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Retaliating Fans - Boon or A Bane?
Indian Television has given its viewers a handful of "Larger than Life" characters. A single word that can describe these characters is "Perfect". They are Perfect Husbands/Wives, Sons/Daughters, Brothers/Sisters with no flaws at all. Among the current ongoing shows some of the male lead characters who can be mentioned in
this context of being 'Perfect' are, Viren Wadhera (Karan Tacker), Arnav Singh Raizada (Barun Sobti), Suraj Rathi (Anas Rashid), Virat Wadhera (Kushal Tandon), Yash Scindia (Gurmeet Choudhary), Arjun Kirloskar (Rithvik Dhanjani) and among the female leads Khushi (Sanaya Irani), Jeevika (Krystle Dsouza), Maanvi (Nia Sharma), Akshara (Hina Khan), Indira Sharma (Rati Pandey), Purvi Deshmukh (Asha Negi), Anandi (Pratyusha Banerjee) and many others can be added to the list & the list can be never ending. People not only watch these characters but also start living them. It is absolutely normal to adore them and fall in love with them. You just can't help it, these 'Perfect' characters charm you & make you live, eat, breathe, talk, think about them day-in & day-out. But sometimes this immense attachment of the viewers with the characters turns out to be so very problematic & uncomfortable for the actor who is playing the particular character & it becomes difficult to cope with it.
Today's viewers are passionate about their favorite shows and characters. And this is something which is making tasks difficult for the Production houses and the channels as well. Sudden script changes, replacement of actors or character destructions are something which faces loads of dramatic protests from the loyal regular viewers.
Huge number of fans started filing petitions for shows like Geet Hui Sabse Parayi and Pyar Ki Yeh Ek Kahani when the channel Star One decided to go in for a complete revamping which resulted in the shows going off-air. Recently, even fans of Bade Ache Lagte Hain mailed and overflowed the twitter account of the channel's creative head against the upcoming leap & separation of the leads in the show.
The very recent "Gopi bahu" disaster is no less. Gia Manek's fans went to the extent of starting a campaign against the channel's aggressive decision to boycott the show at 7pm slot. A petition with 7000 signatures is also in the process demanding Gia's comeback in the show.
And then the new sensation of Indian Television, Mr. Barun Sobti also faced the wrath of his own fans. His decision to take a 40 day leave from his serial in order to pursue his dream in Bollywood sparked new rumors about his leaving the hit show Is pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon? The reactions from a set of his fans were of strong displeasure, instantly rebellious, alleging him of being ungrateful to the show and the character which made him what he is today. He along with both the production houses (4 Lions Films & Madmidass Films) were bashed left, right and centre by some of the so called "Loyal Fans" of the show. His Co-Actor Abhaas Mehta along with even Mr. Sobti's wife had to deactivate their Facebook accounts because of the constant oceanic queries from the fans. At the end when Mr. Sobti clarified about his very much being in the show in a recorded video interview, he was again criticized by his own fans immensely by saying that He is unable to "Talk Properly" in the media. These traits among the fans give rise to various questions. These huge fan following are for the actors or only for the characters??? Do the fans really care about the actor playing the character or their attachment with the character is so much that the actor's priorities are no more important to them? Barun Sobti's fan following is huge and there's no doubt in that but will these fans remain with him without the backing of the "Epic ASR"??? We will get to see that within a few years.
Another major example would be Mr. Vivian Dsena. His sudden announcement of being in a relationship with his would be wife Vahbiz Dorabjee was unacceptable to his fans. The couple was whacked with heated comments from their infuriated viewers. Miss Dorabjee's Facebook wall became a "Censored Page" overnight. Even Vivian's decision to get married at such an early age was criticized heavily. Now again the question arises will these fans and their choices determine an actor's personal decisions too???
