The idea for Mel and Rana came from personal experiences between my partner, Amitoze and I. After we started dating, he was not sure how his traditional Punjabi parents would react if they found out, so we decided to hide it from them. We were discussing it, and Amitoze remarked that it would be easier to tell his parents that he was addicted to drugs, rather than he had a girlfriend. I thought that this would make a great story so we decided to work on a fictional story involving an Indian and Australian couple.
After coming up with the original idea, we constructed a narrative that would be similar to the sitcom format, about the two families living next door to each other, and a secret relationship between a daughter and son. This is when Mel and Rana was created.
As the sitcom structure typically runs about 20 minutes, we are working up towards that and have written shorter, web-based episodes and produced a four minute video as a blue-print for a longer format. The webisode structure we have created is different. Typically it starts with a problem, that he main characters must solve, and obstacles that are in the way. The main character or set of characters then try to solve that problem, and either succeed or fail. In a sitcom format there are typically one or more sub-plots. We are working now on fleshing out more characters to fill in this world and have consulted other past and present RMIT students to further develop the idea.
We hope to develop Mel and Rana into a successful and entertaining sitcom. You can watch the four minute version below.
You can also join our Mel and Rana Official Facebook page, and follow the Mel and Rana Official Twitter page.
