Web series to tell tale of Shillong couple’s rivalry turned love story

SHILLONG, Feb 11: Karan Johar’s latest production, Love Storiyaan, featuring six real-life couples from diverse backgrounds, is set to premiere on Valentine’s Day, showcasing the romantic journey of Shillong’s renowned Radio Jockey, Nicholas Jonathan Kharnami, famously known as RJ Nicky, and his former rival-turned-wife, Rajni Chhetri, who is now a professor in a city college.
Conceptualised by Somen Mishra, the creative director at Dharmatic Entertainment, the series draws inspiration from the India Love Project. Mishra, who was particularly intrigued by the untold stories from the Northeast, expressed his enthusiasm for representing the region’s narratives.
“We do not see a lot of Northeast representation in characters or actors, so when we came across the story on India Love Project, and how beautiful the story was, we jumped at the opportunity,” Mishra told The Shillong Times.
In a departure from the crime dramas saturating OTT platforms, Love Storiyaan ventures into the realm of genuine love stories.
Mishra spoke about how the audience is bored of crime dramas on OTT platforms and that is why the team decided on a love story, and since fiction also has been done to death, they decided to go for real-life love stories that have risen above challenges and adversities, and managed to stick with each other despite them.
The series, directed by six ace directors, includes RJ Nicky and Rajni’s narrative helmed by Vivek Soni, known for his work on films like Ra.one and Udta Punjab, and Meenakshi Sundareshwar.
Soni, in a conversation with The Shillong Times, on being asked why he chose to direct the episode of the city couple, said he connected with it on a human level.
“The plot when I read, it immediately clicked something in me, it was ordinary yet extraordinary, “ and this was something I wanted to do,” he said.
“The story has been shot in Meghalaya and some parts in Assam, capturing the essence of the place they fell in love,” Soni added.
Soni expressed his desire to explore the beauty of Meghalaya and its vibrant culture, underscoring the allure of the ordinary yet extraordinary love story of RJ Nicky and Rajni. He described the project as a storyteller’s dream, driven by the opportunity to delve into a narrative.
Love Storiyaan is set to stream on Amazon prime on February 14.