What is new or different about KB?

I know KB has only been on hair for a short while thus far, but I've been a silent participant for the most part since the start. Major shout out to the daily updaters and all active forum members for keeping the forum busy! Great job guys - your efforts are certainly appreciated :)

I did want to make a thread today about KB but more importantly another EK creation. Please note I am not belittling or bashing any character or actor, this is merely an observation I have made after watching various EK offerings thus far.

So far (as I see it) the premise of KB is - sweet, hard-working, righteous girl is unfortunately unable to find a suitor (why she needs the be married off is a completely separate discussion) she finds one something happens and things fall apart. Enter super rich, much sought after charismatic rock star who after a series of serendipitous incidents finds himself walking down the alter with said sweet lady. They both have no particular affinity for each other and he has a house full of elements eager to keep them apart and make life miserable for said sweet lady.

I know we can argue that the treatment is "different" this isn't a "typical" rich boy - poor girl hate story turned love story. Or is it?

I stumbled upon some older balaji telefilm shows from a few years ago and I truly feel EK soaps have a few standard story lines that they "treat" aka package differently but at its core they are more or less the same. Here are some examples to support my thoughts:

Kasturi - was aired on star plus a few years ago - leads - Robbie and Kasturi. Robbie was a successful rockstar and she was a simpleton and they detested each other but slowly fell in love had a million misunderstandings and a wedding to another person - revenge track fueled by other elements who encouraged misunderstandings - they FINALLY got together but not after she decided to "sacrifice" her love for the betterment of his life and part repentance for not having "trusted her instincts"

KB and Kasturi commonality - rockstar and simple girl fall in love after disliking each other initially

Kayamath - also on star plus a few years ago - Milind and Prachi

Prachi sweet innocent rich girl marries Milind who marries her for some silly revenge - he hates her she doesn't particularly like or dislike him and their friction soon melts away and turns into passionate love.

Kutumb - boy and girl meet in college - hate each other end up married some how but still hate each other and then hate turns to love.

Kasauti Zindagi Kay - Prerna and Mr Bajaj - she doesn't love him, he marries her to have a caretaker for his children and then resentment and hatred turn into friendship, companionship and love

Jodha Akbar - Jodha and Akbars intense disdain for each other has now given way to diabetes inducing sweet love.

I know each and every EK show is "different" but I'm noticing how there are some common themes or tracks that get recycled, rearranged and packaged into a "new" show.

Tracks like -

1) Boy/Girl hate each other then fall in love

2) Rich Boy/Girl fall in love with poor boy/girl

3) Always an evil family member who can't stand to see the leads together and constantly causes misunderstandings and conflict

4) People getting married for revenge but end up falling in love with their partner

5) Getting people married for religious/kundali reasons as one person is destined to die or the stars are coordinated so well its a match made in heaven

6) Rich business tycoon sweeps in and gets married to the lead right as lead and partner are scheduled to be married - as business tycoon has blackmailed lead

7) Leads love each other but sacrifice their love and go away for some ridiculous reason - because talking it out like mature adults would be much too difficult

8) People making life decisions for others in the name of love and sacrifice because said person knows what's best for person in question (clearly the person whose life it is isn't allowed to have a say in the matter)

9) 2 friends or siblings falling in love with the same person and instead of letting that person be with the one he/she likes - said friends or siblings will start "sacrificing", "coercing" him/her to be with the one he/she doesn't like - because again openly disclosing his choice and giving time and space to the person who's feelings are not reciprocated is unheard of

10) Pregnancy fiasco - girl who is loved by boy gets pregnant but ends up marrying someone else or leaving so boy can marry/be with the one he doesn't love (at the time)

11) Good friends getting married - boy and girl who are good friends, supportive of one another must get married at some point to prove they have moved on

12) Leads after many twists and turns that manage to get married - don't stay married for very long - misunderstandings drive them apart only to have them repent and attempt to make amends MUCH later

13) Girls are either really good (sweet, caring, honest sprinkled in with traditional) or really bad (evil, jealous, greedy, conspiring) Nothing in between - EK doesn't seem to like grey

14) For multi generation shows - the long lost illegitimate child - some moment of weakness or a full blown extra marital affair (during a memory loss track meaning said person didn't know they were married) or whatever reason leads to a baby (cause one session of coitus results in pregnancy) appears to claim their rights/get revenge

15) Plastic surgery - lead fakes their death/survives a near death situation goes into coma or not has a mangled face from the accident and comes back with a new face, complexion and built

Those are the ones I can think of.. if any of you can think of any others - do share!

