Since some village houses do not have access to cable, they watch Doordarshan: Associate Director

Sandeep Bidlan, currently the associate director of Star Plus’s Ek Veer Ki Ardaas – Veera (Beyond Dreams), is an educated person having done his M.Sc in Mass Communication and B.A. and Economics from Kurukshetra University among others.

Having done a creative course in news reading, anchoring and RJjing, Sandeep has been a part of the creative team of shows like Gunwaale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Kismat Ka Khel, Waaris, Simply Sapney, Bhabhi, Palampur Xpress, Ye Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai and Radha Ki Betiyaan Kuch Kar Dikhayange among many others.

We meets up with this talented man and corners him for a candid interview.

Excerpts:

You have done a course in Mass Communication. How helpful has it proved in your career? Would you recommend a similar course to aspiring TV directors?
Yes, it indeed has been very helpful in my career. This course improved my communication and writing skills too, which in turn improved my direction abilities. It gave me an insight into production too. On the whole, the course gave me better career focus. I would surely recommend others to take a similar course.

You have acted in two plays and an advertisement. Has your experience in acting helped you to understand the situation better from the actors’ point of view while you are directing?
It is because of my acting experience I know very well about a director’s needs towards actors. I know it for sure as to what is going on in an artiste’s mind. My acting background makes it easier for me to direct the actors in such a way as to extract the maximum of their potential.

You have also taken a course in news reading, anchoring and RJing. Why didn’t you pursue a career in the same fields?
My main interest was only in direction for films and TV and film writing. Though I worked as a reporter and sub-editor, I discovered that filmmaking gave me more creative satisfaction. I realised that I didn’t want to be a journalist throughout my life. So I decided to quit journalism and come over to Mumbai for fulfill my dreams. Of course reporting did improve my writing skills though.

You are a writer too. You have penned dialogues of a play and were a journalist too. Would you like to write more in future?
Of course, in fact, I am writing a script for my film which I also intend to direct. I have written 80% of the screenplay and dialogues for this film of mine. I have three to four other concepts too for television and films for which I will work elaborately later. My main goal is to be a filmmaker and I am working hard to be one. I hope everything falls in place.

You did a research on Media Reach and Media Habits in Rural India. Could you share with us some of your interesting findings?
In this research, I found out what types of programmes people like on television, radio, news channels and newspapers. That was a very great experience for me in the rural areas. I discovered that the literate villagers read Hindi newspapers. Since some village houses do not have access to cable, they watch Doordarshan.
For my research in 2007, I covered as many as 200 homes in 35 villages in Haryana. My task was to ascertain if they (villagers) enjoy more of the news, songs, films or advertisements. Do the commercials induce them to buy the products? The homes which didn’t have television listened to radio. Mithun Chakraborty and Govinda are their favourite film stars. The ultimate aim of the research was to determine whether media was bringing about a change in the mindsets of the villagers.

How has your experience with Veera been as an associate director? How do you make things easier and funny for the child stars of the show?
Veera has been an enriching experience for my career as far as direction is concerned. Both the child stars Harshita Ojha and Bhavesh Balchandani are very intelligent kids. We do everything possible to make shooting fun and easy for them. We have to have the right blend of loving and be firm with them at the same time as we need to maintain discipline on the sets as well as make shooting enjoyable for them. I am working with such great artistes in this show and have learnt a lot from them.