Good bye Pavitra Rishta!
I am writing my last post on this forum because I am going to stop watching Pavitra Rishta from today. I am writing to simply express my POV just in case production houses of TV social dramas find viewers' feedback helpful. (so sorry for the length of the post).
I want to start with the disclaimer that I am neither an Arvi fan nor a Punir enthusiast. I only care for a sound story line with dramatic but convincing twists and turns: a good story well told. I do not have a stomach for syrupy melodrama or sizzling chemistry just for the sake of it. I like stories in which all characters matter and have a fair chance to develop. This is the reason why I became very fond of PR in its early phase. There were so many characters. But each of them was getting his/her due. Nobody was perfect and complex situations were resolved in dramatic but convincing ways.
PR is the only show I have watched from the start till now. I tried a few episodes of a couple of other shows but could not develop a liking for them because I could not take the know-all and fix-it-all-by-myself attitude of the heroines. PR was different. Ethical issues like helping an unmarried pregnant girl (Shravani), chawl demolition, and entrusting a toddler to a woman who had no children (Varsha) out of sympathy were handled in a convincing manner. When the hero and the heroine made mistakes in judgment, they had to face the consequences. No excuses. But in the past one year the show has deteriorated pathetically (no fault of the actors) in my view.
When the new phase started after the leap, Purvi was very likable in the beginning. She was charming as she stood up for the dignity of employees and straightened her arrogant boss. Arjun's falling for Purvi was also not out of line. And they did make very good-looking pair on-screen. The problems in my view started with how this track developed. Before leaving Canada, Arjun had given a word to Ovi that he would marry her (knowing her weakness for him fully well). Then he developed a liking for Purvi, even as she was going through engagement with another person. That is OK; it happens. But then he sent a bracelet to Ovi in his confused state. And this is not supposed to give a boost to her hopes and dreams? Arjun never clarified anything to Ovi or Purvi before the entire engagement fiasco happened. How can the engagement planning on DK and Manav's part be considered forcible when they were only following up on what Arjun had said already? From their point of view, there was an element of surprise but not force. And how was Arjun fair to Ovi when she even received a gift from him in Canada? Blaming others for forcing him into an engagement with Ovi is plain unfair.
Then the parents relented and the engagement with Purvi happened. That was a good move, cleaning up of the mess. Purvi was great when she was first approached by Ovi and she refused to break her engagement with Arjun. I thought this was a good solid story line. This is how strong persons behave. But then the whole melodrama started. The know-all and fix-it-all-by-myself syndrome struck. The problem with such female characters is the same as unconvincing heroism of male lead roles in movies who are able to beat up 50 goons all by themselves. An additional problem with such female characters is that they have no trust in anybody else's good judgment or ability to help. They do not think of anyone else as worthy of consultation. They just take decisions, take charge, and impose their decisions on others. Gradually most other characters are reduced to props for the glory of just one or two female leads. And that is my biggest problem with this story line and how Purvi's character has been developed in the past several months.
Why should she be made to take such a big decision to force Arjun to marry Ovi without consulting him or Archana? If she had consulted others, they could have suggested other solutions to the pressure put by Ovi. They could have helped her handle it tactfully even while promoting Archana's chances of reunion with Manav. But no, she had to be in charge and do it all-by-herself. And what did it lead to? Her great sacrifice was not even instrumental in getting Archana her rightful place. It was Teju's intervention that did it. Then what was the need for this turn? That was a bad move in the story. A better story line could have been if Purvi and Arjun had introduced Ovi to another male character (it could even have been Onir) and Ovi had fallen in love with that person. It could have been a very entertaining taming of the shrew kind of track. And it could have kept Arvi fans happy.
But this initial bad move has subsequently led to a series of situations of emotional manipulation on Purvi's part. Why should she force Onir to come to Mumbai? Why could he not give advice to a good doctor in Mumbai sitting in Kolkota? Did Purvi not know that her presence would create tremendous stress for Ovi, who was already on the verge of breakdown? Did she not know that it would make it difficult for Arjun to forget her? What was she thinking? And then she came up with this great idea of becoming the sacrificial lamb in the swapping of the babies and hysterically demanded from Onir to do so. (On a side note, sacrificial lambs are dragged to the altar; they do not demand to be sacrificed.) Onir was wrong in accepting it. But he did get penalized for it. Ovi got penalized for her bad behavior. But what did Purvi and Arjun get? They are exactly where they had wanted to be ' together in the office and now also at home. This could have been achieved without the melodramatic track with more thoughtful consideration of all the ethical issues involved. The characters of Onir and Ovi have now been reduced to caricatures. Even after the Arvi reunion, the ethical ambiguity of how these two characters were handled will remain. There is also no humor or fun in the track; only a melancholic nostalgia hovers around.
And by the way, I do not know anyone in the universe other than Purvi who can leave a big company for more than a year and take charge of it instantaneously without any refresher training. Here too, she just decided to step in, took the phone from Arjun and lo, she has the power of attorney. No one else is thought capable of handling it. She also has to go for walks with DK, a task that can be easily done by Teju, whose character has also been reduced to a prop. It is unfathomable for me how a very good show like PR can turn out this way only in order to bring back the on-screen chemistry of a popular pair. (And before anyone pounces on me, please know that I did like Purvi-Arjun pair very much in the beginning. I just do not find the way the track is developed palatable. I only wish they had not separated the two in this melodramatic manner.)
I know it is a daily soap. But if good production houses want, they can give their audiences entertaining serials without syrupy melodrama that remains unconvincing and ethically ambiguous in the most part.
So, good bye PR! It was good while it lasted. (I am still interested in the Soham-Manav track. But this is too much melodrama for a few moments of that track.) Again this is just my POV. I do not mean to hurt anyone's feelings!
Happy viewing to all of you!
Ye Hai Mohabbatein
