Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya - On a slow motion mode!

Monday - Friday at 10 pm on Zee TV.

Producer - Rajan Shahi

Director - Rajan Shahi, Romesh Kalra, Neeraj Baliyan

Cast - Reena Kapoor, Kanchi Singh, Mishkat Verma, Rajiv Verma, Ashita Dhawan Gulabani, Saillesh Gulabani, Waseem Mushtaq

Story so far - 

Set in Jaipur, this romantic saga is about the tender feeling of falling in love for the first time. It is the story of Avni (Kanchi Singh) who stays with her family who is in love with the idea of being in love and that of Raj (Mishkat Verma). Raj stays with his sister and brother-in-law and he too has been romanticizing about love. 

They both have a chance meeting which is love at first sight for Raj whereas Avni is unaware of his feelings for her. They have a slew of chance encounters but never get to introduce themselves to each other. 

There is also the track of Avni's brother Akshat (Waseem Mushtaq) who is in love with a girl Arpita but since he cannot admit this to his conservative family puts it forth as an arranged marriage proposal. While everyone is okay with the match, his bua is against it but she has to accept the decision. However, she sees Arpita hand in hand with a boy (who is in fact Akshat) at a rock concert and has doubts about her yet again.

What works - 

The Jaipur background works wonders. The makers have shot the show at some beautiful locales in and around Jaipur which lend an authentic touch to the story. Even the indoor sets add to the ambience of the story. The families are shown to be coming from rich background and the sets are appropriate too. The costumes (Neerusha Nikhat) and accessories match the aura of the show and show that it has been worked on in detail. Dialogues by Dheeraj Sarna too need a mention here since they are apt and matching the mood and depict the feelings of the youngsters shown in the show. 

What doesn't work - 

The show's USP was supposed to be that of first time love, but the narrative is too slow and obvious. Many a times there are cliched scenes like the boy finding the girl's anklet and keeping it, the dupatta getting entangled in the boy's cuff link or the boy's bracelet left hanging to the girl's dupatta. While these scenes do add a touch of innocent romance to the love story the show seems to go very slow. The scenes seem to drag on and go on forever. 

Even as Kanchi Singh comes across as a breath of fresh air Mishkat Verma who too debuts on TV needs to be groomed a bit more.

Our take - 

It has a typical Rajshri films touch to it with the families and the settings and the newcomers as the Jodi in it which the makers need to change otherwise the feeling of 'I've seen this somewhere else before' will continue. Reena Kapoor talking about the cricket played by the families when they go for picnic too is typically a Rajshri films memory. 

Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya needs to hasten its speed a bit otherwise it looks like it is always on a slow motion mode. However, all said and done the show might just find an interesting audience in youngsters from small town.

Seema Khot Mattoo