Everest (Indian TV series)

Everest
Genre Telenovela
Created by Ashutosh Gowariker
Written by Story
Ashutosh Gowariker
Mitali Mahajan
Screenplay
Ashutosh Gowariker
Bhavani Iyer
Mitali Mahajan
Sriram Rajan
Dialogues
Lalit Marathe
Manisha Korde
Preeti Mamgain
Directed by Ankush Mohla
Glenn Baretto
Amar Shetty
Starring


Composer(s) A. R. Rahman
Country of origin India
Original language(s) Hindi
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 102
Production
Producer(s) Ashutosh Gowariker
Lawrence D'Souza
Editor(s) Dilip Deo
Location(s) India
Nepal
Cinematography
  • Alphonse Roy
  • Mahesh Aney
  • Nayer Ghufran For Airial Shoot
  • Piyush Shah
Running time Approx. 45-50 minutes (Episodes 1)
Approx. 65 minutes ( Last Episode)
Production company(s) Ashutosh Gowariker Productions Private Limited (AGPPL)
Broadcast
Original channel STAR Plus
Original airing 3 November 2014 - 1 March 2015.

Everest is a Hindi language Indian telenovela which began airing on STAR Plus on 3 November 2014. Directed by Glenn Baretto and Ankush Mohla and touted as "the most ambitious project on Indian television", Everest was created by Ashutosh Gowariker and produced by Ashutosh Gowariker Productions Private Limited (AGPPL). The music of the telenovela, which is Gowariker's television debut as a producer, was composed by A. R. Rahman. Everest is also the television debut of A. R. Rahman as a music composer and was shot in its entirety in India and Nepal. The shooting locations included Everest Base Camp (in Nepal) and the Dokriani Glacier (in India), which are located at a height of 17,590 feet (5,360 m) and 12,000 feet (3,700 m) above sea level, respectively And New Zealand .

Plot summary

This is the story of a group of people who enter Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi for training before attempting to climb Mount Everest. Anjali Singh Rawat, who felt neglected by her father Brigadier Jagat Singh Rawat, wants to win her father's love by fulfilling his dream of climbing Mount Everest with the help of her mother, Sarita Rawat and best friend, Maithili. Aakash Joshi, a videographer, used to live with Gaurav and his mother Shikha Maa until Gaurav was killed by an accident and Aakash thinks that he is responsible for his best friend's death. He is supposed to make a documentary on Arjun Sabharwal's expedition. Arjun Sabharwal grew up in an orphanage and was a thief, before becoming India's best mountaineer. His next expedition is to Mount Everest.

In the last episodes Anjali Singh Rawat goes alone above Everest Base Camp and proves to everyone her talent, while on the other hand Aakash is in deep wait to express Anjali his feelings for her. The eight mountaineers - Colonel Arun Abhyankar, Arjun, Aakash, Chand and the four sherpas make their way to Everest. The sherpa Nima falls in the deep valley of Khumbu while crossing the valley with a ladder. The others mourn Nima´s death and set off. Whilst they are nearing Camp 2, they come across a patch of loose snow. First Chand crosses it and then he helps Arjun. Meanwhile, Anjali sets off from the Base Camp without telling anyone. Unfortunately, the loose snow breaks and the whole team of seven nearly falls to death in the ridge but the rope is tightly hold by Colonel Abhyankar. That was really devastating for the Colonel. One man holding six people inside the ridge. But Anjali emerges from behind and tells Colonel to hold on tightly and with her amazing skill throws a rope down in the ridge and asks everyone to hold it. Before Anjali arrives, Chand tries to commit suicide by nearly cutting off the rope which the Colonel was holding in an attempt to lessen the load for Colonel. Afterwards, Chand and other teammates come out and thank Anjali. The Colonel decides to include Anjali in his team. He informs Sameer Khanna at the Base Camp soon. The team sets off. They constantly try to contact Nasir who had been trapped along with two others at Camp 4. Finally, after a couple of hours, they take rest and then again set off. They reach Camp 3 and take rest for the night. But they are forced to wake up and hold their tents in place due to strong winds blowing nearly all night. In the attempt, Colonel nearly falls down from the top but is saved by Arjun. In this process, they loose 9 oxygen cylinders. They set off the next morning. Nearing Camp 4, they find out Nasir and his Sherpa. But sherpa has succumbed to the cold winds and lack of oxygen while the other, Chris was lost. Nasir was breathing. The others tried to wake him up . Colonel tells two of his sherpas to take Nasir back to Everest Base Camp. Nasir thanks everyone and leaves.

