Sargun Mehta Dubey: I was ready to quit every five days

Sargun Mehta with the cast of Udaariyaan

After making a mark in television and Punjabi cinema, Sargun Mehta Dubey, who started her career with 12/24 Karol Bagh in 2009, has turned TV producer with Udaariyaan. While she has previously backed Punjabi films, she says making a television show from scratch was daunting. "I was ready to quit every five days, and sometimes every day, but then I would push myself to take the next step," says Mehta.

From facing the camera to figuring out the logistics behind creating a show, the role shift was dramatic, bringing with it a fair share of challenges. The actor-producer says the biggest hurdle was to build a massive set in Chandigarh, where the series has been shot in entirety. "Nobody here had ever made such a lavish set for a television show. We had hired labour from Chandigarh itself. Once it was done, I felt nothing else seemed as challenging as this. [When we started filming] we realised there was not a lot of technical support in the city. So, I had to fly down technicians from Mumbai," says Mehta, who conceptualised and wrote the daily soap two years ago. "[An experienced producer] would have saved more money. Mujhe toh lagta hai maine bahut paisa jala diya," she laughs, before adding, "In the end, I am happy with the team."

Sargun Mehta Dubey

The show, which traces the journey of the Sandhu family who fiercely dream of moving to Canada, aired on Colors early this month. Having been in the industry for over a decade, she knows that the TRPs that follow will be the make-or-break factor for her endeavour. But Mehta is unfazed as she says, "We can only take it till a point; the rest is people's choice and the show's fate. When the first film, Jhalle [2019] that we [husband Ravi Dubey and her] had produced didn't work, I was heartbroken. The project had taken so much time and energy; there were so many wishes and hopes attached to it. But by our next production, I learnt [to deal with failures]. It breaks your heart when a film doesn't work, but this time, it lasted only for a few hours."

The production house, Dreamiyata Entertainment, embodies the shared dream of Mehta and Dubey of telling stories that they believe in. She reveals that her husband has been overseeing the post-production work of Udaariyaan, balancing it with the shoot of his OTT series. "Ravi takes care of the back-end aspects like editing and background score. I take care of the creative aspect, be it casting, writing, designing the set and costumes. We had divided our work right at the start."

Now, the Phulwa actor is developing another script for an OTT platform. Come May, she will head back to shoot for one of her productions, Qismat 2. "I am also acting in my next co-production, Saunkan Saunkne [Punjabi film]. Besides that, we have Punjabi film Sohreyan Da Pind Aa that is scheduled to release this year."