Vijayendra Kumeria started considering production a few years into his acting career. Through some friends he got an opportunity to learn production and many aspects of filmmaking. He also gained a few experiences here and there and then started his own production along with his wife, Preeti Bhatia Kumeria.
“I have produced shows on DD National and a few episodics in partnership. And two year back my wife and I started Kumeria production and recently our finite series went on air in Enterr10tv… This one is a crime series based on true incidents and has 20 episodes. It’s shows the journey of a female protagonist who is forced to take revenge for the wrong done to her and her family given the circumstances she finds herself in. The look and feel of my show Dhaak which is a part of India’s crime file is quite authentic,” he adds.
Talking about casting Vidhi Pandya in the series, he says, “I have worked with Vidhi. She is a very good actor and a dear friend. She has been close to my wife more than me… so mostly she was in touch with her on the sets. I would definitely like to work with her again and again in different projects. And when we were casting, she was my first choice. I knew she would be able to shoulder the character well and she lived up to all our expectations.”
Kumeria himself is fond of thrillers. I like to watch series which keep me engrossed and make me think about what is going to happen next.
So what is difficult, acting or producing? And how does he manage doing both? “I have a great team and a very supportive wife. I delegate duties and my team under my wife’s supervision is efficient to pull off things well. Venturing into production was not difficult because I know the business. I am a good learner. Initially I made mistakes but I learnt from them a lot and I am quite good with it,” says the actor, who now wants to make a nice romantic daily soap for TV and a good thriller for the web.
On how his wife Preeti manages all the work in the production house with a pro, he adds, “ She is the backbone of my company. She is good at her work and saves a lot of money while I have a habit of going overboard with creativity and splurging much (laughs). She manages the work. When I am acting and just available on calls she is the one who takes the charge. She is better than me when it comes to production.”