At this stage, looking at the favourable weather and winds, the Colonel decides to resume the Everest trek which they weren't doing before. The team again sets off. They reach Camp 4 and inform Sameer Khanna. Their they decide to station one mountaineer at the Camp due to lack of cylinders for six. Colonel selects Aakash and Aakash obeys it. As previously he was photographing Arjun, he teaches Chand to use the camera. Meanwhile, Colonel has a lot of cough along with blood. Chand tells him to rest but Colonel resists and they resume their mission leaving Aakash behind. The 4 climbers reached the balcony and a sudden storm hits. Sameer Khanna informs the climbers to stay in one place as the storm will be dangerous. Arjun thinks that Sameer is talking nonsense and he disobeys Colonel's orders and goes towards to the south summit without letting anyone notice. Anjali notices that Arjun is missing and informs the team. The team is in shock and Colonel tells Anjali and Tashi to go one way and Chand and him will go the other way. Arjun, who is heading towards the south summit passes out due to lack of oxygen, Arjun wanted to summit Everest without any O2 cylinders, however, Colonel had warned him that it would be extremely difficult but Arjun did not obey him. Arjun is now trapped under the snow. Colonel and Chand are looking for Arjun and after 2 hours of trying to search for him they inform Tashi and Anjali to stop their search because he has less chances of survival in this rate, he's either lost or he's dead. Anjali and Tashi search for a little longer and one of them find Arjun's water bottle. They know that he is somewhere around and Anjali spots Arjun's hand. Tashi and Anjali approach him and begin to take the snow off him. Colonel and Chand follow them and they give Arjun water and oxygen but he does not accept it. Anjali calls Reena, a reporter from BNTV who was currently in Everest base camp from Ramesh roongta's orders, the person who funded this 'EVEREST MISSION' For his benefit, A sarpech was hidden on the Everest summit and he had hired Arjun to get that sarpech. Reena Tyagi was Arjun's lover in his past, they both had amazing times and loved each over immensely. Anjali put the walkie in his hand and Reena began to speak to Arjun in a loving way. She told him that she knows that you are not this Arjun, your the Arjun hidden behind, the one who was not arrogant, the one who I loved. Please come back. Arjun begins to smile and breathe and accepts the oxygen given to him. The team is happy that he is fully recovered now. Arjun talks to Ramesh roongta on the walkie and Arjun tells him that he will not go to Everest. Ramesh is shocked and is furious and he says that he will ruin his reputation. Colonel gathers everyone around and Aakash comes, with 3 Oxygen Cylinders which he had brought on Colonel's orders.

