I should begin with a disclaimer, I am not a typical TV series viewer. Extensive media reports of Barun Sobti's exit from IPKKND inadvertently led me into this TV world. Like the proverbial cat, my curiosity got me. The series has ended by then and there I was starting from episode 1. I pretty much watched it night and day at the cost of food and sleep, so much so that my spouse could not believe that a person like me with deep disdain for post Kyon ki Indian soaps would go nuts over a show.
By the time Arnav Kushi got married and exposed Shyam, I was hooked. Something inside me was compelling me to watch all shows from the makers of IPKKND. I caught up with a few episodes of Geet, it was ok, not as spectacular as IPKKND. Meantime Qubool Hai happened. Caught up with a few episodes Surbhi- KSG looked delicious enough to eat and it looked promising. But then the fiasco happened, I could not watch it any more. 4Lions' score was 1 good: 1 ok, 1 promising but ended bad.
Early 2017, a dear friend who then used to be a big Hindi daily soap fan mentioned Ishqbaaaz for its costumes, opulent sets. She had by then become a big fan and word of mouth did its magic,besides I was a returning customer - a happy IPKKND fan. I caught up with all the episodes starting with promo, episode 1 over a rainy weekend.
Ishqbaaaz had me at promo'. It was the perfect recipe. Good looking , talented cast right from vintage Mahesh Thakur to newbie Leenesh Mattoo. Here was a story of cousins, who bonded better than siblings and had a motto to boot- one for all, all for one'. Bondings, I had always wanted in my own life but unfortunately life' happened and we cousins drifted. But I loved watching these cousins onscreen. Om's intense energy, his deep sense of right and wrong, truth echoed a part of me, Rudy's silly antics and funny one liners cracked me up. Rudy and Sahil became the younger brothers I never had in my real life. Then there was Dadi,a stereotypical, kind and caring grandmother, who held it all together. I was not blessed with one such in my life. Watching her on screen made me happy. TV is after all the biggest refuge of an escapist, one like me ended up filling holes in my own heart with regular doses of the show..
Then there were Annika and Shivaay. She was water to his fire, she was composure to his anger, she was earthy, perfume of fresh green grass to his Armani Eau De Parfumes. She was everything he was not and he was everything she was not. They were both strong in their own ways and they lit the screen on fire every time they came together. Yeah the constant tangling bracelet- cuff links like Khusi's dupatta and Arnav's watch was annoying at worst and repetitive at best. But still there was a magic, a Yash Chopraesq celebration of two people falling in love despite everything. There was a strong plot, mystery, mighty antagonist in Sevtlana and the family that bickered but stayed together. I could not help falling in love with this show.
Shivaay and Annika became Shivika, OmRuDadi shipped Shivika generously and there was no end to my happiness. Be it the Bangle scene during Mahi Track, or Priyanka Chopra ke figure air Daara Singh Ka dum', or when Shivaay first realized Annika affects him, or when they pine for each other when endangered.. list goes on. We all have our favorite scenes, I have several of them too.
Sometime in the milieu, DBO was launched, I missed Om and Rudy on Ishqbaaaz, but somehow could not watch DBO beyond the first few episodes. Somehow I was not convinced that the truthful, honest, calm, emotionally capable and clear hearted Om could become an angry young man. It would have been more credible had he slipped into substance abuse instead of angst. That was soon forgiven though..
Soon after was the Mahasangam one hour long episodes. I loved them. My beloved Oberoi family was together with new additions. Shivika was on fire their separation, the heart break, their coming back together, Annika's wedding etc it was sheer bliss. I was on an escapist paradise. Somewhere down the lane Shivika were united forever. Ishqbaaaz continued its glorious run with the right mixture of comedy, family drama, romance, bromance and villainy.
Subsequently Hot Star was launched in USA and I signed up immediately only to be able to watch Ishqbaaaz without the annoying ads that the pirated websites steam. My Ishqbaaaz addiction got worse and I spent hundreds of hours watching my favorite episodes. My admiration for the creator and writers grew. How can someone create characters like this I wondered. There must have been so much thought, so much effort that went into it.
