Why Kumkum Bhagya is not Sense and Sensibility.

Everything that is wrong with Kumkum Bhagya

(with regards to the novel 'Sense and Sensibility')

Before I start this post let me warn you that this is going to be very long. I started watching this serial quite late so it took me some time to catch up with the current happenings. And now I think I am in a position to write this post where I can criticize all the negatives of this show which could have been epic if not for some fatal flaws on the part of the production team.

Before I start with the subject of this post let me tell you where I come from as in where I stand on the quality of what is shown on television.

I have watched several Hindi serials. Also I am a big fan of anime Asian dramas, English series, modern fiction and some of the choicest classics. And these classics include the Jane Austen book Sense and Sensibility'.

Quality wise I am well aware that Indian serials cannot even begin to catch up to the English and Asian drama standards. It's quite natural actually considering that they have to compromise on quality for quantity. It can be forgiven to a certain extent but at times like in case of KKB it really does grate on ones nerves, which is a part I'll soon come to.

Before that I have to address the point which I have been most irritated with since I started this show; that is ekta kapoor's claim that this was supposedly an adaptation of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. As a fan of Austen it hurts me to even think of this classic and KKB together. Yes the one thing both have in common is that Aroras/Dashwoods are a close knit family and that Eleanor Dashwood/Pragya is in love with a man whose sister hates her and her family. And that's the end of it. The characters and their personalities are nowhere close to what Austen has portrayed in her novel. I was fascinated with Jane Austen's novels because for a story written in the Georgian era Austen's heroines were extremely bold and forward. Yes they did abide by the customs and were all about etiquette and manners when and how it was required but they had a voice and mind of their own. They knew what they wanted and they could speak up for themselves. Her Pride and Prejudice was my 1^st ever Georgian time novel and yet I never found Elizabeth too meek or submissive. In fact Elizabeth is everything a woman even today should be to me. It was later that I found out that this particular book was criticized a lot by the men then for Elizabeth's portrayal. Even Austen's pen name was "A Lady'. And that tells us a lot about Austen's writing style; a writing style that has been thoroughly insulted by Ekta.

The book Sense and Sensibility' was Jane Austen's first published novel. Sense' standing for Eleanor Dashwood and Sensibility' for Marianne Dashwood.

The problem with KKB is not that it does not take the story of the novel in to account. It does and I can clearly see how it is shaping up to that plot. The insult I talk about is rather to the characters that Austen took the trouble to shape up. And I'll explain each one below.

Eleanor Dashwood-Pragya Arora.

This character to me is the biggest disappointment even beating Edward Ferrars/Abhi, for the very reason that this character is a woman. Eleanor is someone who falls in love with Edward for his intelligence, pleasant behaviour and his general humbleness. But when she is accused of trying to trap him for money by his sister she immediately leaves along with her mother and sisters. Later when she comes to know of his engagement to Lucy Steele she keeps mum about her heartbreak to her family and understanding the fact that he being a gentleman and having given his word to Lucy she cannot have him. Later when Edward gives up his fortune in favour of keeping this same commitment and is jilted by Lucy Eleanor agrees to marry him. True when she hears that Mr Ferrars is married to Lucy she is distraught over it before it is revealed that it was Robert Ferrars who got married.

Now my main problem with Pragya is that she has no part of Eleanor in her. Sriti is an amazing actress I know and the fault here is not in her but how this character is shaped up. In the 1^st episode she did have Eleanor in her there when she decided that no one could take away her sister's right and her mother's hard earned fruit the marriage hall as a price for marrying her. And then what? Her self-respect is suddenly gone down the drain. An insult to Eleanor who even through her heartache decided to respect Edward's decision to honour his word over her and stayed away. And many of Pragya's illogical decisions stem from the inconsistencies in the characters around her.

Marianne Dashwood- Bulbul Arora.

