Posted:
The TRPs of Peshwa Bajirao: A sense of dismay
Folks,
I have been watching Peshwa Bajirao from Day 1 , on TV at 1930 hours so as to count for the TRPs - I live in Pune, which is the heart of Peshwa territory! - and I have recommended it from Day 2 to a number of my young friends in the IF who have also started watching it regularly.
I would have expected anyone who has seen even one episode to try and recruit new viewers, for it is a production that abounds in those rare virtues: authenticity and good sense. The art director has done a fabulous job, and every set, from the Bhat residence to the Chhatrapati's palace, looks period perfect and is refreshingly unostentatious. So are the costumes, which too is a very welcome departure from the glitz and tinsel, and the Christmas tree look for the women in most of our historicals and mythologicals. 😉
In short, Peshwa Bajirao is a superbly mounted and, for the most part, excellently cast and acted serial, and I am dismayed that the TRPs are still below 1. I am depending now on the show gaining viewers soon thru word of mouth.
I came in for the highly dependable Manish Wadhwa - wrongly mentioned on Page 1 of the forum index as Manish Choudhary!- but I have grown to like Tara Rani Saheb and, even more so, Radha Bai, a lot. The perfect grihani, Radha Bai is luminous as the model wife, mother, preceptor and drill sergeant, all rolled into one. I have rarely encountered a more appealing and credible female character on TV in recent years. She is a revelation!
However, I do wish they had chosen a less skinny and more athletic looking kid for Baji, someone with more presence, like young Siddharth Nigam. I could not understand their wasting Siddharth on a single scene as the young Shivaji! His young Ashoka in Chakravartin Ashoka Samrat was very appealing and very successful. He is also a national level gymnast, and he would have lent total credibility to Baji's scenes of derring do.
It was the same with Faisal Khan as Kunwar Pratap, who was very successful in Maharana Pratap, also a Sony show. A young star boosts the show right from the beginning. The present Baji looks unconvincing doing his stunts, and he is no great shakes at acting either. I suppose he will grow up and be replaced fairly soon, and one hopes they choose someone really good for the adult Bajirao.
The Bhat family scenes are wonderful, but one can tire of too much of the kiddie stuff with Baji's gang. However, I adore Baji's little sister and also Chimna. The latter kid is amazingly versatile - he played the young Salim in Jodha Akbar and the young Khurram in Siyasat, and here he is, as neat as you please with a chendi! He has a very expressive little face, which reflects even slight nuances beautifully.
All in all, this is one of the best serials, historical or otherwise, to have come on TV in recent years, and I do hope it survives and is not shelved midway because of the low TRPs That would be a very sad thing. So let us all keep our fingers crossed for the TRPs to somehow go up, and soon!
Shyamala B.Cowsik
Kumkum Bhagya
Anupamaa
