AA, the MB powers-that-be announced two things that two sections of the viewers now especially want to see in the series - 'a dark love story' and 'Madhu becoming a filmstar'.
And they would each like to see what they were promised at the earliest. Which is eminently understandable.
The MB CVs have only themselves to blame for the fact that their fine hard work in characterizing the lead pairing is not getting the undivided attention that is its due.
They were idiotic enough to prioritize suspense, and almost took the serial into fatal convulsions thereby.
First the serial was supposed to be named 'Shikhar' (peak/pinnacle), but they scrapped that as too revealing.
Then they opted for 'Kathputli' (puppet), and decided against that for the same reason.
Then they picked 'Madhubala' and almost ended up in litigation because actual people associated with the real filmstar Madhubala thought the series was going to be about her.
Having erred with the title through desire to keep the story too much under wraps, they then blundered again after the fantastic beginning - when the story really needed to hit its stride.
They pretended that their own promos of RK moulding Madhubala into a star had slipped out of mind.
RK was introduced not soon enough after the adult Madhu's entry, and even after he was introduced, a huge amount of focus was placed on the Mukund track.
There were people who started to ship the Madhu-Mukund pairing under the impression that RK was going to be the villain. That was how messed up the presentation was getting.
And recent news items reveal that even the actor playing Mukund ended up with that hopeful impression.
One of the cable networks finally stopped playing along with the 'red herring' express, and changed the series-synopsis for MB, removing the word 'tragic'.
Saurabh Tiwari recently admitted that things got so bad that the series faced the possibility of being wrapped up.
They had to change the track they were heading for so meanderingly - of making Madhu a heroine (presumably through RK in the Pygmalion-Galatea mould as shown in the pre-series promos) and then having her and RK fall in love.
Instead, they had to switch tracks to the fast-lane and opt for the guaranteed lifesaver of having Madhu and RK getting married and falling in love first, and then Madhu becoming a filmstar, presumably under her husband's aegis bus almost assuredly for his sake if the scene of the defunct 'Sitara Studios' is to hold.
The current pace and track is going beautifully. If the CVs stick with the story that was shown in the promos, it will be a dark love story *and* Madhu will become a filmstar, but all at the right pace rather than in haste. Just hope they stick with the pace they have going now.
They went slow enough with the Madhu-Mukund track which was just supposed to be a means to have her and RK clash and meet that the series almost came to a halt.
This time, let them stick with the proper pace for the track as it now is. Lord, I do hope so.
The Pygmalion-Galatea story tends to work in every incarnation so long as it is skilfully adapted. It worked as George Bernard Shaw's pragmatic play, and it also worked as the romantic 'My Fair Lady' film.
'Madhubala: Ek Ishq Ek Junoon' should turn out fantastically so long as the focus stays on the leads.
The lead pairing are outstandingly talented actors, get along well with each other *and* have mindblowing chemistry.😳
Please, God, let the CVs capitalize on that as the fabulous bonanza it is⭐️, and not go cavorting on any other Mukund-style experiments.
And really hope that at least now the CVs stop trying for suspense. That red-herring diet is likely to give the series a case of food-poisoning of indeterminate gravity if it keeps leading entire sections of the viewership up different garden paths.