Pilot review; Too contrived to be believable.

Too contrived to be believable.

Bepannaah hit the tv screens with a story as they said revolves around love, lust, infidelity and life at second chances. It promises to break the stereotypes that exists in the society and as early as it may be to judge, I'm not exactly sure what those stereotypes at the moment are. Here's my review on the pilot that I'm going to break it down into the following categories.

The Good - From development to production to casting to direction to execution, they seemed to have got everything right so far. They can boast about having the scenic and beautiful locations to good set design (although, a bit too artificial for my taste) to good styling/costume design to having an eminent cast. And bonus points for having principal leads who can actually act.

The Bad - The editing was abysmal at quite a few places, particularly the sequence where Aditya had to emergency land the plane he was flying. Mostly because they shot it quite poorly in the first place and editing ruined it further. Not even one percentage of it seemed like a real life threatening & high-risk situation. An extremely poorly shot and executed sequence. Harshad's acting was too casual and too relaxed for the situation. He could have been calm and confident and not come off as incautious. Understood, he's supposed to be a skilled and experience pilot. But skilled doesn't equal heedless. Other than that, the flow and transition from one scene to another was smooth.

The Umm? - Arora's, Siddiqui's and Hooda's, all are filthily rich. Too convenient, I'd say? 🤔 Most arrangements, most equations, most set ups just seemed too easy.

The Undecided - This might be an unpopular opinion or a view but I don't quite understand the need of Jen's character to be a Muslim. No, please don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to get in the religious debate or conflict in here, I'm just trying to question the need in itself. If this was a show that's based on the interfaith marriages, I'd get that. But if it's essentially about two characters whose paths cross due to their respective spouses allegedly committing infidelity and how their untimely demise leads to these two characters embarking onto a journey of their own then, I don't quite necessarily understand having a protagonist belonging to a particular faith (whose road is relatively less travelled around in the Indian tv) in the story. It might be too early to comment on that, however, it just seems to be the case for no purpose or value. It seems like she just 'happens' to be a Muslim, there's no reason or rhyme.

There was this dialogue said by Zoya's father when her mother retaliated with a remark of having their strained equations with their daughter and son-in-law to be based on mazhab' to his doubts on Yash's credibility, I found the response he gave out demeaning. I'm obviously not suggesting that people who approve of interfaith marriages are wrong. But does that make people who don't approve of it wrong? Note that I'm specifically and ONLY talking about approval and acceptance here. Not the violence, the condemnation, the conflicts or all the possible ugly situations or tragic results such real life cases usually result into. If something isn't necessarily wrong then, does it have to be necessarily right by default? That dialogue basically conveyed that those who might disapprove of or find it hard to accept interfaith marriages belong to the 'choti soch' category. It isn't about having a low-mentality in this case at all, it is about having the right to make peace with someone's personal choice (such as children going outside of their faith/religion/caste for marriage) which some people might be able to make and some won't. It certainly isn't a sign of the uneducated, regressive, backward or orthodox class. I hope with this show the makers don't intentionally or unintentionally end up stripping someone off, of their dignity, respect and the right to being a human with their own set of beliefs and principles.

Special mention - Jen and Harshad gave an impressive performance in the last scene. 👏 They're skilled actors and they've shown they got their deal pretty good. Sehban and Namita are pretty average and it doesn't help their case that they're working with such competitive co-actors.Looking forward to reading your views! 😃 I may or may not do replies though.

Interesting views on the interfaith thing, I appreciate the portrayal of Zoya as a Muslim for now because it's not very stereotypical and stuff like it has been in the past on Indian television. It does seem unnecessary but I guess it adds a little bit something to Zoya's character she seems pretty regular for now?

Agree completely with you on good and bad

Originally posted by: .annihilation.

Thank you.

Oh no, I'm not looking for a hype or hullabaloo or a propaganda over it. All I'm looking for or asking is just a reason. This division of audience into urban and rural too at most times isn't exactly the ideal parameter to gauge the reactions or the views, you know? Someone living in a rural area might be far more 'urban' in times of thinking and vice versa. Interfaith marriages may be common in today's times but it appeared as if it's a 'cool' thing to do. Personally, I am of opinion that issues as sensitive and as subjective as these should not be categorised into any section. The normal or the abnormal, the cool or the uncool, the right or the wrong because truth be told, you can't standardise something like it because it involves a quite personal area of one's existence; the religious or the spiritual state of being.

In the sense you took his dialogue, yeah, it's surprising to see someone in such a situation have a different issue than the most obvious one which is fine. But that entire tone and essence of the scene felt a bit dubious, dual and disrespectful to me and hence, my concern.

The flight scene, yes, cringe worthy but can be forgiven. 😆

i think i dont miind that jenny is a muslim . there are a lot of people out there who are not bothered about religion when it comes to marriage and they lead normal lives like a human. i also think it may come into play in the aditya zoya relationship or the cvs may just keep it normal like its inconsequential to the story. Also jenny could be muslim to show the conflict in yash's family because of their interfaith marriage.

The Undecided - This might be an unpopular opinion or a view but I don't quite understand the need of Jen's character to be a Muslim. No, please don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to get in the religious debate or conflict in here, I'm just trying to question the need in itself. If this was a show that's based on the interfaith marriages, I'd get that. But if it's essentially about two characters whose paths cross due to their respective spouses allegedly committing infidelity and how their untimely demise leads to these two characters embarking onto a journey of their own then, I don't quite necessarily understand having a protagonist belonging to a particular faith (whose road is relatively less travelled around in the Indian tv) in the story. It might be too early to comment on that, however, it just seems to be the case for no purpose or value. It seems like she just 'happens' to be a Muslim, there's no reason or rhyme.

There was this dialogue said by Zoya's father when her mother retaliated with a remark of having their strained equations with their daughter and son-in-law to be based on mazhab' to his doubts on Yash's credibility, I found the response he gave out demeaning. I'm obviously not suggesting that people who approve of interfaith marriages are wrong. But does that make people who don't approve of it wrong? Note that I'm specifically and ONLY talking about approval and acceptance here. Not the violence, the condemnation, the conflicts or all the possible ugly situations or tragic results such real life cases usually result into. If something isn't necessarily wrong then, does it have to be necessarily right by default? That dialogue basically conveyed that those who might disapprove of or find it hard to accept interfaith marriages belong to the 'choti soch' category. It isn't about having a low-mentality in this case at all, it is about having the right to make peace with someone's personal choice (such as children going outside of their faith/religion/caste for marriage) which some people might be able to make and some won't. It certainly isn't a sign of the uneducated, regressive, backward or orthodox class. I hope with this show the makers don't intentionally or unintentionally end up stripping someone off, of their dignity, respect and the right to being a human with their own set of beliefs and principles.

Special mention - Jen and Harshad gave an impressive performance in the last scene. 👏 They're skilled actors and they've shown they got their deal pretty good. Sehban and Namita are pretty average and it doesn't help their case that they're working with such competitive co-actors.Looking forward to reading your views! 😃 I may or may not do replies though.

Didn't watch the episode, but just a couple of lines on this part.

Given the atmosphere that prevails in some parts of the country, I'd say her playing a Muslim character is important.

The more inter-faith marriages, the less the cause for distinction between "us" and "them" so as to speak, and that promotes more unity.

The traditionalists would say it perhaps destroys individual identities- I'd obviously be against any marriage that requires someone to give up their religion, but if the two co-exist (SRK-Gauri an example), it ought to be fine.

Yes, everyone has a right to a set of beliefs, but perhaps in the larger sense of societal progression as a whole, it would require those beliefs to be toned down to a level where assimilation is possible. Change is inevitable in a progressive society, and those who don't adapt essentially get left behind.

Of course, her playing a Muslim character will also attract audiences in Pakistan, MENA and even places as far as Indonesia and maybe even Turkey.

Originally posted by: .annihilation.

Too contrived to be believable.

Bepannaah hit the tv screens with a story as they said revolves around love, lust, infidelity and life at second chances. It promises to break the stereotypes that exists in the society and as early as it may be to judge, I'm not exactly sure what those stereotypes at the moment are. Here's my review on the pilot that I'm going to break it down into the following categories.

The Good - From development to production to casting to direction to execution, they seemed to have got everything right so far. They can boast about having the scenic and beautiful locations to good set design (although, a bit too artificial for my taste) to good styling/costume design to having an eminent cast. And bonus points for having principal leads who can actually act.

The Bad - The editing was abysmal at quite a few places, particularly the sequence where Aditya had to emergency land the plane he was flying. Mostly because they shot it quite poorly in the first place and editing ruined it further. Not even one percentage of it seemed like a real life threatening & high-risk situation. An extremely poorly shot and executed sequence. Harshad's acting was too casual and too relaxed for the situation. He could have been calm and confident and not come off as incautious. Understood, he's supposed to be a skilled and experience pilot. But skilled doesn't equal heedless. Other than that, the flow and transition from one scene to another was smooth.

