MUMBAI: After the long lull that followed the launch of Sahara's supposed big ticket, Karishma - The Miracles of Destiny last year, the channel started the new year with a bang. The Sridevi starrer Malini Iyer and Paresh Rawal's show Bhagwan Bachaye were launched earlier this month. The third launch from the channel this month is Aroona Irani's Zameen Se Aassmaan Tak, which has been in the pipeline since October last year.

The serial which has been produced and directed by Aroona Irani was launched with a media conference in Mumbai on Wednesday at the Tulip Star Hotel and will start airing from 2 February.

Among those present were Aroona Irani, her husband Kuku Kohli, Kiran Kumar (who described his role in the serial as the best role he has ever played on television so far) and Sahara senior vice president programming Tripti Sharma.

First and foremost, Irani cleared all doubts that the serial has been inspired from the famous Hindi film Waqt. She said, "This is not true. Waqt is the only Hindi film that was based on an earthquake tragedy. Just because my serial has an earthquake in the story does not mean that my eyes were on Waqt while penning the story of Zameen Se Aassman Tak."

A still from 'Zameen Se Aassman Tak'

Zameen Se Aassman Tak which will be aired Mondays to Thursdays at 10 pm, is a family drama; the story of which is somewhat on these lines - An earthquake hits protagonist Balraj Thakur's (Kiran Kumar) life, he gets separated from his wife (Aroona Irani), and his daughter (Jeevidha of Yeh Dil Aashiqana) is forced to dance in a bar because she has no money to cure the old lady who shelters her. Balraj subsequently marries Meera (Sudha Chandran). Thus, Balraj has two families. Any prizes for guessing that dramatic situations follow between the two families?

In an earlier interview to indiantelevision.com, Irani had said that this serial would see the light of day in September or October 2003. When we asked about the delay, she admitted, "Yes. The serial got delayed by about four months." But why, we wanted to know. The lady took the blame on herself. "In this serial, I was involved with the story, production, direction and acting. Plus, I am constantly monitoring Des Mein Niklla Hoga Chand and Tum Bin Jaoon Kahan. Being a daily, we wanted to bank at least 60 episodes before flagging off. Hence, the delay."

To another query by indiantelevision.com whether she found any difference in the style of functioning compared to Zee and Star Plus with whom she has been working for quite some time now, Irani smartly quipped, "Please don't ask me to differentiate between my three children."

Come 2 February and we shall know how Irani's new baby is! Can she reproduce her Midas touch of Des Mein Niklla Hoga Chand? One thing is for sure... Sahara Manoranjan needs it more than Irani.

Besides Aroona Irani, Kiran Kumar, Jeevidha and Sudha Chandran; the other players in the show are Dharmesh Vyas, Noopar, Yash, Satyen Kapoo, Rajiv Paul, Rajeev Verma and Hansika Motwani.