TOI: Shaadi mania hits small scren

Thanks to Yash Chopra and his glamorous packaging, marriages have become de rigueur in most of the masala Hindi films. But now, it's the small screen, which has been hit by the blitzkrieg called wedding mania, with several prime time shows flaunting the marriage tracks with aplomb, or gearing up for one. We dig deeper into this trend, which has hit GECs like a bolt from the blue.

Shaadi unlimited!

The wedding virus has Spread across different channels, spanning telly tales related to villages, towns and even uber cool cities. Bhagalpur girl Krishna Raj's got married to her sweetheartPintoo Singh, despite opposition from her mother-in-law, in Afsar Bitiya. Chirpy doc, Nidhi, also flaunts a benign smile these days 'like a Cheshire cat, who's had a bowl of canary', after marrying Dr Ashutosh in Kuch Toh Log Kahenge. In Kairi - Rishta Khatta Meetha, heartbrokenAnuj may not be very excited about the idea of marriage, but his fiance Ambi is already wearing a starry-eyed look, now that their wedding functions have started! Newly wed princess Nimrit ofAmrit Manthan, who was made to take the saat pheras with Agham, is just beginning to come to terms with her strange marriage and weird husband. Ruk Jaana Nahin is also in the midst of a wedding glitz, which is slated to take place in the coming fortnight, and the latest on this shaadi mania is that Simar, of Sasural Simar Ka, is looking for a devrani now.

Beating competition

So, what's the reason behind this wedding hurricane? According to director Rajan Shahi ofAmrit Manthan and Kuch Toh Log Kahenge fame, shaadi tracks almost always make for higher TRPs. People connect with them in a big way. "This is a tried and true formula, just like Yash Chopra films, with songs like Mere Haathon Mein Nau Nau Chudiyan hain, never go out of fashion," says he.

Hemal Thakkar, producer of Ruk Jaana Nahin, adds, "Wedding tracks definitely help you grab the eyeballs, because restless viewers are forever looking for new things to keep themselves amused. And an Indian wedding, with its myriad rituals and naach-gaana, evokes viewers' interest and manages to hook them on, so it definitely helps in having some extra tools to beat the competition!"

The IPL effect

But, there's more to this competition saga. Raakesh Paswan, the writer of Afsar Bitiya, explains this phenomenon, saying, "It's a fact that for the past couple of months, the ongoing IPL has affected the popularity of most of the shows on GECs. That could be the reason for this sudden surge of wedding tracks on the idiot box. Being conscientious people, most of the writers and directors don't add wedding tracks mindlessly, but YES, many of them have certainly pre-poned or postponed the shaadi tracks to beat the IPL. Having said that, I would prefer to constantly surprise the viewers through unexpected developments, twists and turns, and not rest on the laurels of a wedding Saga alone!"

Relaunch mantra

In other cases, a wedding has deliberately been used to relaunch a particular show. Rajan Shahisays, "Indian wedding generates a lot of interest because right from the bride's lehenga, to her jewellery and sangeet ceremony, people want to know every minute detail related to it. So, it helps in getting maximum TRPs. That is why in Amrit Manthan, we delayed the wedding track, and used it at this juncture to relaunch the show. And I'm really happy with the Feedback that I'm getting after Nimrit's wedding. Right from an item number by Kashmera Shah to Parul Chauhan's performance at the mehendi, we used these things in the wedding to garner viewers' attention, and we have succeeded."

Similar is the case with Kairi..., which according to the Colors channel's representative, is expected to garner more TRPs, after Ambi and Anuj's wedding. "We are looking forward to greater TRPs and enhanced viewership, once the taanebaazi between the saas-bahu starts in the right earnest," says Rajan.