Article--Bidaii scores over kyunki

S tar Plus' Sapna Baabul Ka… Bidaai was recently declared the most popular show on television with a TRP rating of 5.4, beating even the mother of all soaps Kyunkii Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi. A source at Balaji Telefilms tells us that Ekta Kapoor immediately called for an emergency meeting to evaluate the success of Rajan Shahi's Bidaai that was inspired by Sooraj Barjatiya's superhit Vivah. Shahi attributes the success of the show to its simple storyline. He says he deliberately steered away from murder and multiple affairs and chose instead to focus on the fair girl versus dark girl complex. "Let's face it, colour is still an issue in India," he asserts. Jealous rivals The show has received a fair amount of criticism as well but Shahi shrugs off the negative com- ments attributing it to jealous rivals. "Why else would Zee TV wait four months before pointing out similarities between Saat Phere and Bidaai?" he argues. The USP of Bidaai is the num- ber of cameos it boasts of.. Mahesh Thakur, Rucha Gujarathi and recently, Sadia Siddique. Shahi justifies this saying that since the soap doesn't have too many princi- pal characters, it was important to rope in well-known actors to make special appearances.