'Ye Zindagi hai Gulshan’ commercially important for Doordarshan

Zeenews Bureau

New Delhi: After a long hiatus, Suhaib Ilyasi, who anchored a one time famous crime show ‘India’s Most Wanted’, is presenting yet another gripping tale to its viewers ‘Ye Zindagi Hai Gulshan’ co-produced by filmmaker Mushtaq Bala. The serial, which airs on Doordarshan every Saturday and Sunday at 8:30pm, is not a crime serial but a love story of a progressive Muslim girl and is a first one of its kind Muslim social television serial. A special press conference to promote this one of its kind programme was addressed by DG Doordarshan, Mr. Tripurari Sharan along with the producer Suhaib Ilyasi at India Islamic Cultural Center, Lodhi road. In the past Doordarshan has never promoted and marketed any serial. However, this is for the very first time that Doordarshan is following an aggressive marketing campaign to promote a serial. The concept of the serial ‘Ye Zindagi hai Gulshan’ is based on ‘Shariah’ which has given equal rights to women to peruse their development. The serial has a powerful story to promote education among girls and self awareness of their rights. It is a story of two families, Mirza and Vivek Lalvani. DG Doordarshan, Mr. Tripurari Sharan claimed that Doordarshan has not marketed any serial before like other channels have been doing. According to him, TAM does not consider the reach of Doordarshan across India, which he considers totally unfair. “There should be other parameters too to assess public reach. The Serial ‘Ye Zindagi Hai Gulshan’ is a commercially important programme for us. By promoting this serial we are setting a new trend in Doordarshan. Such programs should always be encouraged for providing strong social message.” said Mr.Tripurari Sharan. The serial is a joint production of Mr. Bala’s Debonair Film and Video Communications and Firstrate Creations, owned by Suhaib Ilyasi (of India’s Most Wanted fame). The cast include, Zarina Wahab, Raza Murad, Pankaj Dheer among others. Damini Joshi is playing the lead role as Safiya Mirza in the serial.