Clichés and Their Creative Cures

Hi everyone,

This experiment was in my mind for a long time. But it is just now that I got the time to write them.

The ITV is filled with many clichés that it is impossible to avoid them😉. It is not the fault of the writers itself but also the audience who get hyped by these clichés even though they saw it like a million times more. Each of the new cliché made is like a target achieved/unlocked. But some of them are so overused that they definitely need some cure.😭

Instead of saying avoid those entirely why not suggest them some creative alternatives which would also get their desired effect. You know just for some fun.🥳

Anyone can join in this experiment.

I am excited for the creative cures from all of you.

I am going to post many clichés one by one in this same thread. Please join the fun.(Anyways isn’t more fun than to get frustrated by the CVs in every episode?🤡)

P.S. If you like it you can also send it your friends.. Let’s just have nice discussions

1. Chopda cliché

Description: It is night time and it is raining. A boy and a girl are stuck in middle of a forest. They look for a shelter and Lo Behold!! There is a hut in middle of nowhere. They take shelter there for the whole night.

Reason: This cliché is often used in more romantic serials. I understand the intention of the writers. They want to show that these 2 people get to spend some alone time. Almost most of the time, they come out of the hut by becoming emotionally (sometimes physically) closer.

Problems: Oh! Where to start? This cliché always annoy me in many ways but many girls look forward to it.

• The hut would have many necessary things which the ML and FL need at that moment,(almost as if god gifted😉)
• No one lives there, but it would always look like someone used to live there which makes this whole the more dangerous. Not only they were trespassing into someone’s house but that house could be anyone’s. What if it was a gunda’s house? Or a meeting point for the smugglers. Maybe an 'adda' for drug mafia or anything like that. Both of them never consider that these things just sleep peacefully in that hut.
• There is that most stupid thing which I hate; The ML saying to the FL, “Tum upper se neeche bheegi hui ho.. tumhe kapde chage karma padega warna tumhe bhukar hojayega”. Whenever I hear this I get angry, Why only the woman need to change? The man was also in the same rain and last lime I checked, he was also fully drenched. There was no separate protection for him.But no.. It is only the FL that need to change because he would never get fever just because he got drenched. He was a man and as everyone knows “Mard kobhukaar nahi hota” Why? The only justification I feel is they can show the silhouette scene. (female silhouette is sexy plus sanskari)
  
• FL gets scared and there is an accidental hug or comforting gesture from ML. Mind you.. The FL gets scared of anything like Thunder, lizard, cockroach etc. These are the fears which happen only there and would never be addressed later on.

Cures: Maybe this cliché annoys more because even I can give some alternatives for this such as

Cure 1: Car

Most of the time, they get lost while driving. The car fails and then they try to walk in the jungle get lost and then the same. Why not let them return to car itself? A car would provide them with shelter. Yes, it would stink because of the wet clothes. But comparing the smell to survival.. I think I would prefer to spend a night with some odor. Someone can sit in the backseat and the other can sit in the front and spread their legs in somewhat comfortable position. They can talk and do cute things such as draw something on the window. They can have cute bickering and can still sleep peacefully. This gives the creative ways to shoot in Car which has minimum scope of movement. This solution achieves what the writers are aiming for: Emotional Closeness. And if they want even the other type of closeness the car also provides that. They just have to show openness to creative angles. For example: Titanic’s carriage shot.

Yes, I know it is mundane.. and maybe even a little boring compared to the scope of legendary hut scene. There is also problem with the lighting the whole car. But ITV writers can romanticize any mundane thing. And we know it. I think, if given some thought over it, they could find a way to properly execute it.

Cure 2: Cave

I have always felt weird why this was never an option. Just think about it. A cave is much more probable than a hut. It is a jungle for a reason. This also achieves the same results such as the emotional bonding.. maybe even physical. The fire logs can be used for lighting. And the FL can get scared of whatever here, because it is a cave. It can have snakes, scorpions or any type of wild animal for that point. These fears are situational and even can be discarded later on. It is not like lightning or something which is universal. The production design team can do wonders building it as it just like hut requires much less material to built the set.

The only downsides I can see is, just like the Car, The scope of movement between the characters would be less. And the camera angles would also be more restricted to basic shot. Again, if thought more about it, I am sure directors can make this also more creative and interesting. We are talking about the production houses who could easily work with restricted resources during the lock down times and give us a coherent story through every episode.So obviously, these people are creative when they have to be.

