An Open Letter to Gul Khan, re: Radio Interview

Dear Ms. Khan,

I recently heard your interview with RJ Vikrant on 98.3 FM and I would like to address a few points you made about the reaction to Geet going off air from fans all over the world. If I was assured of anything by that interview, it was that the people who made it are either pretending to be or are actually in blissful oblivion about what they did to the show. Allow me to enlighten you about the fan's perspective, which is not insane, obsessive or laughable as you seem to think but a genuine protest against what was shown on GHSP after February.

The first issue I want to address is that you seem to be under the impression that you gave the show a logical ending. When I heard you make this statement I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. If you will make the effort of thinking back to April 2010, when the story began, I believe you will remember that it began with a crime. A young, innocent and trusting girl was cheated by a man in whom she put all her faith, and was subsequently cheated by her family who refused to stand by her in support of what was right. The logical conclusion of this story would have been the girl coming into her own and getting justice. Do you even know what wast being shown everyday on the show towards the end? We were shown a fraud. who married and impregnated a young girl under false pretenses, abandoned her after drugging her at the airport, stole all her money and assets and nearly cost her her life in an honour killing, walking happily and guiltlessly free, committing bigamy once again by marrying his victim's own cousin, who remained unaware of his past. In addition serious issues like, alcoholism, obesity and even murder were shown in a comic light, which was not funny. I beg you, watch the last episodes of GHSP and then do your next interview. You will be better informed as to what the viewers are actually fighting for and against. The fact that Dev was never punished is the reason fans are in uproar today. If fans are conducting protests and fighting, then please understand that they are fighting for the justice that neither Geet nor GHSP got.

The second delusion you are under is that people watched Geet only for the intense love story between Maan and Geet. This is why I assume you recommended we simply switch to your other creation, which is focused exclusively on a strikingly similar love story. However, please understand that we didn't watch Geet only for the Maan-Geet pairing (although they became the only thing worth watching after the first 8-9 months of the show). The show touched us because it was about a woman we all could relate to, her fight for justice, her negotiation with tradition and modernity, her rural background and the life she was making for herself in the city, her position as neither a married woman nor a single girl, when she fell in love. It was a story of a man who had a tortured past, but remained principled to a fault and found peace and happiness in an unlikely place. We loved these characters and so when they fell in love and could understand each other better than their own families despite all the complications that their pasts entailed, we fell in love with the idea of this mature and all encompassing love, a love that made each of them stronger. Together, they stood for justice, truth and love and that is why we loved them, not simply because they were a "sizzling jodi" (which, needless to say they are but this was only part of the appeal).

This brings me to my third point. You had two of the best leads I have ever seen on television. They were both hugely talented, passionate, sincere and hardworking, something that was apparent from the finished product and off screen segments and news the audience was privy to. While I commend you for your excellent choice in casting, I can only wonder at the mess you made of the show and the complete waste of these hugely talented people after the story was lost. And yet, we continued to watch because they continued to give their all and all we got finally were some beautiful stand alone scenes with these two incredible performers and some deep and meaningful dialogues. The story simply did not do justice to the leads' talent or the viewers' hopes and expectations.

Finally, allow me to say this. I don't know what goes on behind the scenes. I am a poor, clueless viewer who watched the show everyday, hoping for things to get better. But every promising track that was introduced was scrapped or simply neglected after some time in favour of more mindless, so called, comedy, which I can tell you was crass, tasteless and anything but funny. The gross instances of chauvinism displayed in the so called comedy tracks were again, an insult to the intelligent and serious viewer. I cannot believe could have watched or even known about this and still have the guts to say that GHSP had a logical end. Forget the overarching theme of Geet's justice which was left woefully unfulfilled, what about other serious tracks such as the memory loss, the new beginning for Maan and Geet in the village after Dev's mother had taken everything, and even the last track with Vikram the stalker. Where were the logical conclusions for these? You will probably laugh with derision again if I bring up names like Vicky and Sameera, characters that were mentioned in the original story as pivotal to Maan's dark past and yet which were never revealed. You can give any number of excuses about new writers and new teams but the fact remains, that with the excellence of every aspect of the show at the outset, you made a tacit promise to deliver a product of some quality till the end and to put it plainly, you failed.

