Dear PH and Channel,
What do you think is the average age of your audience? My guess is that you put us in the 13-14 age bracket. How else does one explain the complete lack of logic in MBEIEJ lately? In fact, now I'm wondering if I have insulted the intelligence 13-14 year olds by insinuating that your current track is good enough for them.
No, I'm not going to launch into a tirade of the innumerable flaws in your show. The MB fans on twitter and FB have been doing that for weeks and you have been steadfastly ignoring their heartfelt complaints. What I'm going to do is offer you one little advice that can help you reverse the sliding TRPs. Now you can roll your eyes and smirk at my naivet but I'm still going to go ahead. You see, I care too much for the characters you created, even if you couldn't create a good show around them.
Before I give my little piece of advice, please let me explain why I care so much about RK and Madhu. My reason is very simple - their outstanding chemistry. When I saw the show for the first time back in October last year, what pulled me in was the crackling chemistry between these two gorgeous people. What moved me was the way they set the screen on fire by just looking at each other. I sat through all the underwhelming side characters you created for months, only because you stayed true to Rishbala. I accepted the heartbreaking unwedding because it brought a new emotional and sexual tension to their relationship. I even accepted the totally unnecessary character of Sultan and the subsequent upheavals in their relationship. I even forgave you for puncturing the Rishbala wedding with Sultan's family saga and whole-heartedly thanked you for giving such a beautiful suhaagraat. And then you punched me in the face by making it clear that there will be no happily-ever-after for my Rishbala.
Do I sound like a silly little girl with my expectations of a happily-ever-after for the volatile Rishbala? Well I'm not. And this is where advice to you comes in.
So here is my little piece of advice - please check which show has been topping the TRP charts for the last one year. I'm sure you can tell without checking that it is Diya Aur Baati Hum. Ever wondered why it is always on the top? My theory is that it is so because it stays true to its title and hence, its spirit. It is a show about a married couple who are as connected to each other as the lamp is to light. Theirs is no grand passion like our Rishbala, just a complete acceptance of each other despite the differences in backgrounds, education and wavelengths. They don't stare into each other's eyes every day and say how much they love each other - they show it with their actions. By being each other's rock, by showing undying faith in each other, by instinctively understanding what the other is feeling, by communicating openly and by putting the other's happiness before their own. They are the ideal husband and wife. And hence, they get the all-important TRPs.
Lets come back to Rishbala. I'm all for their eye-locks, hand-holdings and passionate hugs. I treasured each and every scene of theirs till they got married for real. However, everything changed the day after the wedding. Maybe my expectations changed, I started expecting their passion to be backed by the stability of marriage. And this is where you let me down. Instead of showing undying faith in each other, they started telling each other half-truths from the second day of their wedding. Instead of mutual understanding, there were accusations and counter-accusations. Madhu's character was completely butchered and she turned into this insensitive woman who cared more for her 'friend' than her husband, who cared more for Sultan's mother than her own mother-in-law. Complete opposite of the DABH couple, eh? And then you wonder why the TRP audience is running away?
I saw yesterday's episode after many days after reading about the romantic scene in the WU. It left me feeling sickened. This Rishbala looked like a parody of the old Rishbala. Do you really think that showing rain-romance between Rishbala will make your audience forget just how shallow this relationship comes across as now? What good are those intense eye-locks when we know that Madhu went behind RK's back to get Sultan and his mother back into their home? What good are those passionate hugs when RK is wondering all the time why Madhu is hiding things from him? Do you really think that removing Sultan from the montage will make us forget his presence in the show?
Such lollypops work once in a while, but when you go about destructing a beautiful relationship and then expect the audience to tune in everyday only for the lollypops, you insult their intelligence. You must be feeling lucky about the TRP blackout for the next one month but that doesn't change the fact that this track has been unanimously rejected. If you don't want to end up with egg on your face when the TRPs come out a month later, just follow the DABH example - give some depth to the Rishbala relationship. Trust me, the TRPs will return the day Rishbala show complete faith and commitment to each other. Let them be volatile for everybody else but a single entity for each other. Am I expecting too much?
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