The past week has been all about Star Plus' Ishqbaaaz as far as the telly world is concerned. Amidst rumours of the daily shutting down, reports of show's leading lady moving out started doing the rounds. This didn't go down well with Surbhi Chandna's fans who went all out on social media and started bashing the maker of the show, Gul Khan. It was all good when it was a loyal bunch of fans trying to get their favourite actor back in the show, something that has happened in the past as well (when fans went to Ekta Kapoor's house for the return of Amar Upadhyay's character in Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi). However, slowly it started going downright dirty.
During the course fans clearly lost the plot. They started abusing and trolling Gul. They forgot that it was Gul who got Surbhi on board and made her what she is today. If Khan and her team were not there in the first place, Anika wouldn't have born.
Keeping all morals and ethics aside, let's shift our focus to the practical side of things. Why was it important to get Surbhi out? The show is not doing well on the ratings chart nor is it doing great on the digital platform. Harsh, but it is the truth. At a time when the competition is so severe that a show that was in the top 10 list was also pulled off (Udaan from Colors, Naamkarann from Star Plus) by the channel, Ishqbaaaz was hardly a part of the top 20 list. It was quite obvious that the makers had to do something or the show would have got axed by the channel anyway. Therefore the producers' idea of a revamp and generation leap is quite understandable as this trick has often worked in the past (Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai and Naamkarann from Star Plus). The whole decision of the character's exit must have been amicable, and even if it was not, then here's a reminder - no actor is bigger than the show! It is all business. The channel or the production can't stretch a show like Ishqbaaaz, which has heavy production cost, when it is not doing well.
Now to the fans of the show and Surbhi. We understand your emotions and the revolt. As I said, the revolt was understood and well respected, however, going out and abusing Gul or the rumoured new lead, Sonal Vengurlekar, was downright disgusting. Instead, a better way of revolting would have been to stop watching the daily. Isn't it mature to not watch something that you don't like?
Anyway, we felt bad for Gul Khan, who has been in the industry for such long. Think twice before you troll!
Anupamaa
Cricket
