Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Metro Plus | Open Page | Education Plus | Book Review | Business | SciTech | Friday Review | Young World | Property Plus | Quest | Folio |

Romance is in the air

Bored with the spate of overwrought family dramas on television, twenty-somethings are now hooked on to romance, modelled on M&Bs

PHOTO: R. RAGU

CUPID STRIKES Mushy love stories are big on television now

It is 8.45 p.m. and Rekha Pande is cajoling her perky kid to go to bed. Her husband and mother-in-law are urged to take a post-dinner walk. Done with this, at 9 p.m., the stay-at-home mom switches on the television to catch Jai Walia and Bani's searing chemistry on Kasamh Se.

Middle-aged Jai is a haughty but good-at-heart businessman. And Bani is his sweet wife. This couple agonise over their unspoken love for each other and an entire nation of young things waits with bated breath for D-day, when they will admit their love to each other.

Online mush

Their blogs and online posts are full of wild conjectures and predictions about how and when and where it is going to happen... One member even penned a mushy verse for their love, titled "You are my final destination."

For a generation that lost out on the fluffy romance of Mills and Boon novels, serials like this are a godsend.

Mistletoe, the daily updater for the Zee TV serial on www.india-forums.com, a website dedicated to television, is exuberant while talking about the kind of excitement this serial has created.

She says that one of the reasons why shows like Kasamh Se have succeeded is because they are primarily love stories. "And the larger-than-life character of Cuddles (her nickname for Jai Walia) stays intact, despite the problems he is facing."

Suddenly, scheming mothers-in-law, simpering wives, overdressed vamps and subservient husbands are out. What's in on Indian television is a busier-then-ever Cupid. He plays the star in eight prime-time Hindi serials, including Kasamh Se.

Cupid features in the lives of Angad and Kripa of Kaisa Yeh Pyaar hai, Nahar and Saloni of Saath Phere, Nikhil and Ananya of Ek Ladki Anjaani Si, Rahul and Priyanka of Virasaat, Kavya and Anjali of Kaavyanjali, Sujal and Kashish of Kahiin To Hoga and Aanya and Raghu of Jab Love Hua.

What brought about this kind of a turnaround?

"People got bored of the machinations going on in the saas-bahu serials, and I guess, the channel heads realised that," says Sangeeta, an avid soap watcher, whose first exposure to romance on television was through Sujal and Kashish. She recalls staying up every night till 11.30 p.m. to see if the pair will stay together at all.

Commenting on his skyrocketing popularity, Iqbal Khan, who plays the angst-ridden rock star Angad in Kaisa Yeh Pyaar Hai (KYPH), says that it feels great that people like his work and characters.

When did he realise he was getting popular? "I guess it was after the first week. I had half-a-day free and stepped out for a while. So many girls rushed up to me for an autograph." Iqbal had arrived.

He cites novelty as the reason for the show's success. "This was the first contemporary Balaji show that departed from the saas-bahu format. It was not a usual love story. Also, the fact that the lead was a rock star was a first," he adds.

How long will this trend last? "As long as anything is good, it will work," he says.

Ram Kapoor, who plays the "macho" Jai Walia, says he is stumped by the serial's popularity. "We all worked very hard. The creative team is strong and I am thankful that it clicked with the audience."

Does it signal that romance is here to stay? "Yes. I think romance has come back after a small break. For a while, it was only the saas-bahu serials. Shows like Kasamh Se and Kaisa Yeh Pyaar Hai focus on a younger story line and the lead pair. The audience seems to have taken to it. I hope it is successful enough to spawn other shows like this, so that a viewer has variety," says the method actor.

As for the popularity of his character, Ram says: "It has gone through the roof and has been a very humbling experience. So many people write in from India and abroad."

Sample this post from a 20-something, who is busy juggling watching serials and work and running up huge Internet bills: "Jai Walia's character proves that he is the man that every 20-year-old's dreams are made of — caring, understanding, protective, vulnerable, romantic, charismatic, powerful, and above all, stinking rich."

This kind of audience is what TV channels are banking on to drive television rating points (TRPs). Take Zee TV. Kasamh Se and Saath Phere are their two top shows. But, Tarun Mehra, Head-Marketing, Zee TV, says these serials are popular not just because of the strong romantic angle.

"A good story line matters. In these two serials, a captivating storyline has worked wonders," he concludes.

SUBHA J. RAO

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail