A review and criticism of the BBC Noreen coverage

I am so happy for Barun. Let's be honest, the global hit this Noreen show speaks to is huge for him. He always talks so humbly about his humble start from a working Delhi boy to advertisements. I always loved his humbleness. So happy for his family too, they who love him. 😊 They must be proud.

This speaks to his immense appeal that has transcended beyond Delhi. He made so much out of one little drama. He really has the X-factor. It's incredible, unprecedented even. Shahrukh Khan did not create international appeal with his first show Army or even his first few movies. There was no internet then either which definitely helped Barun get this international viewership. I wish Barun the best possible success. This is truly amazing what he is capable of.

One thing I did not like was how Noreen burst out laughing/snorting at the mention of IF and "this cult" following. Almost every show has it. IF really has something to contribute, it gives voice to everyone and creates an international community online. I find this forum very unique even from other show forums in this way. We here are all very smart people moved enough by this show to get active on IF, we are not just silly fan-girls. Speaking to the power of IPKKND, Noreen got new fans for her show for covering the phenomenon while her show was running. It is more than just a fad.

Oh well, thanks anyway for covering the show and Barun. I don't want to sour the happiness with my criticism, it was still important to point out that the tone was a little off-putting as a viewer.

Finally, let us not forget Sanaya in this whole thing. She is the other half that makes IPKKND what it is and she also gets an equal congratulations from me. We are mostly women, so we talk a lot about Barun as the male lead but we all know we love Khushi just as much as a character. There is no Arnav without Khushi and no Khushi without Arnav.

Over and out 😆

Mary.

yea as much as love barun ... we should not forget khushi/ Sanaya. the girl is putting so much hard work in her potrayal of khushi. she has the most scenes, interacts with every other character and has to show a wide range of emotions all of which sanaya does beautifully. she had 3 looks today and tomm she is gonna dance and be a man! she is a brilliant actress and should not be forgotten. bec its her unquestioning and forgiving love for arnav that makes us want to love him (forgive him) as we..

Someone did mention sanaya. She said that might happen too. I do hope both give a duo interview. I guess why she is focusing on only Barun comes from the fact how she got to know abt him. That time she was asking is there any TV character Asians in UK follow and her twitter crashed as so many Barun fans flooded with tweets.

awesum post, n there r definately sum very educated people on IF.
But i think many people have the idea indian serials r only 4 old grandmothers n by praising a group 4 an indian serial wud probably tarnish the image of a radio presenter, such as NK, who works 2wards being seen as western n modern british!

Not just that comment Mary but I don't know if you noticed it but she actually imitated Barun in a mock "Indian" accent with special emphasis on 'yaar' and gave a snort kind of laughter... made me want to pull off my ear phones and shred them to pieces...
but oh well at least we are getting an interview with Barun and I can't complain.
What rankled me was she was stereotyping Indian accent. 😡

No offense to Noreen Khan fans. Im just stating the facts here and explressing my distaste. I know this attitude as I myself am living outside india and have faces this kind of 'imitation attempts'. Makes me have a bad taste in my mouth.

Originally posted by: CDlove

Not just that comment Mary but I don't know if you noticed it but she actually imitated Barun in a mock "Indian" accent with special emphasis on 'yaar' and gave a snort kind of laughter... made me want to pull off my ear phones and shred them to pieces...
but oh well at least we are getting an interview with Barun and I can't complain.
What rankled me was she was stereotyping Indian accent. 😡

No offense to Noreen Khan fans. Im just stating the facts here and explressing my distaste. I know this attitude as I myself am living outside india and have faces this kind of 'imitation attempts'. Makes me have a bad taste in my mouth.

Ah, maybe I missed that part. I was skipping to avoid the long, awful breaks. If that happened, it was very rude. I am not even Indian or have an Indian accent but I don't like the idea of making fun of anyone's accent.

Faking an accent is probably the bigger offense on my list. Freida Pinto anyone? Sorry to drag her into this but her changing accent to fit in speaks to this issue too. It is a kind of self-loathing. I adore that Barun sticks to his unique accent. He's real.

Hi Mary

Ok, I'm going to be the voice of dissent or devil's advocate whatever you call it! Well written post.

I don't think Noreen intended to offend the forums members when she called it a "cult following" I think she was simply shocked and taken aback that another member of the team is also hit by "Arnav mania" as she put it.

I think to really understand TODAY'S show and excitement it has to be understood that this began about 3/4 weeks ago when Noreen in her daily radio show asked listeners about their iconic/favourite television characters. Noreen expected responses such as Eastenders characters or Coronation Street but being the Asian network it is, someone mentioned the trigger words "ARNAV" and from then on no looking back as Noreen hadn't seen or heard of the show so she go flooded with tweets, texts and calls by UK fans celebrating and appreciating Arnav's character. She got more intrigued and asked for a picture and then once she saw a tweet picture she was more interested ... from then on apparently in a couple of shows loads of listeners have been asking about getting Arnav/Barun Sobti on the show for interview. Exactly what Noreen set out to do, ok I'm not playing naive, she saw the HUGE potential in getting Barun for an interview because it equalled more listeners (I include ME in that list or I never listen to anything other then BBC Radio 1😆) but I think she genuinely went out of her way for the others fans.

When she heard about the forum, I think she even contemplated joining and probably has, we don't know but she's began adding and contacting forum members because she wants to find out more about the show and understand what it's about. She watched the episode today and approved and gave a special mention to Khushi!😆 So the interview goes well.

The whole "cult" comment wasn't cynicism or sarcastic I think it was just intrigue and shock a how big and explosive the show is, I mean it's only coming to light how many IPKKND fans there are in the UK (I mean I don't watch any other SP shows but generally it's a joke over here if you do but IPKKND broke that mould) - Arnav and Khushi have a LOT to do with that.

As for why Sanaya isn't part of it, I think it's simply because Arnav TRIGGERED the whole of it off, that person mentioned Arnav as her favourite (being a lady and all) and then fan girls came screaming in! I think all goes well, the UK IPKKKD fans could persuade Noreen for a Sanaya interview too!

So as I said above none of it mocking the forum and it's members, it's just genuine present surprise and intrigue!

I'm really happy UK IPKKND fans have all created this buzz and mayhem in excitement! It'll be great when Barun realises that their work isn't just appreciated in India but miles away over her in the UK and of course worldwide!

It's the perfect encouragement for them after SPA winning streak!😍

- Sorry if I've offended with my views, I tried to be as least bias as I could!