"DKP shows have a sense of positivity in them" says Rajan Shahi

Established in 2007, Director's Kut is one amongst popular production houses in India.  Founded by Director/Producer Rajan Shahi, it has  produced  popular serials like Sapna Babul Ka...Bidaai, Amrit Manthan & Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai and recently  Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya..

In an exclusive interaction with Adgully, ace director Rajan Shahi, founder of DKP shared his professional journey, his thoughts on television as an industry and other insights.

For Shahi, his journey started in 1993, when he started working for a show named Sailab for Zee TV. “I came in the industry 20 years back and then in 1993 I worked in a show called Sailab for Zee TV and post that worked as an independent director and directed shows like Maayaka, Ghar Ki Laxmi Betiyaan and others.”
One of his first show as Director was with Zee TV titled Hamare Tumhare which was produced by Mukesh Bhatt and Soni Razdan with Mahesh Bhatt as creative director.
In 1999, he made his directorial debut with series, Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahi. He went on to direct hit series including Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahi, Hamare Tumhare, Rishtey, Kareena Kareena, Reth, Mamtaa, Millee, Virasaat and Saathi Re.

When asked if direction was the profession which he always wanted to get into, he calmly said, “I have always wanted to do something in the industry but till date have never planned anything in life.”

“I’ve always been driven by my creative stings and at DKP we always do few shows at a time, because I want to enjoy the procedure. I take life easily as it comes. People say that there is a sense of positivity in my shows. Be it Bidaai or Saat Phere, my shows have drama but there’s no negativity in them,” he shared about his work.
DKP is known for launching newcomers apart from their regular actors of their shows. Is it not a risky decision to take newcomers for shows? Agreeing with it, he said, “Yes, there is a big risk involved with newcomers as they cost more but if I want 30 retakes I can take 30 retakes with newcomers,  and I enjoy working with them. I always search for fresh talent in India and can proudly say that after Balaji, DKP is the one which has given the maximum new comers to the industry.”
As a director, he has worked with maximum newcomers such as Mona Singh, Rajashri Thakur, Twinkle and others.  

For Shahi being a director is a bigger responsibility than being a producer. On this he avers, “As a producer I can take liberty as far the timings and other things are concerned but the job canvas becomes bigger in production with networking and finance. But I have also learnt multitasking while being a director, which is really important.”

In the recent past we have seen television as an industry has undergone loads of in terms of content, programming and in other aspects.  On asking his thoughts about the Indian television industry today, he said, “TV is revolving, evolving and changing at a much faster speed than ever before. We can see TV adapting to new changes in every 2-3 months, while a decade back it used to happen once in 2-3 years. In terms of revenue and employment TV is three times bigger than the Bollywood industry. Today people don’t look down at television, since it is also a platform for actors to reinvent themselves.  We have all genres on TV, which is growing with time. Indian television quality is brilliant in terms of budget with which we work.”

Shahi is also working on a film which we will be announced soon. “Apart from fiction shows, if we get an opportunity to work on non-fiction property which will have a blend of fiction and non-fiction,  we  would  love to work on it,” he concluded .