First Week Review - Bandini

Let's see what the other show from Balaji Telefilms launched last week on NDTV Imagine has to offer...

Published: Friday,Jan 30, 2009 16:17 PM GMT-07:00

Nishtha Singh

Bandini which got launched on the same day as Kitani Mohabbat Hai also comes from the Balaji stables and is aired on NDTV Imagine. The show started last week amidst high expectations from audiences. The star cast boasts of Ronit Roy and giving him company are many new as well as able actors. The show kicks-off as the 'perfect' litmus test for the hit combination of Ronit Roy and Balaji Telefilms.

Story: Bandini is the story of a girl who hails from a small , a village which belongs to a diamond trader Dharamraj Mahiyavanshi and all the villagers are his employees. It is a restorative story of a young girl who is forced into a marriage of convenience with an elderly man twice her age. Set in the backdrop of rural , this narrative vividly traces the journey of Santu and her tryst with destiny. The show looks inspired from many Hindi novelists and their short stories on rural , and their struggle with the people who rule the village with their power and money.You can relate very well with the problem which used to exist or maybe still exists in our villages; unfortunately with the differences seen in caste, culture, high and lower class.

Concept: The story is based on pre-Independent rural India, but the set seems more or less like today's India. Little confused, right? But this is what it is all about, as Mahiyavanshi is a diamond trader with the whole village captured in his fist. The villagers cannot worship before he visits the temple, he has the right to banish anyone from the village at his own whim and fancy; basically the villagers are sort of bonded laborers of the Great Man. Hope the Human Right commission does not raise questions on the concept!. The show is novice in its approach and Balaji has taken a completely different path, experimenting with an altogether different genre. Unlike her other shows, Ekta has even gone back in times with this show. The language used by the villagers are sometimes hard to decipher and understand, as words such as "Mawri" with the typical Gujrati lingo, might be difficult for people living in other parts of India to grasp. Another questionable factor is the name of the lead protagonist "Dharamraj", and as described by Ronit Roy in a recent interview, "Dharamraj is a crude man and has no mercy on anyone", while we associate Dharamraj to the eldest of Pandavs Yudhistar. Maybe Ekta has yet to come out of the memory of her previous show, "Kahaani Humaarey Mahabharat ki".

Actors: Dharamraj aka Ronit Roy is looking royal, graceful and is living the character to the 'T'. There could have been no better choice than him to play this character on television at the moment. So casting is fabulous and flawless. As far as Santu (Aasiya Kazi) is concerned she is also doing her bit quite nicely and her style of speaking suits the role. So as the other cast especially Naanu, Moongi and Khemi deserve a round of applause. They remind you of characters straight from many novels of Premchand and other writers of that era. The scene when Nanu has to sell off his "mawri" or cow to pay the debt of Dharamraj, rings bells in your ears of Godaan, a novel by Premchand. This was one touching and heart wrenching scene in the show, and surely the best scene of the first week. The best part of this show is that you are getting to see actors who are new to Balaji Klan and thus bringing freshness to the whole show.

Set and Ambiance: Sets and the ambiance are apt and go with the theme and story, whether it be the small hut of Naanu, the entire village, fields, Dhramraj's mansion or factory; everything is very ably crafted and erected. This is what viewers look forward to see and they have got to see different locales and settings at last, as the whole village set up is very authentic and colorful. Even the terrains shown have come out very beautifully with bushes of cactus in and around the village, and this provides a realistic touch for sure!!

On the whole, Bandini is finally a Hatke product from Balaji with new set of actors, different approach and new settings. The show surely holds promise and will make it to the heart of audiences, especially those who are hooked to village drama and think it is the best entertainer and TRP puller on television right now. Here is the reason for them to rejoice as this show is comparable to all such shows which are based on such themes, if not better. A show which is inspired, but tells a story of its own, this is what Bandini is all about!!

Soap Ratings
: Lets see how many soaps of Telly Buzz this show gets...

