by Subhash K Jha

On April 3, it's time for the illustrious Rajshri banner to get on Star Plus with the traditional-sounding Pyar Ke Do Naam Ek Radha Ek Shyam. "It's a story about reincarnation featuring Barksha Bisht and Indranil Sen Gupta.. So obiously the soap has a long life-span," laughs Deepak Sehgal of Star..

Kavita Barjartya (who's Sooraj Barjatya's first cousin) heads the tv cell of Rajshri Productions. The Rajshris have had stupendous success with their first daily soap Woh Rehne Wali Mehlon Ki on Sahara. They're hoping to encore the success with Pyar Ke Do Naam...

"We'd naturally want this soap to be a success," says Kavita. "But the most important thing for us at Rajshris is to live up to the standards and traditions of our banner in both our films and on TV serials.

It pleases me no end when I'm told we've done a turn-around soap on Sahara One with Woh Rehne Wali Mehlon Ki. Pyar Ke Don Naam ...will target itself at both the young and the family audiences. With two dailies on our anvil it's going to be a busy time for us at Rajshris. But we'd never allow quality to suffer."

Interestingly Kaushik Ghatak who directed the initial spell of Ekta Kapoor's Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi has been roped in to direct Pyar Ke Do Naam Ek Radha Ek Shyam.

Is this an attempt to provide a new soap thrill removed from what Ekta Kapoor has been doing on the channel? "Not the least," protests Deepa Sehgal. "In fact Pyar Ke Do Naam goes very much with the profile of Star Plus. If we want to do something different we do it on Star One."