"We gave Vivian and Vahbbiz a customized honeymoon"

Tell us about the Vivan and Vahbbiz honeymoon trip to Australia which is being aired on Aaj Tak…

We at Aaj Tak had taken newly-weds Vivian Dsena and Vahbbiz Dorabjee Dsena to Australia. It was a 9 day trip wherein we covered 5 places of interest – Melbourne, Gold Coast, Brisbane, The Great Ocean Road and Tanglooma Island. We have shot 7 episodes and the first episode has gone on-air from Monday on our famous show Saas Bahu aur Betiyaan. We had done extensive research and had to arrange for permissions to shoot at yet unexplored places so we were planning this for the past one year. Each day was pre-planned and arranged yet spontaneous.

Whose concept was this of taking Vivian Dsena and Vahhbiz to Australia for a honeymoon?

This was our idea completely to create a non-fiction series which would be interesting too. Saas Bahu aur Betiyaan has completed 5 years and we wanted to do something different which would attract more audience. This is a very new kind of concept on a news channel. We decided to give them different tasks like surfing, adventure sports, we took them to the Australian Zoo where the animals are not caged and they fed them, then Vivian proposed to Vahbbiz in typical SRK style mid-air when they were in the helicopter.

Why did you choose Vivian and Vahbbiz as the couple to be featured?

One, they were recently married and had not yet gone for a honeymoon. Also because Vivian is very popular as RK in Madhubala – Ek Ishq ek Junoon and also in Pyaar ki Yeh ek kahaani even before that. He has this very arrogant, khadoos kind of persona on-screen so we wanted to show his humane side to his fans. In this series we will see his humane side, his romantic side, his adventurous streak so that his fans get to know him better.

Did they agree to be a part of this show immediately? Were there no apprehensions?

They were a bit apprehensive initially but later on agreed when they got to know exactly what is going to happen. We shot it like a film with 6 different locations and the entire feel has different emotions to it – like happiness, action, drama, romance, etc. At the same time we gave the couple the much needed privacy. There was no enacting of scenes but reality only when we were shooting. They also had lots of fun while shooting – the visit to all the exotic and unexplored places, the horse carriage ride for an hour, the feeding of animals that they did at the zoo, everything was an enjoyable experience for both of them.

Was there any creative contribution from the couple's side?

Yes, Vivian was very enthusiastic. He has excellent camera sense and I can say that he half-directed the series himself. His inputs were very helpful. I now tell him that, "if not an actor, you could have been a good director." He was almost like a producer.

How has the response been after the telecast?

The industry response has been fantastic and I have heard that others want to copy this now. We are waiting for the TRPs to show the positive response.

What next? Will we see more such reality trips?

I am sure, you will because we have got many calls from other couples wanting to know when they will be featured so we may come out with many more seasons. We had also taken actor couple – Gurmeet Choudhary and Debina Bonnerjee Choudhary to HongKong earlier during Valentine but that was a short trip. After this too we plan to come up with something new.

Seema Khot Mattoo