Meanwhile the friend who had me hooked to the show got bored of the same old weed spiked crazy episodes, someone blackmailing Shivaay even as he thunders Shivaay Singh Oberoi ko blackmail nahi karsakta..' I soldiered on. Laal Ishq' came and went, Kalyani Mills came and went, then Vanvaas, Veer.. Kalyani Mills finale everything happened. In between were absolutely needless getting high on weeds, pills, drugged by vamps, unnecessary song sequences what not. I excused those episodes for my beloved Shivika. They still set the screen on fire, nothing less than Raj Kapoor- Nargis, SRK-Kajol, Deepika-Ranbir...
Sometimes I wondered if the writer actually thought we were stupid enough not to see what I called filler episodes' .. something to fill the time slot when you cannot think of interesting plots. But it was all forgiven when Shivika got their screen time. RiKara separation was again mind blowing, demure Gowri tearing up Om's accusation won a place in my heart. Gauri's wedding track was weak and lazy. But that was forgiven, after all Rikara were cute.
Rudy and Bhavya did not make sense to me. There a Sultan who was supposed to bring them closer, somehow it got derailed and the writer went back to copy paste mode and tried to make Rudy an angry young man, which was very unlike him. Clearly Shivika kept the ship afloat, Rikara did their bit, so did senior Oberois. Rudy and Bhavya, no. Their story was half baked, least effort expended copy paste failure. It was only Leenesh and Mansi's good looks and charm that carried them this far. Their story never had the intensity of Shivika or the potential of Rikara.
Post Rudy-Bhavya-Sowmya track, we had a minor Shivika separation. We kept the love going. Sometimes it was boring to see the copy paste across couple and across tracks. But it did not matter if I got my 8-10 minutes of Shivika (and Obro bromance, not groupbaazi). Not just romantic Shivika scenes, they made a normal conversation, a goofy episode worth watching.
Who else could make a Saree folding tutorial or a frying pakoras scene look awesome on screen?
There were harangue/ sermon tracks periodically- Bhashan' episodes, boring lectures on social evils ranging from triple talak to honor killings to elder abuse to social pressures on couples to procreate. There is nothing wrong if the social messages are cleverly concealed in a strong plot like Gauri's metoo episode, but social messages for the sake of it made Ishqbaaaz boring. But we still had Shivika. That 10-11 minutes of online engagement Gul referred to in an interview was this. I confess, I would forward most other scenes and watch that 10-12 shivikalicious minutes on Hot Star.
Come September, redux was introduced, they sold this great idea of going back in time and see if star cross love story could give us a happy ending despite a change in time and place? There was no logic in some mentalist' or his humbug, but they promised a fresh start and I got excited. It started well, we saw a vulnerable Shivaay and a helpless Annika. We were ok with that because they were temporary, Our Great Wall Of Shivaay and Kitdkitod Annika were safe in the pre-redux world. One thing lead to another, a blooming friendship track between Shivika abruptly ended and the tailspin begun.
Oh! How I wish I could unsee the episodes after the Taj track. After all the bhashan' social responsibility episodes we were expected to believe in someone called a mentalist' and a real jadugar', not an illusionist but someone who actually was a wizard! Was this not lack of consistency on the part of the makers and then taking us viewers for granted? Alright we do indulge in willful suspension of disbelief, but the. To believe in a mentalist' and a wizard' was too much. However, we were still devoted to the show in the hopes of this redux being a temporary phase and Ishqbaaaz returning and picking up from where they had left.
Alas, that were not to be. Giving us the excuse of TRP, makers decided to fire most of the cast and try the oldest rule in Indian TV playbook- LEAP. If anything this is by far the only common technique used on Indian TV to milk a dying cow. Ishqbaaaz deserves better. For a moment let's assume that TRPs are not going to improve and that there is nothing much to explore of the characters( both arguments have been debunked anyway). In that case, why take a chance with an archaic idea called LEAP?
