Originally posted by: autumnleaf
Dear Bhootnis....
We all know this old saying...Old is Gold.....
How far do you think this statement holds true...whether it is True or false.. If True, why do the creatives then think that with this re-incarnation track, this soap will achieve the targets with high TRP's? What do they mean with Fresh faces..and a fresh start...with youth there will be success? Does this mean that the present and the past did not get the targets?
Funny I always thought the soap was blooming during its time with Twenty-Twenty...... I am miffed...somewhere along the lines...this show lost its beauty...the novelty of being different...Does this mean that to stay alive, you have to flow in the main-stream like clones...each soap has to have the same cariacatures?..the same skeleton? Why could they not give a better storyline continuing with the same Actors? Why could they not pull this soap like JJKN did...with the same lead pair? That was not very difficult, if some of us could and still are doing in our FF, then why is it so difficult for professionals to follow this?
Do enlighten me bhootnis.... Lets discuss......
Autumn,
I would say that its very true that 'Old is Gold'. Be it old movies or old filmi songs, we love them all and they had better quality. But there is a lot of difference between the attitude of the makers of old movies or music and of the new movies or music. Earlier..when an S.D.Burman or a Salil Choudhary made songs for a movie...they used to pay attention to the quality of the songs. There were not too many music directors in those old days and nor was there any kind of tough competition. But today is a world of competition. Everybody is running for the topmost slot and in that rush to reach the top...quality gets reduced at some point. Take for instance present hindi movies and songs. How many of the movies are becoming box-office hits and how many of them are able to win the hearts of people of all ages?
Vulgarity and violence is becoming a major part of the movies today and perhaps that is why many movie actors like Apu are switching their positions to the television world...where there is dignity as the serials or regular shows are shown for family audience. There is a lot of pressure on the makers of television programmes...and especially those on the makers of serials.
If it is programmes like Indian Idol....they just have to take care of the costumes of the host, the judges, the stage settings, the audience and taking care of grooming the participants of the reality musical shows...to make them into rockstars. They will start with doing huge publicity and with the help of bollywood stars and other celebrities...they will make the show popular in the eyes of audience. When the participants coming from the middle-class families are made into stars....soon there will be immense support for them from the audience and more and more people of the states which the participants are representing will flock in to watch it.
But the makers of serials have to go through immense pressure. Because when they start a serial...they plan on making it a long term project. They will have in their minds a concept...for instance...a love story or a family drama or a comedy story. That will be the only thread that they have in their mind and soon as they start making the serial...initially there will be a lot of publicity for the show. Most serial makers keep in mind the female audience and so it would always be a female oriented show. There will always be the lead heroine with whom we would either relate ourselves and even empathise. So that is the first trick that the makers use to rope in audiences.😆
So for that they will choose a really pretty girl and then they will say that it is the story of this simple and sweet girl. There are a lot of serials with this tagline..serials like Kaajjal(Sony), Kasturi(Star Plus), Kaisa ye pyar hai (Sony), Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin (Sony), Ek Ladki Anjaani Si (Sony), Saath Phere (Zee), Meri Awaaz Ko Mil Gayi Roshni (Star Plus) and the latest one is Sangam (Star Plus). These are a few of the serials which are female oriented and start with the girl as the focal point. So that is the makers' idea of making trps. Ladki ki kahaani banaao...trps badhaao😆
The makers can't even think of trying out something drastically different or new in case of concept. Surely old is gold..but not in the case of concepts and formulas. Because if we continue showing same old stuff stealing ideas and scenes from old movies, it would be boring for audience. Audience would surely compare it with something that they had already seen onscreen. So the makers try to bring in twists and turns..which the audience cannot predict. Right now this formula is being used by Ekta and Shreyas.😆
Now in most cases, the makers are bringing in new twists and turns to keep the audience in suspense and make them wonder what will happen next. This kind of pressure is not there on movie-makers. Because they are showing a whole movie in just two hours. There is a time-limit for the movies...but serials are different.