Another real life couple who faced criticism from the fans, who became a target as they are husband & wife, were Gurmeet Choudhary & Debina Bonnerjee. A set of fans of the show 'Geet Hui Sabse Parayi', wanted to see the on-screen reel couple, 'Maan-Geet' also referred to as 'Maneet' to be a couple off-screen too. A certain set of fans were hoping that Gurmeet & Drashti Dhami (Geet) become a real life couple too & this lead to heavy bashing of Gurmeet & especially of his wife Debina. Why can't the audience seem to understand that Gurmeet & Drashti are not Maan & Geet in real, what they play in the show are just supposed to the 'Fictional Characters'?
But then again immense fan following has proved to be a boon for some actors as well. Rati Pandey's exit from the show "Miley Jab Hum Tum" faced a huge protest from the fans which eventually forced the channel to bring her back into the show after 2 months of her disappearance.
Mr. Rajeev Khandelwal also left two of his most loved serials merely on the ground of creative dissatisfaction. His characters were loved and adored by people. He was in a rift with his Production House "Balaji telefilms" and also with the top GEC "Star Plus" but it was evident that his fans stood by him and made sure that he remained at the top of the charts & his popularity remained intact inspite of being suppressed by the two giant establishments of the industry. Three years later he made a successful transition from television to movies with "The Best Actor Award", ITA, 2007. His fan following still is as strong as before which can set an example for others. Mr. Rajeev Khandelwal's fans have stood by his side through thick & thin & his fan following is surely a boon for him.
Very recently, the navya fans too are trying very hard to retain their show. They are flooding the channel and the production house with mails and requests to keep their show on-air. Their efforts are making news all over the web-portals and we wish them all the success for their "Save Navya Mission". Also to mention about the Chadragupta Maurya Fans (NDTV Imagine), who are also making attempts to get the show back on Sony Entertainment Television.
Why does the audience at times end up mixing the real & reel life of actors? Will the audience ever learn to keep the Reel character out of the actors' Real life? Only time would tell this & as long as actors' reel & real life are kept as two separate entities, life would become far easier for both the audience & the actors.
Indian Television has given its viewers a handful of "Larger than Life" characters. A single word that can describe these characters is "Perfect". They are Perfect Husbands/Wives, Sons/Daughters, Brothers/Sisters with no flaws at all. Among the current ongoing shows some of the male lead characters who can be mentioned in
this context of being 'Perfect' are, Viren Wadhera (Karan Tacker), Arnav Singh Raizada (Barun Sobti), Suraj Rathi (Anas Rashid), Virat Wadhera (Kushal Tandon), Yash Scindia (Gurmeet Choudhary), Arjun Kirloskar (Rithvik Dhanjani) and among the female leads Khushi (Sanaya Irani), Jeevika (Krystle Dsouza), Maanvi (Nia Sharma), Akshara (Hina Khan), Indira Sharma (Rati Pandey), Purvi Deshmukh (Asha Negi), Anandi (Pratyusha Banerjee) and many others can be added to the list & the list can be never ending. People not only watch these characters but also start living them. It is absolutely normal to adore them and fall in love with them. You just can't help it, these 'Perfect' characters charm you & make you live, eat, breathe, talk, think about them day-in & day-out. But sometimes this immense attachment of the viewers with the characters turns out to be so very problematic & uncomfortable for the actor who is playing the particular character & it becomes difficult to cope with it.
Today's viewers are passionate about their favorite shows and characters. And this is something which is making tasks difficult for the Production houses and the channels as well. Sudden script changes, replacement of actors or character destructions are something which faces loads of dramatic protests from the loyal regular viewers.
Huge number of fans started filing petitions for shows like Geet Hui Sabse Parayi and Pyar Ki Yeh Ek Kahani when the channel Star One decided to go in for a complete revamping which resulted in the shows going off-air. Recently, even fans of Bade Ache Lagte Hain mailed and overflowed the twitter account of the channel's creative head against the upcoming leap & separation of the leads in the show.
