, came out of her mind's closet and she gracefully acknowledged both the responsibilities. Everything was going on well & suddenly all those happy moments came to a grinding halt as Hiya had a miscarriage. It was traumatic for Hiya & Ujan. This trauma brought a sea-change in Manjari & Vicky. Manjari took the initiative to bring Hiya back to her normal self & she accepted Vicky's love. In the meantime Hiya’s Gynecologist Dr.Deepa found in the test reports that Hiya had inherited Myotonic Dystrophy - a genetic disorder. Due to this disorder it could be fatal for Hiya to conceive. Hiya's dream shattered but she remained determined in her desire for her own child while Ujan did not want to risk Hiya's life. Hiya thought differently that she had to give Ujan a child, somebody to call him “Baba” so that he could relive his lost childhood and enjoy it. So she went away from Ujan to undergo treatment and make herself physically fit to conceive. She obviously left with no trace to find her and left Ujan dejected & life-less again. While Hiya was away, a 10-11 years old girl was admitted in "Tulip". She was a patient of amnesia and was almost a look alike of Hiya and behaved like her, too. She seemed to find her father in Ujan & thus her Doctor requested Ujan to treat her like his own daughter so that her memory comes back and she could go back to her own parents. Ujan named her Diya, matching Hiya's name and took her home.During this period of treatment, the girl got back her lost memory and it was known from her words that she and her family had an accident in which both her parents had died and that her only living relative was her aunt. On learning that Diya was not at all welcome in her aunt's family and that they intended to send her off to an orphanage, he decided to adopt her as his daughter. At this point Ujan needed““”” to bring his Hiya back to complete his life & family. Aided & abetted by Manjari he announced his 2nd marriage to Manjari, a ploy to bring Hiya back. Hiya returned from her self-imposed exile, accepted Diya as their daughter and convinced Ujan to plan for their own child. After the birth of Hiya and Ujan's baby boy, they finally had their feel of a complete happy family. It was 'Love is in the Air' at the end of the series.

Use of Music and Poems:

"Ekhane Akash Neel" is a journey and this journey was more beautiful because of the perfect and sequence-synchronized use of Poems and Songs. It's not very common to use Poetry in such Television series but here, it was available in gay abundance. Renowned filmmaker Satyajit Ray's grandfather Upendrokishore Roychoudhury's and his father Sukumar Ray's writings were the frequently referred to sources. Their Poems, Limericks and the quaint phrases & expressions used in their inimitable style found frequent inclusion in the dialogues to bring that much wanted effect of comic relief even in serious scenes. "Katukutuburo"-"Ghyanghyanshur"-"Gomratherium"-"Kumropotash" are a few such notable examples. A noteworthy scene of this kind is when Imli describes everyone in Ujan's house as "Ha-Ja-Ba-Ra-La" (the bengali equivalent of Carroll's Alice in Wonderland). It was unique in her own way and perhaps totally new to the viewers also to hear about this once popular children's book interpreted in such a manner. Simple games, simple everyday habits, daily habits, a small word/gesture of affection/solidarity could be a source of the simple pleasures of life were shown with such elan in this story. Music was an integral part of it, too. Tagore songs were used and interpreted in a contemporary set up but without losing any of its fervour, appeal and flavour. The innovative & stylish use of poignant Tagore songs which are pregnant with thoughts, enhanced the feelings & expressions of the characters and at the same time inspired the viewers to think, too.

One folk song which created quite a sensation because of its use in the series was: "Amar Bhitaro Bahire Antaro Antarey Achho Tumi...". It used to touch that deep quietude of the viewer's heart whenever it was played or sung in the course of the story.

A few modern Bengali songs were also used to show the effect of it in young hearts and it ended in creating flutters. All these added colours to the imaginations.

The Directors and their Directions:

Two different Directors handled the story of "Ekhane Akash Neel" in two different ways. Both were unique in their style of story-telling. If one created the Fairytale atmosphere, the other one brought out those fiendish characters, very important in a Fairytale to show the prowess of the main protagonists. The use of two Directors brought about the transition of the Fairytale Prince & Princess to Real-Life Prince & Princess within the same tale. The viewers accepted them both. After all, it's one seven coloured wonderful rainbow, both ends of which were closest to their hearts.

References:

AbolTabol: Sukumar Ray Wordygurdyboom!The Nonsense World of Sukumar Ray Translated into English by: Sampurna Chatterjee Published by: Penguin Books India(Puffin Classics) With a sparkling new Introduction by: Ruskin Bond

Ha-Ja-Ba-Ra-La: Sukumar Ray Translated into English by: Jayinee Basu

Sukumar Ray : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukumar_Ray

"Ekhane Akash Neel" Community in Orkut: Link:http://www.orkut.co.in/Main#Community?cmm=56612090

Aparajita Ghosh Das Link:http://aparajitaghoshdas.blogspot.com

Newspaper Articles on "Ekhane Akash Neel":

1.Obtuse Angle:Blue Sky,Fresh Air By:Manojit Mitra. Posted on: Friday.Jan 16.2009 at 04:19:49 p.m. Link:This is Google's cache of http://www.kolkatamirror.com/index.aspx?page=article&sectid=10&contentid=2009011620090116161949678ef630753&sectxslt=. It is a snapshot of the page as it appeared on 23 Apr 2010 10:05:24 GMT. The current page could have changed in the meantime.

2."Rrishii and I look great on screen":In conversation with Aparajita Ghosh Das By:Ruman Ganguly. TNN.Jan.18.2008.12:00a.m.IST The Times of India, Kolkata,Entertainment [ 2708335.cms.htm ] Link:http://m.timesofindia.com/PDATOI/ articleshow/2708335.cms

3.Looking Ahead By: Amrita Roychoudhury.TNN.Aug.22.2008.12:11a.m.IST The Times of India,Kolkata,Entertainment [ 3390024.cms.htm ] Link:timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/3390024.cms

4."I'm too lazy": Anindo Bandyopadhyay By: Ruman Ganguly.Dec.11.2008.12:55a.m.IST Times of India,Kolkata,Entertainment [ 3819159.cms.htm ] Link:http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:xrA8PSz0XmYJ:timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-interviews/Im-too-lazy-Anindo-Banerjee/articleshow/3819159.cms+old+articles+on+ekhane+akash+neel+in+times+of+india&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=in

5. Entertainment Unlimited: Gen Y is the current flavour of the season A Report Apr.26.2009.12a.m.IST. Times of India,Kolkata [ 4448533.cms.htm ] Link:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ Entertainment/Entertainment-unlimited/ articleshow/4448533.cms

6. Straight Talker By: Supreeta Singh Monday.Aug.31.2009. Kolkata Mirror-City Diary-Interviews Link:http://kolkatamirror.com/index.aspx?page=article &sectid=9&contentid=2009083120090831110513703572075 c9&sectxslt=

7.Curtain falls on the set of Ekhane Akash Neel Kolkata, May 28th,2010 Star Jalsha-Television www.tollyworld.com beta

8. And they lived happily ever after May 31.2010.TNN.12:33a.m.IST Times of India,Kolkata,Entertainment [ 5990900.cms.htm ] Link:timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...they-lived-happily-ever-after /articleshow/5990900.cms -

9. The M-Class quotient The Telegraph,Calcutta(Kolkata),India,Metro Sunday,February 7,2010 Link:www.telegraphindia.com/1100207/jsp/ calcutta/story_12074441.jsp

10.Campus calling T'town stars By: Priyanka Dasgupta Jun23.2010.TNN.12a.m.IST Times of India.Kolkata.Entertainment [ 6079280.cms.htm ] Link:timesofindia.indiatimes.com/.../news.../articleshow /6079280.cms -

11.Lucky transition By: Soma A Chatterji May22. 2009.  Link:www.screenindia.com/news/lucky-transition/463506/ -

12.And They Lived Happily Ever After Times of India. epaper. Link:http://lite.epaper.timesofindia.com/mobile. aspx?article=yes&pageid=27&edlabel=TOIKM &mydateHid=31-05-2010&pubname=&edname= &articleid=Ar02703&format=&publabel=TOI

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