Autumn, you would be knowing na...that writing an FF also is not an easy thing. I understood it when I started writing the FF. Pehle lagte hai...ke will make up the FF but when we start progressing....we are starting the FF from just a simple idea and don't know how to progress. The serial makers are also trying to do the same thing. I always found it really difficult to write a story..because a storyline should be something which will make the readers feel that it is either inducing emotions and feelings or creating suspense or is very different. If somebody is able to write such stories...then surely that would keep the audience glued to it. Everybody wants variety and as time passes by...it is becoming tougher for the makers to come up with new ideas and new storylines.😆
Autumn, we both are writing FFs...but we are doing it for our friends here and surely they would be reading it and directly giving us their comments and from their comments and suggestions we would come to know what they expect of us. Our FFs are for our friends here...who love us and share a special relationship with us. Even if we make some minor mistakes or bloopers in it...they would surely help us and guide us.
But supposing we are writing a totally new script for a serial...it would be a huge challenge because we don't know how the majority of the audience thinks or feels. We start with concept of a love story with an established actor like Apu and a beautiful newcomer actress like Surveen and then we start building up the story bit by bit. Pehle takraar...phir one-way pyaar...then two-way pyaar, then beech main koi aur aata hai...but still love wins. This is how our mind will be working. So we would've charted out for a few episodes of the serial...as to what should be happening in it. So around these basic ideas..we start building up scenes which appear cute and romantic. But slowly we start getting under pressure...because we have to come up with an idea each day once the serial gets started. The serial shouldn't stop anywhere as the starcast is really perfect and so want to keep the serial on air.
Shreyas also had to undergo this problem. Twenty twenty productions started the serial with the takraar, then pyaar...then brought in an accident twist and when Shreyas took over...they started bringing in twists and turns and new character entries to keep the serial going..because once the hero and heroine have proclaimed their love for each other...then there is not nothing much left to show...unless there is some kind of separation or things like that.😆
They can't show the kind of intense romance which is there in the FFs onscreen...because neither the actors nor the audience can even imagine of the hero getting all romantic and kissing heroine on the lips and doing all kind of totally sensuous things onscreen. Because if it happens..then surely the viewers...specially the female audience may complain that the serial is not one which can be watched with family.😆 FFs ke liye woh sab kuch theek hai...but not onscreen. So surely once the hero-heroine have proclaimed love...to keep the serial going on and on..they should bring in separation at some point. Because the serial is the source of making money and their efforts would be to raise trps. So they will bring in a separation and the audience will be watching it till the part where they get united. So that suspense is the trick which they are using to keep the audiences hooked to the serial episode after episode.😆
In the case of Kaajjal serial...they brought in an ML....then entry of Adi creating a triangle love story...then Sonia...making audiences think of a probability of love-track between Sonia and Dev. But it doesn't happen and then Sonia gets connected to Shivansh and entry of new villain. In between they showed the marriage of DK...and they did it thinking that perhaps trps may go up and it did. But after that...perhaps because they can't show a lot of intense romantic bedroom scenes and all....they cancelled the honeymoon part.😆 Then once again brought in suspense to keep the audience hooked to the serial....and finally the shaq track and finally exposing of Shivansh's villainous plans. Once Shivansh is out of the serial...next is Karan and Ameesha....now the makers could've continued to drag on the serial showing Karan-Ameesha's scheming and villainous activities but Apu by then had lost interest in the serial and decided to quit and even Surveen thought to do same thing.
Shreyas now found themselves in a fix as the main lead wants to quit and soon their serial ELAS is also ending. So they want to keep the only serial left with them...which is 'Kaajjal' going on air and so they cannot afford to end it so fast. If they want to continue the serial without Apu and Sur...the only way is to kill them off and reincarnate them. Reincarnation idea...has a good scope..because they can surely put in new faces for DK. Audience cannot say that it is not possible. Because reincarnation is the losing of one body after death and entering into another. So any new actor can be introduced in that part. Shreyas had the idea that if they put in new actors...the audience may watch it atleast for the sake of seeing the performance of new actors and comparing them with that of Apu and Sur.
