Mumbai, 30 January 2018: It is time to celebrate for producer Ravindra Gautam and his team as his show Meri Durga completed one year on Republic Day recently. The producer says that he couldn’t be happier. “I am feeling happy and proud to carry a sports based drama this far in this world of saas-bahu sagas. It takes a lot of hard work. One year and almost 350 episodes old, Meri Durga is the longest running sports based show on Indian television,” he says.

Ask him what he thinks is keeping his audience still engrossed, and he says, “The fact that we have not moved away from what we promised from the first episode till now has paid us rich dividends. It started as a story of Durga who discovers running and becomes a national champion, and till now we are towing the same line. Also our show has paved the way for sports backdrops in daily soaps as you can see a couple of new shows having it as well.”

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The producer adds that newer ideas in the show have also kept the audience hooked. “Though it is quite tough to make the 6:30pm audience watch a sports drama, till now we have successfully managed to do it, thanks to our writers who despite Meri Durga being a six-day per week show, have managed to churn out new ideas. I feel the freshness has kept the audience coming back to the show,” he says.

Ask him which is his part of the show, and he says, “My creative team and I have etched out every character with a distinct unique flavour, so I am possessive about all. But having said that Durga and her father Yashpal and their relationship is my personal favourite.”