The very recent "Gopi bahu" disaster is no less. Gia Manek's fans went to the extent of starting a campaign against the channel's aggressive decision to boycott the show at 7pm slot. A petition with 7000 signatures is also in the process demanding Gia's comeback in the show.
And then the new sensation of Indian Television, Mr. Barun Sobti also faced the wrath of his own fans. His decision to take a 40 day leave from his serial in order to pursue his dream in Bollywood sparked new rumors about his leaving the hit show Is pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon? The reactions from a set of his fans were of strong displeasure, instantly rebellious, alleging him of being ungrateful to the show and the character which made him what he is today. He along with both the production houses (4 Lions Films & Madmidass Films) were bashed left, right and centre by some of the so called "Loyal Fans" of the show. His Co-Actor Abhaas Mehta along with even Mr. Sobti's wife had to deactivate their Facebook accounts because of the constant oceanic queries from the fans. At the end when Mr. Sobti clarified about his very much being in the show in a recorded video interview, he was again criticized by his own fans immensely by saying that He is unable to "Talk Properly" in the media. These traits among the fans give rise to various questions. These huge fan following are for the actors or only for the characters??? Do the fans really care about the actor playing the character or their attachment with the character is so much that the actor's priorities are no more important to them? Barun Sobti's fan following is huge and there's no doubt in that but will these fans remain with him without the backing of the "Epic ASR"??? We will get to see that within a few years.
Another major example would be Mr. Vivian Dsena. His sudden announcement of being in a relationship with his would be wife Vahbiz Dorabjee was unacceptable to his fans. The couple was whacked with heated comments from their infuriated viewers. Miss Dorabjee's Facebook wall became a "Censored Page" overnight. Even Vivian's decision to get married at such an early age was criticized heavily. Now again the question arises will these fans and their choices determine an actor's personal decisions too???
Another real life couple who faced criticism from the fans, who became a target as they are husband & wife, were Gurmeet Choudhary & Debina Bonnerjee. A set of fans of the show 'Geet Hui Sabse Parayi', wanted to see the on-screen reel couple, 'Maan-Geet' also referred to as 'Maneet' to be a couple off-screen too. A certain set of fans were hoping that Gurmeet & Drashti Dhami (Geet) become a real life couple too & this lead to heavy bashing of Gurmeet & especially of his wife Debina. Why can't the audience seem to understand that Gurmeet & Drashti are not Maan & Geet in real, what they play in the show are just supposed to the 'Fictional Characters'?
But then again immense fan following has proved to be a boon for some actors as well. Rati Pandey's exit from the show "Miley Jab Hum Tum" faced a huge protest from the fans which eventually forced the channel to bring her back into the show after 2 months of her disappearance.
Mr. Rajeev Khandelwal also left two of his most loved serials merely on the ground of creative dissatisfaction. His characters were loved and adored by people. He was in a rift with his Production House "Balaji telefilms" and also with the top GEC "Star Plus" but it was evident that his fans stood by him and made sure that he remained at the top of the charts & his popularity remained intact inspite of being suppressed by the two giant establishments of the industry. Three years later he made a successful transition from television to movies with "The Best Actor Award", ITA, 2007. His fan following still is as strong as before which can set an example for others. Mr. Rajeev Khandelwal's fans have stood by his side through thick & thin & his fan following is surely a boon for him.
Very recently, the navya fans too are trying very hard to retain their show. They are flooding the channel and the production house with mails and requests to keep their show on-air. Their efforts are making news all over the web-portals and we wish them all the success for their "Save Navya Mission". Also to mention about the Chadragupta Maurya Fans (NDTV Imagine), who are also making attempts to get the show back on Sony Entertainment Television.
Why does the audience at times end up mixing the real & reel life of actors? Will the audience ever learn to keep the Reel character out of the actors' Real life? Only time would tell this & as long as actors' reel & real life are kept as two separate entities, life would become far easier for both the audience & the actors.
Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad
