'Rajinder Singh Bedi Dwara Rachit Lajwanti' new offering from Zee TV

Zee TV brings on a periodic drama based on the short story “Lajwanti”. The new show titled ‘Rajinder Singh Bedi Dwara Rachit Lajwanti’ which will be aired from 28th September from Monday to Friday at 10.30 PM is a turbulent love story of the journey of the couple in surviving one of the biggest upheavals of Indian History- The Partition.

Lajwanti is a bright-eyed, courageous village girl with an indomitable spirit who always stands up for the truth and is forever hopeful that even in the most turbulent times, it’s her love that will help her stay afloat. Initially reluctant to marry a city boy, she falls deeply and madly in love with Sunderlal, one of the few privileged young men of Badami Baug, 

Lahore who can boast of an English medium education. He is the product of a generation where a man’s worth was calculated on the basis of how well he controlled his woman. He is a deeply passionate lover, a man who feels he owns his woman. Raised to believe that a woman’s first and foremost duty is towards her man, Lajwanti tolerates Suderlal’s temper and rushes into his arms at the first sign of truce from him.  What happens to this tempestuous relationship in the face of the Partition movement forms the crux of ‘Lajwanti’.

On talking about this new offering from Zee, Pradeep Hejmadi, Zee TV Business Head says “It’s ageless in a husband wife relationship, that’s what we found very interesting about it. Its only get more spotlight with the trials and tribulation which happens at that time, whereas in today time they struggle to have time. Whereas in that time it was the partition which separated a couple, the condition could be different but the core issue that it addresses is the same.”

This year marks the 100th birth anniversary of the prolific writer Rajinder Singh Bedi, best known for his screenplays for Bimal Roy’s classic Madhumati and many of Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s films. Lajwanti is one of his most popular stories and his granddaughter – noted television writer-producer Ila Bedi Datta - is all set to present audiences with an adaptation of ‘Lajwanti’.

On talking about whether this show is being entirely directed towards being a period drama. Elaborating on this front he says “Some bits of its content are period but the focus is not period at all. So the relevance would be of the present so anybody who watches the show will find the core theme of the show relevant to today also.”

Producer Ila Bedi Says, “It’s a great feeling to be able to translate my grandfather Rajinder Singh Bedi’s most widely read story – Lajwanti into a television show. It will be telecast on Zee TV, a channel with whom my partnership has produced the immensely successful Hitler Didi. The adaptation of his story is my homage to him in the year of his 100th birth anniversary. He has been hailed as one of the most prominent 20th century progressive writers of Urdu fiction and is most noted for his chronicles of the great Indian Partition movement. ‘Lajwanti’ lent itself beautifully to creative interpretation as it is a timeless love story that will still resonate strongly with audiences today.”

But the basic question that remains to be answered is how this all new shows fit in with the core theme of Zee. Talking on this front Pradeep Hejmadi says “At Zee we have always been very strongly connected to the country, we are seen as a channel born out of it and if anybody understands the country well then it us. So if any story that we base in a particular geography then we need to reflect that geography nicely.”

Adding further “Our focus is that Zee should be a channel that belongs to the ground that belongs to the Country and therefore when it touches a particular family that comes from a particular country it reflects that naturally. At the end Zee is all about focusing on their core belief, the core belief of today’s time.”

Debutante Ankita Sharma will essay the character of the protagonist Lajwanti while popular actor Sid Makkar will be seen as Sunderlal. This primetime drama will have an ensemble of more than 25 characters in pivotal roles.