Ishqbaaaz stood out for portraying a non-stereotypical ideal Indian woman. Annika did not know to cook, keep a house, she was messy, she refused to take her husband's surname, she called a spade a spade. Here was Shivaay, an accomplished cook amongst other things, a man who eventually accepts Annika and never forced her to take up his last name. The show was all about flawed characters and their redemption. Unlike regular black and white characters we often see on TV, Tej, Jahnvi, Pinky were all grey. Tej a philanderer of a husband got his redemption when he came back to his family, Jahnvi an alcoholic redeemed herself after picking up pieces of her marriage and not letting it go. Pinky separated Shivika but got her redemption after accepting Annika whole heartedly. Tia played evil but got her redemption when she helped bring estranged Shivika closer. These things made Ishqbaaaz stand out from the regular saas-bahu / Naagin-Dayan stuff on TV.
Given that Ishqbaaaz was a progressive show, it deserves better. The most logical conclusion in terms of irreparable TRP nosedive was to end the show with the characters returning to the original story line and perhaps happily sharing a meal at their large dining table. But, that was not to be. Makers got the idea of a leap, half baked at best, hurriedly scalded at worst. They had to ruin sweet Sahil and turn him into a conniving thief, force Priyanka into defying her brothers and other unnecessary drama.
That fact that Ishqbaaaz is ending and that I will not be able to get my daily dose of escapism where everything ends well, itself is heartbreaking but how it is all panning out is even more hurtful. The ugly tirades against disappointed fans, apathy of the channel towards viewers, writer's contempt for viewers, makers' I-know-it-all-and-have-no-clue posture has hurt me beyond repair. I will add daily shows to the long list of do-it-at-your-risk like cigarettes, alcohol, mutual funds...
Someone actually mentioned with a pinch of contempt as to why fans were reacting so wildly, it was just a fictional show. But Ishqbaaaz has become more to people like me than just a fictional show. The show was our stress buster, an escapist's refuge, a world where nothing could go wrong, a world where love was not elusive be it between a couple or cousins, a world of beautiful people wearing beautiful clothes, living in a beautiful mansion. It created an illusion of a perfect world, where everyone had everything, something that not many would in real life. The show which was unapologetically urban in sensibilities. Also, I feel cheated. While the makers and the channels unabashedly accepted our adulations, refused to heed to our grievances. It is the same feeling you are left with when you pay for a Benz and end up with a Maruti 800.
The potential of the show, what might have been, the possibilities makes sigh. So much could have been done, Annika , Gauri getting a career, Bhavya making progress in her career, Ruby's actually getting a project story of their own, perhaps Bhavya finally avenging her family's destruction, Om becoming secure in his skin and Rudy becoming a better man-boy-husband... Ishqbaaaz could have been so much more and makers instead choose to give us bhashans' and tread the archaic path of leap.
I have stopped watching it since Shivika got married in Redux. I want a happy closure, So the last scene I want to remember of Ishqbaaaz is Shivika getting hitched and the brothers happily celebrating the Union. Yes I missed the senior Oberois. Missed Tej's screen presence, Jahnvi's grace and style, Pinky's self deprecating humor, Shakti's loose-me-if-you-blink presence. It has been a hard couple of weeks. I have been cranky and my family is bearing the brunt. I feel bad, sad and I am repenting the time, effort, attachment to the show. Going forward, I will never dare to get back to watching a show, especially if 4Lions are involved. All the sweetness of the journey is more than overpowered by the bitterness in the end. We, our families do not deserve such misery.
Finally I loved following the fandom. I would follow the twitter tread every day though I had consciously stayed out of social media platforms. I leant millennial lingo like stan','caps', fabgirling', assorted abbreviation and colloquial Hindi words like michmichi'. Though not many
Ishqbaaazians know me, I have followed a bunch of them diligently over the years, the girl who gave out spoilers, the girl who make caps' each episode, the girl who made witty threads etc. This was one crazy fandom. One Shivika romantic scene would not let people sleep through the night, one little word against their favorite, all hell would break loose. Sometimes tweets bordered on threats too. Well, social media is strange and such unfortunate occurrence has become a part of our lives.
Ultimately it was a hell of a ride, but as T.S.Eliot said, it ended not with a bang but with a whimper.
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