Reservations on TV

Two decades ago, there was a raging social debate in India on the issue of reservation in government jobs.

Students protested all over the country while some even took extreme measures to express their anguish. The quota system continues to be a simmering issue between youngsters. Set against this backdrop of reservation in jobs, Imagine is launching a compelling new fiction drama — Armanon ka Balidaan-Aarakshan, jointly produced by Ravindra Gautam's RG Entertainment and Kamal Pandey's Kaamadgiri Productions.

It's a love story between Sumedha, whose family lost a son to the agitation against reservation legislation for jobs and Aakash, who has benefitted from it to become a District Magistrate, says Saurabh Tewari, Head of Fiction Programming at Imagine. Incidentally, film director Prakash Jha had raised an objection to their show title. Tewari says, "After seeing the promos of our show on air, Mr Jha had objected on us using the word 'Arakshan' in our title and the concept of reservation policy which his film is based on.

We had from the beginning maintained the fact that our show name is not just one word 'Arakshan...' it is Armanon ka Balidaan- Arakshan. Hence both the parties have approached to the Association of Motion Pictures and Television Producers (AMPTP) with our point of views and are awaiting a final verdict on the issue. In my opinion, no one can have a copyright on issues which are of public domain like dowry, partition, terrorism, etc...

As for the concept, we are not aware of their storyline nor do they have any clue about ours. At a personal level, all I admire is Mr Jha's film making. I have always loved his work. I wish him all the very best for his movie." Armanon ka Balidaan-Aarakshan starts tonight and will be aired every Monday to Friday at 8.30 pm on Imagine.