Love is a stronger emotion than hate: Ravi Chopra

New Delhi, May 29 (IANS) After proving his mettle on the big screen with super-duper hit "Baghban", starring Amitabh Bachchan and Hemal Malini, filmmaker Ravi Chopra is coming up with a TV soap "Viraasat".

The serial, which will go on air June 12, is being produced by Chopra for STAR Plus and revolves around two warring families. Well-known TV artistes Sangita Ghosh and Rohit Roy play the two lead roles, who are madly in love with each other. They are, however, bound by an age-old enmity between their warring families.

"We always try to give some message through our films and serials, and through this serial, we are trying to propagate the fact that love is a stronger emotion than hate," Chopra told IANS on phone from Mumbai.

"I believe that TV and films are two sides of a coin. We have always made serials for television and I am carrying forward the legacy of my father who made serials like 'Mahabharat'," he added.

Most of the soaps today, are launched in a big way and promise to provide quality entertainment to viewers, but after a while, they meander away from the main theme and consequently lose their sheen.

However, Chopra says he will not compromise on quality. "We won't compromise on quality under pressure because we have already shot 40 episodes of the serial. To maintain the quality, you need a good bank and we have it," he said.

Chopra said that the entire cast of "Viraasat" had been selected according to the requirements of the characters.

"We make the casting according to the character. Everybody's role is interesting and they are not roped in on the basis of their popularity. They are there because they fit into their characters."

This multi-starrer family drama has a strong line-up of some of the most popular faces of the small screen, which include Kiran Kumar, Deepak Quazir, Aman Verma, Amarr Upadhyay, Jayati Bhatia and Pooja Raval Ghai.

The top guns at STAR are hoping "Viraasat" will improve the channel's position in the weekday primetime slot.

"Our currently running successful 9 p.m. show 'Miilee' has reached its logical conclusion, so it is imperative for us to launch a show, which could fit well into the bigness of primetime and be a through and through entertainer too. With 'Viraasat', that's exactly what we are getting for the viewers," said Deepak Segal, Executive Vice President Content of STAR India Pvt. Ltd.

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