New DD Series for Children based on Ruskin Bond's stories

New Delhi, Jan 3 (UNI) The stories of India's best-loved children's author, Ruskin Bond, will come alive on the small screen in SaaReeGaa Productions' ''Dehra Kids'', to be telecast on Doordarshan from January 7 onwards.

The series is to be telecast every Sunday at 2030 hrs DD-Bharati.

The 'Dehra Kids' are a group of children living in a small hill town, and comprise some of Bond's most enduring fictional characters -- cricket-loving Ranji, all-knowing Koki, animal-lover Mukesh, Teju -- always up to mischief -- and Chashmu, who observes everything around him.

These stories are recreated in the magnificent Himalayan setting of Manali and its surroundings.

The 10-part series remains faithful to the spirit of Bond's stories, but each episode has been expanded and fleshed-out to fit into a half-hour format, with several new characters and incidents added to each story.

'Dehra Kids' is directed by Ajay Shetty, who has been associated as cinematographer and/or director with numerous serials, documentaries and shows.

Ruskin Bond's stories have been adapted for television by Anasuya Vaidya, the executive producer of the series, who has also written numerous stories, screenplays and plays for children. Ajay Shetty, Jai Vaidya, Kahkashan Naqvi and Kanika Aurora are also in the script-writing team.

Humour, adventure and a dash of the supernatural make 'Dehra Kids' a complete fun-filled entertainment for children. The episodes are loosely based on some of Ruskin Bond's best known short stories, such as 'Ranji's Wonderful Bat', 'The Black Cat', 'The Great Train Journey', 'When the Guavas Are Ripe', 'Mukesh Starts a Zoo', 'Eyes of the Cat' and the classic 'Dust on The Mountain'.

The talented child actors of Dehra Kids include Nisa Shetty, Mohit Arora, Govind Marodia, Dhruv Shetty, Sarthak Ghonkrokta, Bhavya Mahajan, Nishant Gambhir and Yashna. Adult characters are played by such stellar performers as Jalabala Vaidya. Ruskin Bond makes an appearance at the beginning and end of each episode.

As a spin-off to the series, Akshara Theatre's publishing wing, Akshara Books is soon bringing out a book titled 'Dehra Plays', which are Anasuya Vaidya's English-language stage adaptations of five of the screenplays from the series.

On Sunday (January 7), the series features the episode 'Billi Aur Broomstick', where Subhash Rawat plays a struggling writer whose purchase of an antique broom unleashes mysterious happenings in his home, at the centre of which is the reappearing cat which belongs to old Miss Bellows.

UNI