09 December,2009 07:45 AM IST | | Shaheen Parkar
Shah Rukh Khan's television production Fauji 2 has been shelved. The actor was making a sequel to the show, he debuted with, over two decades ago.
After shooting for five episodes, the cast was recently informed that the project is not happening. Pulkit Samrat (Lakshya of Kyunki) had been roped in as Abhimanyu Rai -- the role played by SRK.u00a0 Shruti Ulfat was to play Dr Madhura Raiu00a0-- Abhimanyu's mother. SRK was to make special appearances on the show as Abhimanyu's dad. Veteran actor Ramesh Deo was also part of the serial.
The Fauji 2 production team was keen to shoot the army backdrop show on location . But after trying to seek the required nod at various centers across the country, they gave up hope to shoot at vantage locations. This proved to be a major roadblock for the show as recreating a military set was daunting and proving too costly for a TV show.
Says a production source, "About a 80 member team went to Dehradun to shoot at the Indian Military Academy but came back within three days as they were unable to obtain the green signal from the concerned authorities. Earlier Shah Rukh had shot for a few hours in Mumbai over two days."
Directed by Sachin Khot, Fauji 2 was being planned as a weekend one-hour show for Colors and was slated to launch in 2010. A source close to the channel says, "The show is not happening now."
SRK's Red Chillies Idiot Box Productions has earlier produced the comedy Ghar Ki Baat and reality show Knights and Angels that selected cheerleaders for his team, Kolkata Knight Riders.
What is Fauji?
Directed by Colonel R K Kapoor, the TV show was telecast in 1988 on Doordarshan. It was about a batch of trainees in a commando school, their training and induction as soldiers. 'I Say Chaps'u00a0-- the lingo of Varunu00a0-- one of the cadetsu00a0-- was the catchphrase at that time.
