It’s not easy to grip the audiences for a span of seven long years as Edit II Productions’ FIR on SAB TV has managed to have done. In spite of many shows going off air in a jiffy, this channel, which has a low reach, has still managed to create waves and now, Chandramukhi Chautala (Kavita Kaushik) is a household name. In a freewheeling chat with Tellychakkar.com, director Shashank Bali shared as to what goes behind in the making of this popular sitcom. How did your journey begin in the media industry? Born and brought up in Delhi, I moved over to Mumbai in 1997. My father, Virendra Bali, used to be an ace writer though now he is a retired man. He has written several shows with director Rajan Waghdhare at the helm. Since, I wanted to get into direction; I used my father’s influence to get my first break. I became an assistant director (AD) to Rajan. Later, Sanjay Kolhi saw my work and from then on my journey in FIR began. I have been associated with the show from day one and now it’s been seven years. How has your journey in the industry been so far? I am thankful to Sanjay Kohli (producer of FIR) for giving me this break and even Anooj Kapoor, the channel head of SAB TV, for believing in me. Everyone in FIR is very humble and down-to-earth, be it Kavita, Gopi Bhalla and everyone else. Till date, I have never faced any issues from anyone and feel lucky that I have got such a wonderful team with me. What is the role of a director? Well, we all know what the role of a director is, but a director for a comedy genre is very different. I have to look into minute details of the show, the talk, the walk, the sequences and explain the forthcoming screenplay to my artistes. At times, making them understand the humor context in the show, becomes a little problematic. I have to explain them the humorous touch and only when they understand, we can go ahead and shoot. Another thing is that there are many actors in the show who are there in every episode but their characters keep on changing every time. I have to keep a tab on everything. Seven years went like a wink for me. Did you face any in-house competition from other shows? Not really, I knew what my job is. In fact, we are all aware of each show and have established characters. SAB TV is a great channel and every show it telecasts has a different message. We are clear as to what we are depicting on the channel. A police station comedy is a very unique and different subject. Shows like CID and FIR can never lack creativity. Competition makes us strong. But I never had any fear, threat or competition as such. I do my job; rest all is destiny. Had you not been directing a comedy show, which other genre you would have preferred? Well, I am very happy with FIR as I get to do so many variations in each and every show that has a mix of comedy, horror and mystery. You can say comedy is my forte. I personally love horror flicks and may be one day, I would love direct a horror show. How many hours of work do you put in a day? (smiles) 24 hours… I am always there with my writer and make sure that I am personally there to understand the script in order to get the screenplay right. My writer and I are wonderful friends and we have a cordial relationship. We give advices, share critical points and everything with each other. When he is not there, I am in touch with him over the phone; it’s an everyday job. Sanjay Kohli is not only a producer but he is creatively involved with us too. Who is your biggest critic? My father, of course. Since he is a writer, he always talks about the good and bad in the show. He watches my show without fail and so does my wife. What are your future plans? Well, I have been getting many offers but I am here to stay with my FIR team. I wish to direct films and explore other genres as well.