I’m sure that unless you’re not living under a rock, you must have come across a meme on your ‘Gram that compares ‘from where it started’ to ‘where it’s going’. All thanks to the unpredictability of the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic, how we began this year and how we’ll end it, look like situations from two different worlds!
BTW, speaking of ‘from where it started to where it is headed’, have you ever applied this context on daily soaps? We did it and the results were quite surprising! We realised that sometimes Indian daily soaps actually start with a sensible concept before taking a complete U-turn and ending on a bizarre note or not ending for a lot of years and leaving the audience asking bhai ye ho kya raha hai? For example, Simar from Sasural Simar Ka was meant to be a dancer with the help of her supporting in-laws. Now, that’s a whole other story that she ended up being a housefly (*ROFL*)! And sadly, she isn’t the only one.
There are a lot of other shows that disastrously lose track of their story. A love story turns into a supernatural drama and a social issue gets converted into a family drama that can date back to circa 1960. And, let us not get started on how a modern and ambitious woman transforms into a sabhya-sanskari-adarsh bahu, that apparently, in the television industry means, doormat.
If our analysis sounds familiar to you as well, then check out these shows that match the description perfectly!
7 Shows That Started Great Before Losing Track
Sometimes, we really wonder if our daily soap makers just get bored after making a few episodes and that’s why they purposely lose track OR if they really believe that the Indian audience wants to see the same drama over and over again. Spoiler alert: no, we don’t!
Here are the shows that had some really promising start but totally went off-track a few episodes later.
Yeh Hai Mohabbatein
The protagonists of the show, Ishita Iyer (Divyanka Tripathi) and Raman Bhalla (Karan Patel), were neighbours. The show’s original concept dealt with Raman’s second marriage with Ishita, his first divorce, Ishita’s infertility and her battles against society’s prejudice, and her motherhood as she adopts Raman’s daughter. All sounds pretty mature, right? Well, it was until the makers decided to add Raman’s ex-wife’s spirit into the plot and several baseless kidnappings.
A truly promising show that gradually became an illogical melodrama. And, guess what? We hear that the show might return on Alt Balaji soon — Lord save us now!
Diya Aur Baati Hum
The female lead of the show, Sandhya (Deepika Goyal) wanted to become an IPS officer but her family married her off to an uneducated man named Sooraj (Anas Rashid), who runs a sweet shop. However, with the support of her understanding husband, she is able to crack her exams and become an officer. So far so good, right? RIGHT? Then why did the makers add unbelievable plot sequences like IPS Sandhya getting kidnapped by terrorists and later being rescued by NOT her professionally trained and skilled fellow officers but her husband?
Here’s the thing that our makers need to understand – when the show has run its course, simply end it!
Balika Vadhu
Honestly, when the show began everyone loved it and for all the right reasons. Little Anandi (Avika Gor) was married off to Jagdish (Avinash Mukherjee) and it showed the blatant and sad reality of child-marriage that is still practised openly in many villages of Rajasthan. The show depicted the consequences of how disastrous child-marriage can be not just for the kids and their future but also for their families.
However, we have no idea why the makers lost the grip of their original concept and why the show turned into a regular daily soap with the usual family and love drama. What happened to the whole plan of bringing a change??
Uttaran
This show was a game-changer for Rashami Desai. She became a household name for playing the character of Tapasya and people loved her and the show – initially. The show was about the division of class that blatantly exists in our society. It reflected on how people treat the ones who they believe are socio-economically inferior to them. It made a lot of people rethink their actions but not for long. Slowly, the show turned into a catfight between two sisters, who were always locking horns to win their ‘right’ over the same man (seriously makers, calm down okay?). Obviously, the illogical plot lost its fan base gradually.
Na Aana Iss Des Laado
This was another show that reflected the gruesome reality of our country — killing female babies after their birth. The show revolved around a misogynistic character called Amma Ji who ordered the killing of female babies as soon as they were born by drowning them in milk.
Sadly, female infanticide is still prevalent and one of the most under-reported crimes in our country. The UNFPA State of World Population 2020 estimated the sex ratio at birth in India as 910, which is one of the lowest in the world.
While on one hand, we appreciate that the show tried to raise awareness on such an important issue, on the other hand, we really feel disappointed on how badly the show lost its track. From what could have been a revolution, the show turned out to be a trivial love story that no one seemed interested in after a while.
Shakti: Astitva Ke Ehsaas Ki
Rubina Dilaik is definitely garnering a lot of attention in Bigg Boss 14 and while we love her strong personality on the reality show, we wonder what happened to this fierce lady in the series Shakti: Astitva Ke Ehsaas Ki?
Rubina played the role of a transgender, who was, for all the unknown reasons, extremely meek and docile all the time. The concept was bold, untouched, and quite revolutionary in the Indian television industry. However, soon it became clear that the makers have actually done zero research on the topic and have just used the concept to gain TRP. The show provided no real information on transgender society, in fact, Rubina’s character got to know herself that she’s transgender after she got married.
How is that possible? What are the real issues faced by the trans community? What are their sexual orientations? Sadly, the show refrained from answering any of these questions.
Dil Se Di Dua… Saubhagyavati Bhava
This show, once again, touched a topic that’s extremely sensitive and important in today’s time. The show was on domestic abuse and revolved around an egomaniac and abusive husband (Karanvir Bohra) and his docile wife (Sriti Jha).
According to a report in The Hindu, the lockdown period between March 25 to May 31 recorded 1,477 complaints of domestic abuse, which is the highest in that time frame in the last 10 years. While the reports are of this year, domestic abuse has remained one of the most common crimes in India and sadly, not even half of the women at the receiving end of this abuse make an official complaint against it.
Under such circumstances, to have a show that talked about such an issue could have been a beacon of hope for many people undergoing such abuse themselves. However, the show gradually turned into a complete disappointment. Instead of showing ways to tackle domestic abuse and how to punish the offender legally, the show promoted unrealistic and OTT dramatic ways to simply run away from the situation. The show once again stayed loyal to the age-old notion that a damsel in distress can only be saved by a prince charming and hence, what could have been a major breakthrough in the Indian television industry, turned into a complete waste of time.
We truly wonder if our daily soap creators also get bored with repeating the same ghisa-pita storylines again and again. We know we are! Dear makers, ab kuch toh naya karo!
Feature Image: Instagram