The Umm? - Arora's, Siddiqui's and Hooda's, all are filthily rich. Too convenient, I'd say? 🤔 Most arrangements, most equations, most set ups just seemed too easy.

The Undecided - This might be an unpopular opinion or a view but I don't quite understand the need of Jen's character to be a Muslim. No, please don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to get in the religious debate or conflict in here, I'm just trying to question the need in itself. If this was a show that's based on the interfaith marriages, I'd get that. But if it's essentially about two characters whose paths cross due to their respective spouses allegedly committing infidelity and how their untimely demise leads to these two characters embarking onto a journey of their own then, I don't quite necessarily understand having a protagonist belonging to a particular faith (whose road is relatively less travelled around in the Indian tv) in the story. It might be too early to comment on that, however, it just seems to be the case for no purpose or value. It seems like she just 'happens' to be a Muslim, there's no reason or rhyme.

There was this dialogue said by Zoya's father when her mother retaliated with a remark of having their strained equations with their daughter and son-in-law to be based on mazhab' to his doubts on Yash's credibility, I found the response he gave out demeaning. I'm obviously not suggesting that people who approve of interfaith marriages are wrong. But does that make people who don't approve of it wrong? Note that I'm specifically and ONLY talking about approval and acceptance here. Not the violence, the condemnation, the conflicts or all the possible ugly situations or tragic results such real life cases usually result into. If something isn't necessarily wrong then, does it have to be necessarily right by default? That dialogue basically conveyed that those who might disapprove of or find it hard to accept interfaith marriages belong to the 'choti soch' category. It isn't about having a low-mentality in this case at all, it is about having the right to make peace with someone's personal choice (such as children going outside of their faith/religion/caste for marriage) which some people might be able to make and some won't. It certainly isn't a sign of the uneducated, regressive, backward or orthodox class. I hope with this show the makers don't intentionally or unintentionally end up stripping someone off, of their dignity, respect and the right to being a human with their own set of beliefs and principles.

Special mention - Jen and Harshad gave an impressive performance in the last scene. 👏 They're skilled actors and they've shown they got their deal pretty good. Sehban and Namita are pretty average and it doesn't help their case that they're working with such competitive co-actors.Looking forward to reading your views! 😃 I may or may not do replies though.

as far as religion goes, i liked how they approached it, i rather they not go into muslim vs hindu thing with the families in terms of rejection, that could get really messy. and tbh i relate to it as muslim, within my family there have been quite a few interfaith marriages, some have converted to Islam and others didnt so both religions co exists in the marriage. i was suprised they didnt make a big deal about it but its refreshing, there are other muslim based dramas out atm that will have the faith as a driving force of the story affecting the characters and their relationship. i just liked how a show having a muslim character is not typically stereotyped in a certain way inlike it has been in previous dramas, it feels normal, im sure we will get to see the muslim cultures and traditions in the drama which im looking forward to. like others said i also took it to mean his dislike for yash or him not accepting him isnt based on religion which i assumed at first. lol the plan scene i didnt mind it, it showed Adi as a top gun type character which incidentally is probably whats also affecting his marriage which he was obvious about. im loving the show thus far😃

Originally posted by: .annihilation.

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<font size="2">Thank you.</font>

<font size="2">Oh no, I'm not looking for a hype or hullabaloo or a propaganda over it. All I'm looking for or asking is just a reason. This division of audience into urban and rural too at most times isn't exactly the ideal parameter to gauge the reactions or the views, you know? Someone living in a rural area might be far more 'urban' in times of thinking and vice versa. Interfaith marriages may be common in today's times but it appeared as if it's a 'cool' thing to do. Personally, I am of opinion that issues as sensitiveand as subjective as these should not be categorised into any section. The normal or the abnormal, the cool or the uncool, the right or the wrong because truth be told, you can't standardise something like it because it involves a quite personal area of one's existence; the religious or the spiritual state of being.</font>

<font size="2">In the sense you took his dialogue, yeah, it's surprising to see someone in such a situation have a different issue than the most obvious one which is fine. But that entire tone and essence of the scene felt a bit dubious, dual and disrespectful to me and hence, my concern.</font>

<font size="2">The flight scene, yes, cringe worthy but can be forgiven.😆</font>

Actually I think that Zoya-being-a-Muslim plotline might be used to explore why the Zoya/Yash marriage failed. Yash is a Hindu, I'm guessing because of his name. Yash & Zoya obviously went against each other's parents to marry & maybe this stressed out Yash enough to stray?

Not sure but I guess this may be explored in the future.