😆

I have seen just two Indian soaps so far and I already see a lot of similarities with this soap. They recycle a lot of stuff.

Still watching this one soap, for fun. I wish there was better! lol

The one thing that's repeated often are misunderstandings. I can't imagine why these characters can never sit over a coffee and talk to clear them.

You got me! I've been watching EK offerings for a VERY long time - I've seen quite a few - some you might not even have heard of - Kavita (used to air on Doordarshan WAYYY back in the day), Kabhi Sautan Kabhi Saheli (the entire premise was 2 friends falling in love and marrying the SAME man) not to mention the mega-serials on Star - Kyun Ki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki and Kasauti Zindagi Ki...

I actually study these shows, it is interesting to me to see how women are portrayed in media and how story lines/sensibilities change as time progresses. Unfortunately when it comes to EK serials - they might have a few good (well written with good dialogues) sprinkled in through the entire duration of the show (the opening episode of KB where the grooms side wants the marriage hall and Pragya gives it back to them by saying if we're paying then I want to marry your cousin was one such scene and subsequently when she goes in front of all the guests with folded hands and informs them the wedding is off and asks them to take their presents back while she keeps their wishes and blessings - that was a very good sequence) but at the core of the show it goes back to those 15 storylines that I mentioned at the beginning of the post.

The 16th I thought of would be good girl/bad boy story which I guess could tie into hate story turned love story, but we'll give EK this one :)

I think EK in one of her interviews even mentioned that regardless of what her critics and detractors my say - her serials work (aka they make her money) so clearly there is a strata of society that laps this up and she caters to them. Unfortunately until viewers put their foot down and ask for change or her trps start to drop I don't see her changing her "formula"

It was in the late 90s early 2000 that EK became a force to reckon with - she initiated the mega serial/big budget daily soap saas-bahu saga serial culture. Before that I remember there were much more progressive shows on air - Saans - a father of 2 teenage children enters an extra marital affair - the show dealt with how this impacts his family, how his children handle this and how the wife adjusts with her broken home and how she learns more about herself as she's now put into this trying circumstance. It was not over the top - but handled with sensitivity and got viewers thinking about why a man would do this and why the ex may or may not want to take him back - its dealt with the grey areas of interpersonal relationships - one isn't 100% right or wrong.

Kora Kagaz was another such story - young bride abandoned on her wedding nite as her husband was forced into the marriage while he loves someone else. She picks herself up, goes back to college, and finds a friend in her husbands' younger brother and they end up falling in love - it raises questions like why should a woman always be asked to forgive and forget - why can't she make her own choices and live her life, why are there different rules for men and women?

ZeeTv used to have a show called Rishtey - which were one hour telefilms, those were a treat to watch. Much more progressive - I would like to see such shows coming back not these melodramatic saas bahu sagas that currently rule prime time.

In recent times there have been a few shows that I would say have promising progressive story lines but they all end up as saas bahu sagas which is so unfortunate.

Khelti Hai Zindagi Ankh Mein Choli - which went off air at the beginning of the year was one such show that was so promising - it started out as Ami's story the teenage daughter of a widowed mother with a younger sister, and how they cope with life without their father and how her father's best friend is now her mother's best friend who has fallen in love with her mother and how they adjust to this - how does a widowed mother of 2 think of moving on in life, what does this mean for her children? It was so promising but lost steam and went onto becoming a saas bahu saga.

Punar Vivah - 2 widowers of young children each now a single parent who come together for the sake of their children and find companionship and love in on another - giving life a second chance - that was a good concept but somewhere down the line that also got diluted with the usual saas bahu masala.

Punar Vivah 2 - staying in love with your first love, holding a candle for them and then falling in love with your spouse after a decade and giving your life together a chance - could have been done so well but wasn't though i did enjoy the remarriage part - setting your spouse free if you are in a love less marriage - but the makers of the show couldn't decide which way to go with that and ruined what could have been a good show.

Just my thought guys - thanks for reading and participating!

About your comment "EK doesn't seem to like grey" I think she doesn't seem to understand grey female characters all that much to attempt them in her shows 😆

Another gem from the 90s was Hasratein on Zee which was a classic portrayal of a grey female lead, about a girl who grows up hating her mother for running away with a lover abandoning her father and her, who grows up to commit the same mistake and how she has to live with the consequences of it. That was a truly complex show where you didn't know exactly who to sympathize with.

The only thing I appreciate EK for is giving us that gem called "Hum Paanch". No beating that 😎