I wrote a post a few weeks back titled "Is Nautanki Films Taking Revenge From Colors?". It was closed after a fight broke out in the comments section. The gist of the post was my feeling that Nautanki Films (PH) were deliberately writing bad material since Sultan entered the show. Since the character of Sultan was forced upon them by the Channel, they included him in the serial half-heartedly and the lack of effort showed. This was the PH's passive aggression against the Channel for making them do something they didn't want to do.
There is nothing else the PH could do as it is the Channel who owns a serial once it agrees to telecast it. The PH who started the serial can very much be replaced by the Channel if it so wishes. So Nautanki Films had to walk a very thin rope in the last 6 months to not give in to the Channel and yet not get replaced for not being able to stop the falling TRPs.
I had stopped watching the serial for the last one month as it had become too illogical and boring for me. Watched the last week's episodes on youtube after reading good things on IF and was pleasantly surprised to see that the show is picking up once again. Apparently, Sultan's character is going to be killed off soon and this fact seems to have put the life back into the team of MBEIEJ! The writing is suddenly much better, the zing is back in the dialogues, the scenes are once again worthy of a re-watch. The PH has finally defeated the Channel!!
While the whole team of MBEIEJ has suffered the last 6 months, the one actor to suffer the most has been Vivian. His character was butchered and the super intelligent RK was turned first into a jealous psycho and then a love-sick idiot to accommodate Sultan's presence. Madhu's character was mercilessly butchered too but Drashti's place in the serial was never under threat. She was always the only and only heroine of MBEIEJ. Whereas there were repeated attempts to usurp RK's place in the show. Everything from Sultan's entry to the subsequent tracks were meant to highlight him as a larger than life character who was a threat to RK's charisma.
The Channel tried everything for Sultan to be accepted, used every trick under the sun - a golden hearted gangster, a husband grieving for his dead wife, a stern but loving father, a protector of wronged women, a man in love, a wronged son, an angry young man fighting for his mother's rights...the list goes on. And when every effort to glorify him failed, he was given the next most important character to play " the all-powerful villain. It is only after the audience showed complete rejection of anything to do with him, that he is now being 'kicked out' from the show.
All through this, Vivian stood his ground valiantly and handled each setback with dignity. Never once did he go crying to the media. Never used any PR to sell himself. There were no tantrums or threats of walking out of the show if his character was not brought to its former glory. He never uttered a word even when negative articles about him were leaked to the press - like his not being available for shootings due to personal leaves or Seema Mishra have a problem with him. This shows maturity beyond his years. A 24-25 year old is but a young boy. However, Vivian proved that he is a man who handles setbacks gracefully and doesn't sulk over issues beyond his control.
His patience has paid off and how! I was surprised last week to see the sudden turnaround of RK. Not only has he been given his brain back, but his whole persona has changed overnight. His make-up and styling is suddenly much better, the sting is back in his dialogues and his clothes are so much smarter! Seeing him like this made me wonder when and how had he stopped looking so gorgeous? It is clear now that the attention of the PH as well as the Channel is back on him. They have accepted that it is RK who is the USP of the show and messing with him means messing with their all-important TRPs. Hope they don't forget this lesson in a hurry.
You showed them Vivian! Now it's time for you to rule once again. Congratulations!!
Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad
