Posted:
Hi All - Reading the comments on this forum got me thinking about the concept of the negative characters in Indian TV Serials.
One of the key reasons, such ridiculously negative characters are generally needed (apart from viewers watching them purely for the shock factor), is because the leads are so damn perfect in every way! They never make any mistakes, are sweeter than sweet and left to just them, the story would end in about 20 mins flat.
But we don't have that here in Humsafars! 'Psycho Chaudary' is far from perfect. And Arzoo, also comes along with a lot of baggage courtesy of her parents unhappy marriage, her fathers second marriage and an extremely weak mother as a role model.
My point here is, that in this particular serial, there is a lot of scope to move the story along, without having such intense negative characters like KA, Anam, Alvira (i'm adding her to the negative list here as she does come across as a tad manipulative) , Sarfaraz, his wife creating so many headaches for Arzoo. Arzoo and Sahir have enough character flaws to create hungama and tension themselves with these guys adding so much fuel to the fire. And that's good, because the story can be about them and how they make it through the misunderstandings, issues, obstacles etc.
I was a little disappointed to see the KA shouting scene. I felt like i had been transported to a 'saas-bahu' serial. Don't get me wrong, i enjoyed watching Sahir defend Arzoo and then indirectly apologise for his behaviour earlier on but i wish the sequence had been different, rather than the gathering of all these women, and it looked like it needed the man to come and sort it all out.
And then the KA pre-cap, going to the hospital and 'lifting' Zeenat. I mean, seriously? seriously??? I do not get why this scene is required...who walks into a hospital and decides to bring a coma patient back home??? I am disappointed they have chosen to show this. It takes unrealistic to another level.
We of course need a small dose of negativity, but it should help move the main story along:
Arzoo's father and step-mum - i am actually ok with this bit. Arzoo needs personal issues to deal with and this has no interference with her and Sahir yet. In fact, it would be good to see Sahir find out at some point what she needs to put up with and support her. This also helps with the potential issue, that she is averse to marriage (which was hinted at on Monday), so even if our lovebirds fall in love, would be good to see Arzoo suffer from cold feet due to the psychological impact of her parents own marriage. Sahir will need to help her through this.
KA - I actually liked the Daadi/KA scene. KA can be very funny, so not sure why they have to show her being so so negative.
Anam - my least favourite negative character. I do find her plotting a little far-fetched. Again, is it really all needed? Why can't she just be resentful, jealous & competitive with Arzoo and take pot-shots at her when the opportunity arises?
Alvira - she does enter this list for manipulation reasons. And again, none of it necessary, Sahir and Arzoo are falling in love, with or without her help. They really didn't need to move into the main house. I feel like they are now all stuck in one bedroom! Arzoo, could have happily done the Joe duties from the outhouse and Ashrafi could have happily flown into the main house as well. These guys spend the whole day at work together, its seriously enough to make things happen. Did the CV's never watch Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin?? ;-)
The week has been generally nice so far, but do wish that the negative characters could be toned down. They have strong enough character development of the leads that they can get good TRPs with just telling a great story.
Hindi TV Shows
Anupamaa
CID