This character I don't know what to say. She like Pragya was, Marianne in just the 1^st few episodes. Then she turned to a mockery. Marianne loved Willoughby (Purab) to the core. Bulbul on the other hand blames him for everything. Also she blames Suresh (apparently colonel Brandon) for every other thing that she cannot blame Purab for. Other than that I don't know what to say. True Marianne was not the most rational person but she was intelligent and spoke her mind. To me it is hard to digest that Marianne would make the same choices as Bulbul given that Eleanor was in a marriage such as Pragya. Marianne would not keep quiet about the truth behind the entire misunderstanding even if Eleanor was to tell her to. This is the girl who openly showed her affections to Willoughby even after Eleanor warned her to watch her conduct. So Bulbul is my 2^nd most disappointment.

Colonel Brandon- Suresh

This character was I think close enough to the novel then. Now no. the thing I don't understand is was it really necessary to make him the reason for Pragya's heart break? And why is he suddenly turned to someone stupid? I mean Colonel Brandon was very careful with his words and he would never blurt out about Pragya's feelings for him to abhi like suresh did. And overall they kind of made him creepy. I don't know if it's the actor or the creators fault but Suresh has now become something that neither belongs to the novel nor to the KKB realm (even though it has extremely inconsistent characters.)

Mrs Dashwood- Sarla Arora

I do understand that the creators wanted to shape this character to be loving and overtly attached to her daughters. But Sarla comes out as a biased mother and you end up feeling sorry for Bulbul and wonder if her tendency to blame others stems from the constant accusations thrown at her by Sarla? In that light Sarla fails to gain the sympathy that Mrs Dashwood has.

Willoughby- Purab.

If they were trying to show Willoughby's indecisiveness with Purab the creators surely succeeded. But now we are left to wonder if the creators themselves are not sure about what to do with him. Willoughby was a man who chose money over love and decided to marry a woman with a fortune rather than be with Marianne even though in the end we come to know that he did have genuine feelings for her and is unhappy with his choice. Purab on the other hand comes forth as an indecisive man with no courage or judgement for that matter. On the contrary his feelings for Bulbul are so far gone that he literally worships the ground where her feet land. Can you imagine such a guy leaving her for money? Neither can i. so either they make him inconsistent and suddenly give him money minded personality which will not surprise me at this point or Bulbul leaves him for Suresh which will totally go against Marianne's character which will not surprise me either. Or they change the ending by having them be the endgame since many believed that Willoughby deserved a 2^nd chance with Marianne. I would have called this a bold move had this been an adaptation of the original novel but saying that would make Jane Austen turn in her grave so I leave that to that.

Edward Ferrars- Abhishek Mehra

last we come to the hero of the show, Abhishek Mehra aka Abhi The Rock star. He shares the 2^nd spot of the most disappointing character with Bulbul or maybe he is higher on the list. Why? Well simply because Edward was calm rational, pleasant and a man of his word. He gave up his fortune to keep his word of engagement to Lucy, a woman he did not love and here we have Abhi the rock star mocking the biggest commitment ever, marriage.' Oh and did I mention that Edward was intelligent which Abhi is clearly not. need I say more?

So this is all my opinion. I mentioned that KKB given with its flaws could have been an epic show. I may later decide to write an explanation to this statement later if I get time in another post. I know this one has been quite a long post and hope I have not offended anyone. If I have I do apologize for that was never my intention. I was merely voicing my thoughts. Hope you like what you read.

-love Ayuzawa❤️

Originally posted by: -mina-

Jane Austen died before Queen Victoria was born. The period she lived and wrote in is called Georgian or Regency.

An adaptation has no requirements to be faithful the original. The degree to which we accept it as an adaption can vary by its relative faithfulness, but there's nothing in the definition of adaptation that says the secondary product has to match the original in more than a nominal way.

Your character analyses are very interesting, but I would think a better title for your post would be "all the reasons Kumkum Bhagya is not Sense and Sensibility" - because there are really all kinds of things wrong with KKB, and the matter of its faithlessness to S&S is maybe just the beginning, for those to whom it matters anyway.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, hope you keep watching and analyzing! It's always great to see thoughtful posts.

Originally posted by: -mina-

Would love to see the failed epic post 😊

Originally posted by: berrysweet

In the first place , the show should never have been promoted as S and S . It's not!

S and S is a timeless classic . Its a sin to compare them! Poor Jane Austen . If she only knew that she would be used for promotion for a degrading show like this , she would never have picked up her pen!