Colonel informs Tashi and Chand to prepare for the descent. Anjali is shocked as her dreams are shattered. Anjali pretends to be happy and Colonel says that Ramesh has funded the exhibition for Arjun and we are just his team, if Arjun is not going forward, then we cannot either without Ramesh's permission. At base camp, Ramesh is furious and Sameer comes into his tent. Ramesh tells him that he promised his share holders that Century Corp(His company's name) flag will be on Everest summit.The team started their movement to South Summit, but Abhyankar remembers of his wife and asks Chand to find her. Chand digs and find Tara in the ice, Chand and Col. Abhyankar cried a lot in the memories of Tara .During South Summit Col. Abhyankar was injured when they were on Camp 3, there was internal bleeding. Then Abhiyankar decides that Chand will lead Aakash and Anjali to the summit. Before climbing the Hillary Step, the take a break. Ramesh asks Aakash to get sarpech from the summit of Mt.everest, as Aakash thinks of the Queen of Sambhalgarh's wish, he refuses to bring it. Roongta to provoke Aakash cancels the Everest Mission .Ramesh tells Akash to say sorry to Anjali. The cameramen, Sid shows Ramesh that the Everest mission has become a love story of Aakash and Anjali. People posted that due to Anjali, Aakash is going to summit. Thus, Aakash agrees to bring the sharpe have as he was having no choice as he does not want to upset anjali.They start moving and reach 'Hillary Step'. The wind starts blowing very fast. Chand dies because of storm. Colonel asks Aakash to cut the rope through which he was hanging. Anjali refuses to do the summit because of losing Chand and Nima. Aakash reminds her promise Chand "We have to summit despite anyone died or lost." Both Anjali and Aakash decide to summit Everest. Anjali gets visions of her 'Papa'. Her father tells her to take leave Chand at the summit. When they reach summit, Anjali starts running down her memory lane. She says 'I've done it Papa'. Aakash clicks Anjali's photos. He says that this is a tribute to Gaurav. They inform their success to the base camp. Everyone is overwhelmed at their success. Col. Abhyankar reaches camp 4. Tashi and Arjun welcome him. They are also overwhelmed at Anjali and Aakash's success. The news reaches Anjali and Aakash's family through the television.Anjali's father is very happy and proudly accepts Anjali to be his daughter. Aakash says that Anjali is the person who deserves to place the National flag at the summit. He clicks photos of her with the Indian National Flag in her hand.Finally Aakash says in loud,"Anjali,I love you" and hearing this from Aakash Anjali also says that she loves him and they kiss and in flashback all scenes of how they met are shown. Last scene is at President's house where all members (Brigadier Jagat, Sarita, Anjali, Shikha Maa, Aakash, Colonel Abhyankar, Arjun, Ramesh Roongta, Captain Vidhaan and Maithili ) attend the award ceremony and Anjali and Aakash get felicitated by the President.


Cast

Cast of Everest:

Production

Produced by Ashutosh Gowariker Productions Private Limited, Everest has been slated to telecast 100 episodes.[11][12][13][14][15] The telenovela was edited by Dilip Deo,[11][16] and the story and series screenplay were written by Mitali Mahajan and Gowariker. Episodic screenplay was written by Bhavani Iyer. Preeti Mamgain, Lalit Marathe and Manisha Korde wrote the dialogues for Everest.[11] The rest of the crew members of Everest are:

Afaqs! has described the project as "high on investment", and Gaurav Banerjee, the general manager of STAR Plus, said that Everest will be "a television show at a scale bigger than any other show".[11] Gowariker added that their aim is "to take cinema to the home of the audiences" by giving the television audience a cinematic experience through this show.[17]

Everest led to a delay in the film Mohenjo Daro, another of Gowariker's projects. Gowariker came up with the concepts at the same time, but because he was more excited about starting Everest he postponed Mohenjo Daro. Gowariker later clarified this, saying: "What is most important for me is the planning stage. Once that is in place, implementing the ideas becomes easier. The research (for Everest) took longer than usual. So yes, I did have to push the movie a little bit because Everest took up a lot of my time. It is my dream project and needed more attention."[18]

Making

When creating his concept, Ashutosh Gowariker realised that a television script is different than one for film projects, and that covering mountaineering as a sport would have limitations. He ultimately derived a script that attempted to show the mountaineers' inner satisfactions at their attempts to conquer their obstacles.[14]

