When most producers aim at domestic dramas, you havechosen to deal with socially relevant issues.
Characters have to be real, and to make them real, you need to have real-life situations. Television is probably the best way to reach out to a mass audience and tell them what happens in various parts of India. For example, through Balika Vadhu, we wanted to get to people’s notice that the age-old practice of child marriage still persists in India. Through Astitva, I wanted to show how important it is for a woman to have her own standing in society.

What are the things you bear in mind while scripting a serial?
To make my characters identifiable. According to me, human relationships are the most dramatic. So one does not need to introduce vamps to make the drama intense, instead just concentrate on making your characters plausible.

What is your next venture Jyoti on NDTV Imagine all about?
It’s about a middle-class family in an urban setting. The story will revolve around the eldest daughter of the family. What strikes me about Jyoti is, when we look around, we will find hundreds of Jyotis everywhere. She is a common girl.

All your scripts have been women-oriented. What is the reason behind this?
Our target audience is women and hence we need to have shows revolving around them.

Why is the portraiture of a self-sacrificing woman important for a serial to do well?
Most women in real-life too are self-sacrificing. Even today, when a father returns home, it’s his daughter that will get him a glass of water. If there is less food in the house, it is the daughter who will say that I can go without a meal. Making sacrifices and compromises is a way of life for most women in India.