Step by Step

On the telly, you can see him in Club 10 on B4U, Saath Saath and Chingari (both on Zee’s noon slot). Two years ago, he also moved behind the camera by donning the directorial cap with an episode for Rishtey called Tu Hi Tu which is considered one of the best till date in that slot. And now he directs two shows Club 10 and Sangharsh on B4U which he also produces in partnership with Sanjeev Dondora, who is an exporter of media content to South African countries. ‘‘I was looking for a futuristic partner who is willing to grow. Sanjeev and we got talking and it happened. Luckily for our company, both of us believe firmly in quality work,’’ he adds. Apart from the dozen-odd episodes of Rishtey that he has made, their company Clapstem Kaya Creations Pvt Ltd also produces two shows for Zee’s Alpha Punjabi Khel Khiladi (a show on rural sports) and Sammaan on Indian Army and are working on three more shows for the same channel. They landed on an unique Indo-Western name for their company because Malik’s companywas called ‘Clap Stem’ and Dondora’s ‘Kaya Creations’. So when they merged, the names were just put together.

‘‘Clap is the stem of any production and Kaya means creation. It also was fine numerologically,†says a number-fearing Malik.

“We are trying to give our company a corporate structure. We are just settling down. In a span of just one year we have four shows on air which isn’t an easy task and our target by next year-end is to have at least eight to 10 shows. We are looking for growth, not ony in terms of finance but real quality software,†adds Malik, whose basic idea is to make software that can explore all possible areas of the society and not just stick to conventional soaps. Within the next two months, three more shows will roll on the floors: a comedy called Apun To Bus Vaise Hi, a soap on the judiciary system, Punha and Mission Accomplished Fateb which showcases the missions accomplished and won by the Indian Army since 1948.

As an actor, he has decided he will act in two serials at a time, one for his company and the other for an outside producer. He recently opted out of two soaps Ishq, a weekly, and Agni a daily both on Doordarshan due to time constraints.

As a director, Malik’s aims to do some different kind of work which he himself and the audience can enjoy. ‘‘When we started our company, we had decided to work on shows that most others think is not possible on the small screen. Generally all our shows are set up on a large canvas. We don’t want to compromise on anything. After content, we work on structuring the show. We try and give it the right kind of look because we know that this is a medium of audio and visuals,’’ he says.

For those who haven’t kept track of Malik’s creations, Club 10 is about the night life of a metro city and Sangharsh revolves around two female protagonists and the conflict in their ideologies one who wants to fight the system and the other who lives with it.

This director-producer, who took up the mantle by chance, is here to stay, for he has tasted the sweet fruits of success and freedom and wants to continue to do so.