The concept of Everest took shape in Gowariker's mind around two years before the telenovela was made. At that time he was confused between the themes of female empowerment and the fairly obscure sport of mountaineering. As he could not proceed with either of them individually, Gowariker combined the two themes into one, creating the theme of Everest. Gowariker stated that: "The whole idea of the show actually began with an insight that what are you willing to do for your dreams?"[19] Before starting the shooting of Everest, Gowariker had to do a great deal of research. The makers referred to books such as To Everest and Beyond (by Edmund Hillary) and accounts by various other mountaineers, a few of whom they met personally.[20] Mitali Mahajan, who co-wrote the story and the screenplay of the show, said: "There are 14 peaks that have an elevation of over 8,000 meters and some enthusiastic people have climbed them all. A lot of them have live blogs about their journey through these peak. We have been following a lot of them."[21]

Accustomed to writing the scripts for movies, Gowariker said that he found it difficult to write the script for Everest. Typically, in the case of a soap opera, the story is not written entirely prior to release. Rather, it is written as the soap opera goes on, analysing various factors such as the TRPs (television rating points) and the audience feedback. Everest, however, was not written this way.[22] Gowariker has also said that it was while writing the story that he realised the self-satisfaction that people get after climbing Mount Everest. After finishing writing the story, he realised not only that he wanted to produce the show, but also that he also needed experts to direct it.[21] Gowariker said in a group interview that through Everest he would also be addressing the girl child issue.[23]

Shooting

While making Everest, which was filmed using equipment such as GoPro cameras and 4K technology,[21] the producers collaborated with the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM) in Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand (India), to shoot the telenovela. Filmed in Nepal and India, the filming locations included Lukla and Everest Base Camp (which is located at 17,590 feet (5,360 m) above sea level[24]) in Nepal and Pokhran, Jaipur and Jodhpur, in Rajasthan, Uttarkashi and the Dokriani Glacier (which is located at 12,000 feet (3,700 m) above sea level) in India.[9][14][19][25][26] The crew of Everest had to shoot the telenovela in extreme temperatures and required additional oxygen to cope with the increased altitude, making it difficult for them to shoot.[14][25] They had to trek in Uttarakhand for 10 days to film the telenovela.[20]

The shooting began in December 2013, and by September 2014 ninety per cent of the storyline had been shot. Due to the extreme climatic conditions, the crew were able to shoot for a maximum of 4–5 hours a day, increasing the number of shooting days.[11][27][28] Members of the crew also underwent various health tests prior to the shooting.[14]

Initially, producers Lawrence D'Souza and Gowariker had planned to shoot the entire telenovela in New Zealand. However, before the shooting started they incidentally met Col. Kothiyal, the Principal of NIM, who convinced them to shoot the telenovela in Uttarkashi by informing them that the NIM had not only the required equipment but also the expertise to shoot the serial. Col. Kothiyal also pointed out to Gowariker and D’Souza that it would bring down the production costs. This led the producers to shoot part of Everest in Uttarakashi and part in New Zealand. The cast and the crew arrived in Dehradun, Uttarakand on 6 February 2014, from where they headed to Uttarkashi. The training of the cast and crew also began at NIM, after which the team headed to the Dokriani Glacier, and then Nepal, where the final portion of Everest was shot.[8][29] The team finished shooting in Uttarakhand within two months, according to the scheduled plan.[30]

Music

Everest was the television debut of A. R. Rahman, who composed the music for the telenovela. Rahman said at the launch that he used tracks created by students from his music college for the show.[12][28] Rahman also said: "Venturing into television was on my mind for a couple of years. Ashutosh came to me with the concept which was so intriguing. It is a very good start for me."[16]

Marketing

Touted as "the most ambitious project on Indian television", Everest's theatrical poster and trailer were released on 16 September 2014.[12][16][31] The launch also included crew members from various departments, including costume and photography. News reports said that this was done as a "token of appreciation".[17] Nikhil Madhok, the senior Vice President of marketing and programming (STAR Plus), later said that the first thing which Everest should do when it went on-air was to break the clutter. He further said that STAR Plus had wanted to launch Everest around winter, as the audience will enjoy the telenovela more with the cold around the corner.[19] Everest was scheduled to premiere on STAR Plus on 3 November 2014 at 10:00 pm (IST).[32][17][33][34] In an effort to ensure that the audiences are able to relate to the story of Everest, the makers of the telenovela stated that the title Everest is metaphorical. "Everest" is symbolic of every person's struggle to accomplish something. Nikhil Madhok said, "The marketing plan will revolve around the thought 'Everybody has an "Everest" in their life' – something everybody will be able to relate to...Secondly, the technology and settings being used are all in an attempt to push the agenda of television forward." The trailers of the show also took forward this idea.[19][35][36][37] For instance, one of the trailers of Everest shows a cancer patient, undergoing a treatment, whose "Everest" is to win over cancer, while another shows a woman conversing with her aphonic son in sign language; her "Everest" is to understand her son a little better every day. This was also the first time that a two and a half minute trailer had been made for an Indian television series. Everest's trailer also entered theatres with the release of the Bollywood film, Happy New Year, which starred Shah Rukh Khan as its male protagonist.[19] Following the launch of Everest, which was co-powered by Godrej Ezee, STAR Plus also launched a campaign titled #WhatsYourEverest, on radio, on television and social networking sites. The campaign asked people about their personal "Everests". STAR Plus also collaborated with Everest's presenting sponsor Fair & Lovely's "Fair & Lovely Foundation", an initiative by Fair & Lovely to economically empower women to fulfill their dreams. Through this collaboration, selected individuals are given monetary help and other kinds of assistance to conquer their own "Everests". Apart from Godrej Ezee and Fair & Lovely, Vinod Cookware signed up as the associate sponsor of Everest.[1][38][39][40]

STAR Plus also collaborated with a few outlets of Costa Coffee in India and, as a part of the promotions, crated a special zone called the Everest Zone in the café.This special zone was approximately 5 °C (41 °F), had snow on the ground, and had waiters serving the customers within. The customers were given jackets to protect themselves from the cold. This initiative, which started in various Indian cities on 22 October 2014, will continue throughout the working hours for several weekends. Nikhil Madhok said that this was done to give people an experience of how it feels on Everest.[19]

