Sunil Singh, supervising producer (SP) with Shakuntalam Telefilms’ Sapne Suhane Ladakpan Ke, has had a journey no less than that of a Bollywood star in the city of dreams. Currently, he is happy in his zone, but growth for him is a never-ending journey as this man wants to rise way above his own expectations. We at Tellychakkar.com interviewed him for our ‘Behind the Lens’ segment. Excerpts: Tell us about your journey in the industry? After having completed my graduation from Gorakhpur UP, I thought of coming to Mumbai in search of a good job. However, my parents were not in favour of me moving to another city. So, when I eventually took this decision, my family did not stand by me. I came down to Mumbai on my own not knowing what to do. Here, I stayed with some friends taking turns for a couple of days while I was looking out for work. After a few days, even my friends started avoiding me. Continue… That’s when I took up a job in a small shop that sold plastic hangers. The owner of the shop offered me a monthly emolument of Rs 1200. Happy at that, the first question I asked him was if I would also get a place to stay since I did not have any. He obliged me by giving a place outside the shop and that just had a roof. For a few days I adjusted myself to the condition till one fine day I met a few men who were selling some outdated cakes. Since I was very hungry, I asked them if I could have a cake to which they agreed and they gave it to me. This was when I learnt about this place that was paying its employees Rs 3000 to sell outdated cakes. Since I wanted a better job, the marketing guy, in his zest to help me out, arranged for an interview in his company. At the interview, I met this man who told me that he would give me a marketing job only if I sell 200 outdated cakes. I took this as a challenge and managed to do so. This helped me get the marketing job. So how did television finally happen? I am coming to that… While I was selling these outdated cakes, I had sold one of these packets to a director who fell ill after having it. Hence, he caught me the next time he met me and threatened to put me behind bars. Really scared, I started crying. A little carried away, he asked me about my whereabouts. And when I narrated him my story, he asked me to join him as an Assistant Director (AD). From there on, my journey in films began. Hmm…then? I worked in a lot of Mithun Chakraborty movies after which I produced a film called Shabnam Mausi. After this, I moved into television as an AD and worked on serials like Hum Sab Baraati, Dulhan and Raja Ki Aayegi Baraat. Why did you move to television from films? (pauses) Everybody goes through ups and downs in life and so did I. After I started getting good work in films, I planned to educate my brothers and also called my family to come and stay with me. I put my brothers in the Thakur college. Today, one of them is an MBA and the other is in IT. But then, when you have a family with you, your responsibilities grow. I needed money to look after them. And since I had stopped getting film offers, I decided to move over to TV. I joined the industry as an AD but soon the EP (Executive Producer) of the show with whom I was working with, eloped. Hence, I was asked to take his place. Since, I had to retain my job, I accepted the offer. And in fact it happened for the best as since I was very good at scheduling, everybody started appreciating my work. So with word-of-mouth, I kept on getting work. Today, I am an SP and have been in this post for four years now. It’s been quite an interesting journey… Yes, it has been indeed and I haven’t forgotten a single person who has helped me on my climb to the top. Even today, I stay a little far from the shop I worked in when I had come down to Mumbai. Sometimes, I do go to the shop and talk to the owner. The friends who helped me then too are in the industry holding different positions. What are the responsibilities of a SP? A supervising producer is one who represents the producer in his absence. Hence, he has to look after a lot of things. The first thing is the delivery of everyday episodes. The other duties include handling everybody on the sets and keeping an eye on every minute happening. He has to see to it that everybody does his work well failing which he has to step in. I have seen a lot of SPs who stay outside and segregate work, but for me, if things aren’t happening, I will intervene. I work in such a way that the money that is being put into an everyday shoot is not the producer’s money but my own. What are the problems that you face as an SP? My producer has hired me and in turn I have hired 100 other people under me. Among them 50 are educated while the rest are illiterate. Hence, an SP’s duty is to explain these 100 people about their job. I have few other people who directly work under me and they are EP, HOP (Head of Productions) and production Assistants. These people deal with the rest. But when they fail to solve these issues, I have to hold a meeting with them and thrash things out. There are times when the actors throw a lot of tantrum on the sets. This is when these people come to me and tell me about the situation. Accordingly, I have to handle such a kind of eventuality. There is not a single day that goes without an issue. Are you happy with your job? Yes, I am very happy with Shakuntalam Telefilms. In fact, I have been with them for five years now. And I work passionately because of Neelima Bajpai and Shyamashis Bhattacharya. But at the end of it all, I am not satisfied. For when you’re satisfied, the world ends for you. What are the changes that you want to see in the industry in the coming weeks? Currently, we have five days a week shows. Hence, nobody in the technical department has a life. I think these people should get at least four to five days leave in a month. And when they take leaves, their payment shouldn’t be deducted. Do you believe in TRPs? Till date, I have worked to give 100 per cent to my show and not for the TRPs as they are difficult to understand. Shows that a lot of people would never watch get maximum numbers, which is surprising. And good shows go off-air due to variation in TRPs.