Cure 3: A Ruined Castle

Honestly I like this option the most. It serves the purpose providing the shelter. It is again possible to find ruins of the castle in a jungle. It also has the perfect blend of both romantic and eerie feeling to it which can be beautifully milked for the shots. ML and FL have so much scope for movement that they can literally waltz there. The ruins also can have snake, scorpions for the scare. And maybe have some bits of roof fall for the necessary tense scene.. The set designers can have so much fun designing it. And old destroyed showpieces and statues can be recycled here. The possibilities are endless.

I am back... Even with the lackluster response I have decided to continue my experiment. So Cliche 2

2. Leap-time? Let’s hate each other! cliché

Description: Every thing is almost good. And everyone is happy in their life. Perfect time to end the series in a nice tone, but there is just one small problem. We want money!! And we haven’t stopped milking this cash cow yet. So let’s have a leap and have characters hate each other

Reason: This is the one cliché I feel bad for the writers. Just imagine you completing one assignment and the doing the same assignment over and over again. This kind of leap is similar to that. They have to create the same chemistry again. They have to build the same meet-cutes and make audience nostalgic etc. Mostly Writers are forced when the TRPs decrease and this is their way of bringing back the spice.

Problems: My problem about this whole thing is:

• Writer mistake that the decrease in TRP is because there is no conflict or angst. But it is really the slow pace of the show that caused it. The initial problems that the show was focusing on would be some what resolved, resulting in a narrative which is somewhat vague. There is simply no direction. So manufactured conflicts arise and slowly the pace of the show is affected.
• The reason for hatred is mostly a misunderstanding which could have easily been resolved if these idiots talked like a normal people
• This kind of leap also insult to the audience who enjoyed the leads chemistry and wanted them to be an item. This kind of leap makes that the absolutely perfect people in love who trusted one another in every other just stopped trusting.

Cure 1: Ideological Battle

Every love story need not end in a happy note. And love and trust are not only the pillars of a successful relationship. Writers can develop some ideological difference between the leads after their life. It can be slow but strong development. And make sure that show never advocates that a particular ideology is good or bad compared to other. Many couple in real life still love and respect each other but they do not live together because sometimes their ideologies clash so much that They prefer to be away from each other to give each other their freedom. By doing this, writer can show the show as more realistic as well as the love between them will not be compromised.

Cure 2: Long distance takes a toll

Let the relationship somehow get affected by their professional and personal lives mixing too much. Not that all long distances end up bad..but maybe this one.. Show that the distance is taking so much away from them. Show them becoming emotionally distant, partners becoming insecure about their relationship etc. Realistic and gradual separation

Cure 3: Ask the audience

According to my knowledge.. many serials did that before. They asked audience their opinion. For example, IPKKND listened to audience. When Barun Sobti announced his break from the show due to health problems, fans of the series requested the production team to shut down the show on a happy note rather than any replacement. Which made the series, popular still now. So if the writers feel like it they can ask the audience whether which direction they want the story to move forward.

I liked the stay in car idea..... More practical and less strenuous..... Need not walk in random unknown dangerous places and land in deeper trouble.... Staying in the road will help you get any help quicker than the inner circle of jungle!!!

I don't understand the slow burn theory which is completely far different from real life..

Why the hero or heroin have to be sacrificial goat 🤢

Why heroin can't be grey and so is the hero..

Today I am feeling a little more energized, here's the 3rd one

Businessman cliché

Description: A new show is about to start. You can be sure of at least one thing. The hero and his whole family will be in some sort of business. Be it construction, fashion, real estate etc.

Reason: Out of all the cliché, this is the one everyone can easily understand. The serial set should look lavish, larger than life. You are selling a dream house which looks more like a hotel. Then during some function, they can decorate the set even more lavishly.. Clearly an experiment ground for all wannabe interio rdecorators. DOP would be proud of the end result.

Wait, I hear you say. There are many middle class based series which show extravagant festive celebrations. Yes.. Even though the audiences point it out, the makers dully ignore the practicality of the whole arrangements and continue with their plan.

So it is something else in addition to the set design. It is the leaves … Hmm? Confused? Worry not.. Most normal people working in a 9 to 5work schedule knows how difficult is to manage your leaves. You have office work, meetings, client presentations etc. Sometimes you have to do overtime.But in ITV you need to be in house when something dramatic occurs. And as we know all these dramatic moments can happen any time, which means your job requires that flexibility so you can make in time for the drama. Not just drama, romance, festivals, weddings all require your presence.. after all you are the ML you need to be in every occasion. So a normal desk job employee cannot have people taking these many leaves. Imagine going to your boss with a leave letter which says, “Leave to romance my wife”

So Our ML should not have a boss over his head. He should be able to approve his own leave. That is why sometimes even the middle class setting series have them as shopkeepers or as garage owners etc.

Problems: My problem about this whole thing is:

• Although the writers are using the businessman as their crutch to give an excuse to show the ML in every scene. But it paints such an unrealistic image of real life entrepreneurs. They are the most hard working and dedicated people. They do leave some time for their family and friends but they cannot always laze around in their house. In fact they have more work than a normal desk job person
• Continuation to the first point, their job is just a decoration. There is no substance added to it. An actual businessman is under a lot stress while working. Many people are dependent on him, so he cannot take many bad decisions. All his decisions have more weight. So imagine a person having to deal with both the tensions in the office and his house. But MLs never snap. Their office problems are never addressed
• Everyone has seen the every type of business tycoons by now. The arrogant businessman, the playboy businessman, the no-nonsense businessman,the heart of gold businessman etc. Everyone is bored.

Cure 1: Artistic and Creative

Now this have been already tried by many. Example Omkara from Ishqbaaz, Darsh from Aapki nazaron ne samjha And I am pretty sure this have been tried. But The creatives for some unknown reason, make them part time businessmen and by the end you actually forget that these ML were initially that creative. Of course they need to show their lavish sets they make the creative guy the heir of some really rich conglomerate. (So no tension of the normal people worries though.. like budget.. future etc ) The guy can be creative, liberal minded etc but he will and he can participate in kitchen wars.

This is the go-to-option of the writers after businessman.

My suggestion is let him be a writer/painter/artist representing an area’s local talent. Folk singers and dancers or even traditional architecture can be used. Through this way, his work will be self driven as wanted by the directors who want him in every function. As well have some real life struggles which can be highlighted through the show. The ML will have some kind of motivation and perspective rather than being a trophy husband for FL.

And then the decorations and festivities can highlight that areas artistic nature which can be another experimental ground for the set designers

Cure 2: Local politician

I know what you are thinking.. “Really? A politician?” To answer your doubtful gaze let me present these points

A politician though being people’s servant is also his own boss hence the leaves are already approved unlike some other government official like IPS or DM etc

A politician would also be good when he have to deal with the kitchen politics and such

And again here his work has some value; through his work the shows can do social commentary. Educate people with the information regarding the government subsidies and other initiatives.

And here there can be many ways to bring out interesting grey characters as people working with or against the ML.. Heck… Even the ML himself can be grey.. Imagine the possibilities of the story arcs

Cure 3: Middle class normal “Couple”

Yes, Make both the ML and FL work in a similar setup. 9 to 5desk job. Just like every middle class nowadays. Mostly they make the FL a homemaker or giver her a job which do not pay as much as the ML. By this option when both of them are away on their work there will not be much kitchen wars but it can happen after they return from their jobs.

Yep, for a normal human being getting dragged into family drama after coming back from office (tired and exhausted) would definitely be a nightmare. But this is ITV… mental problems does not exist here.. This is the utopia.

Jokes apart.. This can introduce to the problems which everyone faces in real life. Not like many ITVs which have arguments born out of mundane things. Audience has changed from the time 2 decade back series like“Kyonki saas bhi kabhi bahu thi” days. Hence the problems also have changed. No one have time to waste on petty problems. So by this the writers can incorporate the modern day problems and their solutions. Audience will really appreciate it.

Cure 4: Lecturer

I wonder why this was not used much. Guest lecturers and sometimes assistant lectures do not have to be present in the college whole time. They are required to have certain hours per week which give the ML much needed free time to laze around his house
(provided his family is rich of course… otherwise he need to have another source of income too)

Like the options listed above, I guess, this one can also provide the value.

I wonder why this is not used… Can you guess why?

I guess there is that “Shourya aur anokhi ” series but I am not considering it because his family owned(?) the college I guess… Which is just business… Education business…

Oh same with doctors who own their freaking hospital (health business)

Originally posted by: Shaome

I don't understand the slow burn theory which is completely far different from real life..

Why the hero or heroin have to be sacrificial goat 🤢

Why heroin can't be grey and so is the hero..

Right now, I don't have any 'creative cures' these cliche but I feel it is challenging to think their alternatives. These are all tried and tested formulae of ITV..

But still everyone can mull over this...

If I do get some answers I will surely post it😊