101% True Bips! Couldn't have put it better! It is the audience which lends popularity and fame to a book, a serial, a film, a drama or just about anything! Critical acclamation is all hog-wash, all that matters in end is, whether the audience, that is we, like it or not!
What else explains the phenomenal success of the Harry Potter Series? JK Rowling might never get a Nobel / Booker for her book, but the whole world knows that she is the only single person who brought back reading into fashion again and literally revived publication business all over the World! Who else gave her the demi-god status that she now has? The readers all over the World! Does she really care about what the critics write about her book, I don't think so.......we, the readers have anyway elevated her to the status of the high priestess of publication, and nothing can change that position!
Same with movies! Why do you think a simple fare like Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge enjoyed a 500 Weeks run? Was it critically acclaimed? Was it an Oscar nominee? Did it have mind-blowing performances? No.....the only reason for its unprecedented success is the audience appreciation that went for it!
Why do you think a trashy, third class soap like KSBKBT has achieved a cult like status? Because, the entire Indian Middle class household watches it with devotion every day, 4 days a week. I read somewhere that when the Bhuj Earthquake shook every corner of Gujarat, the first thing people asked for in aid was a TV so that they shouldn't miss a single episode of the serial!
KYPH has a story which is as old as the hills.....rich, spoilt boy meets poor, good girl, they fall in love, parents oppose, they get seperated and then wind up with one another again............there is nothing exceptional about the serial, apart from the mint-fresh lead cast, especially Angad, Kripa and Prithvi........but still the serial is gaining popularity.......only because we the audience appreciate it!
I hope I have made my point😳 I know I can be a little too detailed at times! Thanks for bearing with me!
Cheers,
Chilly