Plot /Story Acting Sets

1 Soap Stinky one ,1-12/soaps -somewhere in between, 2 Soaps Slippery with no fragrance ,2,1/2 :with little fragrance,3 Soaps sandal wood with rose petals , 4 Soaps must use/watch

Concept and Author: Nishtha

Banner and Picture : Shagun

Note: The views expressed in this article are solely of the author...

Your reaction

Nice

Awesome

Loved

LOL

OMG

Cry

Fail

Ronit Roy

Aasiya Kazi

Comments (32)

Rani @pyar-ishk

+ 4 ⋮

Happy Birthday my angel my you be happy with all that life has to offer

12 years ago

Pari_Angle @Pari_Angle

⋮

Frinds bandini is not balika vadhu tipe .......it is tottal differnt.....story of young girl .....this is grate story

15 years ago

zA!N @Virgoboy

⋮

i think so this is the time 4 ekta n bidaii n yeh rishta kya khelata hai n also colors(balika vadhu) better luck next time n watch out

15 years ago

cimba @cimba

⋮

I am just loving Ronit in Bandini and can not wait for love spark between two leads. I am just too busy picturing myself as Santo when that happens.

15 years ago

Najiba @najch

⋮

How can you say it tells a story of its own. The concept of nice young girl marrying a rich, old man isn''t new infact Ronit Roy was also part of one such show. Also Ekta is just doing this show because of the Balika Vadhu rage.

15 years ago

Sonam @sonam_s

⋮

Its just a copy of Balika Vadhu. Too bad because it isnt as great as Balika Vadhu.

15 years ago

Sukirti Goel @chinki_goel

⋮

Really a Hatke show after a long time, Ronit n Asiya both are doing very good job. Gr8 concept, fabulous acting, peaceful Ambience n a gr8 start. I hope the show retains it''s innocence n give us different side of life.

15 years ago

Sheena @Sheena_Row

+ 3 ⋮

Hi Nishta,

Thanks for the review. Now why does this show sound like Balika Vadhu, village theme, ancient customs etc. The whole thing is Ekta is trying to plagiarize Kasamh Se theme with Balika Vadhu''s skin. An older guy falling for a younger girl...(Only thing is the girls are getting younger and younger and the guys are getting older and older....)

Unfortunately I did visit the forum, and I saw people were already clamoring for a marriage between the the much older man and a very young village girl. It seems like the creative team wants to recreate Kasamh Se with another set of actors. KS was a novelty and succeeded because the concept was somewhat new at the time.

Ekta does excel in plagiarizing, either from her own shows or from movies or from other shows. Now the novel twist would be if the lead character actually does not marry the young girl but looks after her and gets her married to some one she loves.

I am getting tired of young girls having to marry rich, older guys because they have no choice and people actually thinking that this is OK....I watch Balika Vadhu regularly and some how it is not about love and innocent little v***ins falling for rich guys and adjusting to life with them.

The plot of BV is old, a bitter mother-in-law making it impossible for every one in the family to live in accordance to modernity and changing times. What makes it good to watch is the conflict between the family members and the acting is excellent in Balika Vadhu.

If Ekta wants to make a success of the show, she needs to fire her creative team first. Because they are scared of new ideas and they always go back to the old ways. If anything needs to be successful, it has to be genuine. This show starts of being a cheap fake, you know the kind of perfume that says that it smells just like ''Tresor'' but cheaper??

The question is do people want to see the old and cheap wine (Kasamh Se)...

15 years ago

roneeta @ronitfan

+ 3 ⋮

Good to see you here Khushi !!

Keep posting yaar .. I know - RR is magic all over again!

15 years ago

Kamal @rojmal1

⋮

Ms Nishtha Singh says that Gujarati lingo will be difficult for other people but what about other LINGOS say Punjabi is used in many serial like say chand ke par chhalo and many more. What would you like to say???? No offence to Punjabis or anyone.

15 years ago