Posted:
Hi guys,
Interesting times for our serial eh? Newspaper articles swearing that the show is to be shut, the channel tweeting to confirm its definitely not being shut, the PR lady confirming via telephone that it is definitely going off air...and radio silence from the makers BUT the whole team is now on Twitter watching the #humsafars tag intently? And of course radio silence from the channel itself.
Now I love speculating and 'thin slicing', and I am going to do some speculation and 'thin slicing' now...so please, none of this is based on anything more than my own humble observations! 😊...
Firstly I noticed last week that that Sufi (who I think is Harneet Singh) has taken on not only Story but also the screenplay as well. This means she is now responsible not only for the characterisation and the general storyline but also for the script and scene set up. I have certainly noticed much more self talk, especially with Arzoo and certainly extremely well executed Saaz Scenes.
Secondly, was interesting to see Gorkyji helping with the execution of the Poison wala scene, working with Seemaji the director. He is the creative producer and I am sure involved at a high level, but surprised to see him getting involved in the details of the scene. Certainly this was the first time i have seen him in action this way.
Then we get a tweet from Aakaash Berry,who is part of the creative team commenting on trending on #humsafars. We also have Shivya suddenly joining (with Gorky and Harneet's help)...
Also, Shivaniji was happily tweeting photos until a few days ago and then suddenly there was radio silence. Next we know she is 'on holiday'...strange nah? The show is in the thick of things and one of the creative team goes on holiday?
Also, i feel that Nimisha Pandey, the Creative Head seems to be increasing her involvement with the HS team...she is spending time with Harneet, she is re-tweeting tweets on how the show shouldn't be closed.
So what I think is with all the online support Humsafars is getting (and i really don't think i have ever seen anything like it for an Indian TV show to be honest), the channel is in a fix. They were probably intending to finish up with HS but if they do, the backlash is going to be unprecedented, especially since they are being accused (and quite rightly so) of showing partiality towards certain PHs. I am pretty sure in the background, there is some serious convo's going on behind closed doors. Four Lions is not some altu faltu prod house...it has massive massive hits like Geet and Qubool Hai under its belt. I am sure they are more than capable of turning a show around but the channel needs to support them. I think there will be one of two outcomes:
1) HS stays but the timing will change. BUT the PH needs a guarantee from the channel that they will promote the show.
2) The PH shifts the show onto another more accomodating channel. The issue with this option of course is that from a reputation perspective, this will look very very bad on SONY. It also ruins their relationship with Four Lions and other production houses will think twice before signing deals with Sony if there shows will be sidelined because of a special relationship with a certain PH.
SONY are in a unique situation with this show. Unlike Itti si kushi, poonam dhillons show etc is that they were able to shut them down without much issue from the fan base. But here, the actual fan base is enormous and heavily online. They need to be very very careful how they handle this. As an international viewer, why should I pay to watch SONY entertainment television if the shows i enjoy are removed because they aren't popular domestically? If they want to be a truly global channel, then they need to think globally as well. its terrible for their image to ignore the international audience.
In the meantime, i think the PH are doing everything in their power to ensure that they deliver on this serial, hence the increased involvement by seniors and changes to the team/responsibilities.
We are all not stupid to be supporting a TV serial which has nothing special about it. All of us genuinely have better things to do with our time. There has to be something about this serial which is bringing about such strong emotional responses from so many people who would generally never bother about such things (me being one of them)...it is a matter of principal.
Anyways, whether HS stays on Sony or not...Picture abhi baaki hai mere dost...
Ishaani
Cricket
