Indian Television Or Animal Planet? Snakes, Tigers & Lizards Are The New Heroes Of TV!

In 2011, Sasural Simar Ka aired on Colors TV and within a few months gained the status of being the most popular family drama on Indian telly. My mom was glued to this show, which began as the story of two sisters marrying brothers and their journeys as ideal bahus. Cut to 2016, while I was rejoicing the launch of Netflix and making my own list of yet-to-be-seen shows, my mom was still glued to Sasural Simar Ka. One fine day, this show did catch my attention. Why? My Twitter and Facebook timelines were flooded with videos of Simar (Dipika Kakar), the lead actor, turning into a fly travelling to different dimensions, and all this while doing all the household chores. 

Well, I have to say Indian TV shows never fail to amaze us with their bizarre twists and turns (aage janne ke liye dekhiye..is literally playing in my head RN).

The show has been running for long that it has taken two-generation leaps. Why not throw in some ichhadhaari naagins, crocodile attacks, tiger incarnations into the storyline then? The key is to keep the audience hooked even if the makers have to come up with bizarre concepts. 

Instagram

Doesn’t it actually feel like you’re watching Animal Planet, except the animal dramatic lives? Well, looks like it’s either Naagin or the evil sasuma and we aren’t getting a break anytime soon. While Sasural Simar Ka deserved a special mention, there are other TV shows that we can’t forget to mention because paranormal, sci-fi tracks, and animals in these shows blew our minds. 

Here’s Taking A Look At Shows With Crazy AF Plots!

Haiwan-The Monster

A new TV show on the block, this sci-fi thriller just dropped its trailer on Zee TV. Produced by Ekta Kapoor, the show revolves around a scientist who turns into a monster because of a failed experiment. Don’t believe us? Watch the trailer here to entertain yourself.

We don’t know when the show is going to air because the release date has not been confirmed as yet, but it’s clearly a copy of The Hulk (Avengers are in India, guys!), and we don’t think we’ll be able to sit through this.

Naagin

The makers of Naagin call it an Indian fantasy drama. The show that aired on Colors TV has successfully done THREE SEASONS and the fourth season is all set to release in November 2019. The first season aired 62 episodes, the second season had 75 episodes and the third one aired 104 episodes. Looking at the number of increasing episodes, we can only guess the fourth season will surely have more than 100 episodes.

Well, I am not getting into the plot because it’s all twisted and will take me eons to explain the bits and pieces of the storyline, but there are some stunning naagins (Mouni Roy, Anita Hassanandani, Karishma Tanna) out to seek vengeance.

Vish-A Poisonous Story

Now that we are talking about icchadhaari naagins, mornis and nevalas, let me tell you all about yet another supernatural series, Vish-A Poisonous Story that premiered on Colors TV last month. None other than Debina Bonnerjee aka TV’s Sita is playing the antagonist in the show. The show revolves around the enigmatic world of Vishaili and Vishaila, who look like ordinary people, but in reality belong to the family of a rare species born from the crossbreed of a human and a snake. Not awkward at all!

Divya Drishti

Wikipedia describes this one as an Indian supernatural drama. The show that aired in February this year revolves around two sisters (Divya and Drishti) separated at a young age. And they, of course, have superpowers! While the show boasts many superpowers, the recent one was that of a woman who plays Lavanya turning into a lizard. The genius who thought of this twist deserves a *slow clap*. Well, this time, the viewers didn’t accept this bizarre drama unfolding in front of their eyes. The channel, the makers and the actress Mansi Srivastava (who plays Lavanya) were trolled left, right and centre about this twist. 

Meanwhile, the actress had no qualms about transforming into a lizard and had no issues with the absurd turn of events on the show. ‘Coz, “People have turned into animals and snakes in the past too, there is nothing new in it.” Earlier, in an interview with an online media portal, she said, “Viewers haven’t seen lizard before. I wasn’t aware of the same since the beginning when I signed the show.”

She added, “I have been a Harry Potter fan always. I have seen people turning into rats and what not, if people can watch that then they should not be so hateful about this too.” Nope, there is nothing weird about a woman using her shaktiyan to turn into a lizard.

Yeh Kahaan Aa Gaye Hum

Another show from Balaji Telefilms that joined the paranormal trend in the year 2015 was Yeh Kahaan Aa Gaye Hum. The plot revolves around Rahul Sabharwal (Kunal Kundra) whose family is cursed. Rahul, who is otherwise a rockstar, turns into a shape-shifting tiger on certain days of the year. Twilight meets Lion King on Indian television, guys! 

Thapki Pyaar Ki

If we can have a protagonist turning into a shape-shifting tiger, lizard or a fly, then why not a gorilla romancing a human? I mean, c’ mon, who doesn’t want to watch a love story that’s this interesting? We did some digging and found out that the show that aired on Colors TV in 2015 had a sequence with a love triangle between a male, a female and male gorilla. The sequence has the lead Thapki bringing a gorilla home, which invites a lot of chaos at home. OBVIOUSLY! But the real twist guys is that the gorilla falls in love with Thapki! Think Beauty and the Beast, then add typical Kya Kya Kya moments and dupatta romances.

Ichchadhari Naagins, shape-shifting tigers and now a lizard-like monster, when it comes to dramatic twists, Indian telly has probably done it all. We wonder, what’s next? Any guesses?

Featured Image: YouTube

POPxo is now available in six languages: English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi and Bangla.

Love all things colourful and cute? Take it up a POP with POPxo Shop‘s collection of super fun mugs, phone covers, cushions, laptop sleeves and more!