We cannot completely blame Shreyas..because they are totally business-minded people and for them money is important. Their productionhouse has to somehow reap the money from the serial and for that they will continue trying one concept after another. The saddest part is that...like us users...they don't have enough time to think because they have to think and make up scenes and dialogues for each episode. They have been doing two serials or more and its like writing two FFs or more.😆
Whatever FF we write...if it doesn't catch the interest of the members here...we can stop continuing it. But Shreyas cannot suddenly stop the serial..because for them the serial is their job..and their bread and butter. They have to organise for the setting of the serial, the costumes, dialogues, and look at every part of the serial-making. So there is a huge pressure on them and when there is pressure on mind...creativity won't be a free-flowing river like that of the FF writers on our forum.😆
It would be almost like doing cooking. It is easy to cook for fun and in experimenting with recipes. But if asked to cook daily for a large number of people for a period which is not fixed...then surely our minds will be under immense pressure as to whether those having the food will like the taste of it...or whether the food is adequate and things like that.😉
For Shreyas....serials should cater to audience of all ages and gender. They are trying maximum to attract male audiences too and for that they are bringing in suspense and villainous characters. We are loyal Apu-Sur fans and so in our eyes...they are the ultimate. But Shreya is making the serial for a larger section of audiences which may include people who want to see new faces onscreen and even get interested by this new reincarnation track concept. There maybe many people who would watch the show just to know how the newcomers would act.
It is similar to the case of Ram Gopal Varma remaking 'Sholay'.😆 Already there is a blockbuster movie which is starred by Amit-Dharam jodi and with all those lovely songs and wonderful dialogues for Gabbar Singh and all. Inspite of that, Ram Gopal Varma remade it...assuming that perhaps the audience would watch it for the sake of the new actors introduced and the new songs and also to watch Amitji as Gabbar. His formula was successful to a point...because the day 'Aag' was released there was a lot of audience going to watch it and there were views and reviews on it. But the newcomer-Ajay Devgan jodi couldn't recreate the magic of Amit-Dharam jodi.
That was one huge cause for the bad reviews for the movie. Just like that...in the case of Kaajjal...surely there will be comparisons between Apu and this new boy and Surveen and this new girl. Just for the sake of curiousity there would be a lot of audience watching it and if the audience like the jodi of these new kids....perhaps the trps may also rise. Though we may stop watching it...there maybe many audience who will continue watching it or may start watching it for their sake.😆
Shreyas couldn't give a better storyline..because they didn't have one. Apu and Sur lost interest in the serial and wanted to quit and even if they had stayed....in a lovestory...after confession of love and after marriage...the story cannot be dragged by just showing hus-wife romance. Because there is a limit to it...unlike in the case of the FFs...where romance can go to any range.😉 But the makers have to keep into mind the family audience...and there the scope for romance gets reduced and they can only show patni making pati's fav dishes or bringing coffee for him or things like that. So they could've dragged it only by a kidnapping or accident ...and drag it longer or a reincarnation track...where Apu-Sur gets reincarnated. But with the decision of them to quit...Shreyas had no other way out...but to continue with reincarnation track by killing off DK and bringing in fresh faces.😆
JJKN is the story of an ugly duckling turning into a swan and there was immense range for the storyline and it could be dragged and stretched easily. But surely you would've noticed how the story lost its beauty since the marriage of Armaan and Jassi. All makers undergo this challenge and perhaps because Apu had done it earlier..he didn't want to do it once again on Kaajjal. He wanted a different and novel storyline and was totally bored by the way the story was going.
Just like I said earlier...it is tough to write an FF ....if its for say...3 years, because we would soon feel at loss of ideas.😆 Unlike serials which should look at various departments other than storyline...it would be a tough job for the makers to keep the interest of the audience in the serial from reducing and it is not even as easy as writing an FF.
We can wind up the FFs we are writing whenever we want...but the makers cannot wind up their serial so fast. We won't lose anything if we stop writing FFs, but they would be faring loss as they would be working as a team and things would be going stable. But once the serial is over...they will have to think of a new story...a new cast and everything new. Which would be like making a new building.😆
These are some of the reasons which I feel are why the makers are doing all these things. They really are under immense pressure and when we are in immense pressure its tough to think clearly. We are mentally relaxed and so we may come up with new ideas. But its not the same for them. Their minds are working all the time...and making serials...is their job unlike in our case.
But surely Autumn, they could've tried to improve the storyline. But each person has a capacity and regarding Shreyas...they are trying to use their capacity as much as they can. They may not be very inventive in bringing up ideas and perhaps are having a tough time trying to stretch the serial and at the same time...catering to the tastes of a wider range of audience of different age groups.😆
So surely I won't blame them completely..because they are going through immense pressure...but surely I would say that right now they have taken a huge risk by letting Apu and Sur go. Now only time will prove whether their decision to bring in the reincarnation track with new actors will be a hit or a huge flop.😛
Love,
Priya😳
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