The 360 degree marketing campaign of Everest included not just the channels of STAR India, but thirty other channels. To promote Everest, the STAR India network also used 3-D hoardings apart from the radio, television, the print and the Internet.[19]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 TNN (18 October 2014). "Star Plus launches cast of Everest". Times of India. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
  2. ↑ Narayan, Girija (15 May 2014). "Ashutosh Gowariker's TV Show To Have Models From Ads As Leads!". Filmibeat. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  3. ↑ IANS (5 November 2014). "EVEREST: I would have been a fool to say no to Gowariker says Shamata". Times of India. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  4. ↑ Dixit, Srishti (15 May 2014). "Ashutosh Gowariker’s telly show Everest's lead pair revealed". Bollywood Life. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 IANS (17 October 2014). "Gowariker's 'EVEREST' has Newcomer in Lead". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
  6. ↑ Sur, Prateek (13 January 2015). "Grandaughter of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge lyricist enters Bollywood with Ashutosh Gowariker’s Everest!". Bollywood Life. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
  7. ↑ Olivera, Roshni (27 October 2014). "Meet the cast of Ashutosh Gowariker's Everest". Times of India. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Misra, Iti Shree (9 April 2014). "Ashutosh begins shooting his serial Everest". Times of India. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 PTI (17 September 2014). "‘Everest’ is about a girl's ambition: Ashutosh Gowariker". The Indian Express. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  10. ↑ http://www.explosivefashion.in/blogs/teteatete-with-saattvic.html
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 11.6 11.7 11.8 11.9 11.10 11.11 "Star Plus, Ashutosh Gowariker join hands to launch 'Everest'". Afaqs. 17 September 2014. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 PTI (17 September 2014). "AR Rahman scores music for Ashutosh Gowariker's debut TV show 'Everest'". IBN Live. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  13. ↑ PTI (17 September 2014). "A R Rahman scores music for Ashutosh Gowariker’s debut TV show". The Indian Express. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 Gupta, Priya (6 October 2014). "Ashutosh Gowariker : Making Everest was like climbing Everest for me". Times of India. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  15. ↑ Dua, Aarti (6 July 2014). "Small screen bonanza". Graphiti (The Telegraph). Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 IANS (17 September 2014). "Ashutosh Gowariker unveils first poster, promo for his television debut 'Everest'". IBN Live. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 "First look: Ashutosh Gowariker's Everest". Hindustan Times. 17 September 2014. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  18. ↑ Coutinho, Natasha (2 October 2014). "Ashutosh Gowariker's 'Mohenjo Daro' delayed due to 'Everest'". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 19.4 19.5 19.6 "‘Everest’ will break the clutter like ‘Mahabharat’: Nikhil Madhok". indiantelevision.com. indiantelevision.com. 18 October 2014. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Lakhe, Amruta (12 October 2014). "Grand Ambition". The Indian Express. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 Bhadani, Priyanka (26 September 2014). "Aiming high". The Indian Express. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  22. ↑ Chakrabarti, Srabanti (5 October 2014). "An upward journey". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  23. ↑ "'Everest' about a girl's ambition: Ashutosh Gowariker". Zee News (India). 17 September 2014. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  24. ↑ Nat Geo. "Nepal: Everest Base Camp Trek Details". National Geographic Adventures. National Geographic (Nat Geo). Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Coutinho, Natasha (7 October 2014). "Ashutosh Gowariker's Everest troubles". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  26. ↑ "Ashutosh Gowariker's Everest to start from 3rd November". Fuze. 16 October 2014. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  27. ↑ "Ashutosh Gowariker unveils promo, poster of 'EVEREST'". The Indian Express (Press release). 16 September 2014. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 "Ashutosh Gowarikar titles his telly fiction, Everest". The Indian Express. 21 February 2014. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  29. ↑ Pawar, Bhagyashri (10 April 2014). "Ashutosh Gowariker begins shooting for TV show Everest!". Bollywood Life. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  30. ↑ Baddhan, Raj (11 February 2014). "Ashutosh Gowariker’s TV show ‘Everest’ collaborates with mountaineering institute". bizasia. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  31. ↑ PTI (17 September 2014). "A R Rahman scores music for Ashutosh Gowariker’s debut TV show". The Indian Express. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  32. ↑ IANS (18 October 2014). "Ashutosh Gowariker's 'EVEREST' has newcomer in lead". The Indian Express. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
  33. ↑ "Ashutosh Gowariker's Everest to start from 3rd November". Fuze. 16 October 2014. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  34. ↑
  35. ↑ Neogy, Sarmistha (17 September 2014). "Star Plus to scale new heights with 'Everest'". Best Media Info. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  36. ↑ Abraham, Letty Mariam (6 October 2014). "Everest trailer: Ashutosh Gowariker's new show is about aspirations and the hunger to achieve it!". Bollywood Life. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  37. ↑ "Ashutosh Gowariker, Suhasini Mulay launch Star Plus’ new show – EVEREST". pinkvilla.com. Pink Villa. 17 October 2014. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  38. ↑ "What's your Everest?" (Press release). Times of India. 13 October 2014. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  39. ↑ "Star Plus launches Ashutosh Gowariker's Everest". exchange4media.com. Exchange4Media. 18 October 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
  40. ↑ "Star Plus Launches Ashutosh Gowariker’s ‘Everest’". indiawest.com. India West. 17 October 2014. Retrieved 20 October 2014.

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