If people are asking for more Geet and more GHSP it is because they are fighting for the justice Geet never got, the closure from his dark past that Maan never got, the punishment that Dev never got, and the strong script, wardrobe and production value of which the show was completely and mercilessly stripped. I understand why you can't answer definitively on a season 2, but at least answer the questions posed by this letter. What made you take something so beautiful and reduce it to a pitiful caricature of itself? What made you take away the sets, the flattering clothes and refuse to hire a decent scriptwriter? How could you completely neglect and allow to fall to ruin the show that brought so many people together and gave so many people, who work both in front of and behind the camera, unprecedented recognition? What compelled you to allow Dev to walk free? Do you realise that at the click of a mouse I can go back and watch the scene where Dev heartlessly leaves Geet unconscious at the airport? What excuse do you have for making a comic character out of him, with no hint of guilt and not the slightest inclination to tell his new "wife" about his past? You have insulted us as intelligent viewers and you need to be made aware of it.

I would like to say I mean no disrespect by this letter but that would not be the truth. So let me just say I am answering to the disrespect I felt as a viewer on listening to your interview. Whatever respect and admiration I might have had for your being a part of the original team that conceptualised and gave us the GHSP we loved, is now completely diminished thanks to your refusal to admit that something went very wrong, and viewers were cheated out of what they were promised by the premise and the original brilliance of the show. I will surely think twice now before investing my attention or time in anything with the 4Lions tag.

Sincerely,

A disappointed viewer

👏nice post...hope gul understands...😕

Superb reply to Ms Gul Khan 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 .

I would say she is the main culprit behind GHSP's low TRP . She could have handled things in much better way . But she was busy planning her new show . Even that show is being done some as GHSP . I wonder is she has got bankrupt in her way of thinking or she just got lucky with GHSP . 😡

👏 Standing Ovation to you for penning down our thoughts dear.

U wrote exactly what many fans of geet think..awesome post..hope it is read by concerned ppl and clear their misconceptions abt the show and its fans

You, my soulmate, have said just enough for me to not have to add anything further. Your letter does complete justice to how EACH AND EVERY fan of GHSP feels at this moment. Every fan who stuck to the end -- waiting for something to go right, something to happen to make the PH realize what they're doing wrong, some form of justice to be served for the characters, as well as the actors -- is disappointed, nay angered, by the indifferent and nonchalant attitude that the PH has shown towards GHSP. The neglect was so clear, and every viewer could detect that the PH was simply sabotaging the show, yet the PH itself doesn't give two hoots nor does it want to admit it completely disrespected the fans and the show by abandoning it only to make a carbon copy of it. And they have the gall to tell us to watch their other show now that Geet is finished with a "PROPER ENDING" !?!?!

*claps*

If only Batti Gul could read this !

Thank you for this much needed letter, you've perfectly written what each one of us feel at this very moment. When I first heard the interview I didn't know whether I should laugh or cry, but I can say it was highly amusing in a completely sick way. All who work under 4lions' are really cynical people, especially Gul, not to mention the interview was a definition of 'shameless marketing' It's pretty amusing to believe that she thought making a complete copy of GHSP (which she admitted to) and asking us to watch that will console us. And you're completely right Samana, the things that they have being showing us in the past few months is really just insulting to our intellect. Not much I can say, other than they truly did disappoint us.

absolutely agree with you on all the points you raise. Ms. Khan needs to wake up and smell the coffee in terms of the damage that the loss of GHSP has done to her brand. But alas, I doubt that this will happen anytime soon.

echoed my sentiments..EXACTLY!!! pls post on 4 lion G+/Gorky's wall..they shall definitely read it.