Eight television shows introduce time leaps :TOI

JODHA AKBAR

The show, featuring Paridhi Sharma and Rajat Tokas in title roles, is tipped to take a leap in October. According to sources, the Salim-Anarkali (Salim was Akbar's son) track will be introduced.

BHARAT KA VEER PUTRA -MAHARANA PRATAP

The young artistes of the show -Faisal Khan and Vishal Jethwa, who play Pratap and Akbar -will make way for grown-up actors.
The generation leap, which has been in the pipeline for a long time, is slated to take place in September.

RANGRASIYA

After failing to rake in ratings, the show recently took a time leap of five years.
Sanaya Irani, who played the original lead Paro, has returned as Myrah in a modern avatar. The character will eventually fall in love with the male lead, played by Ashish Sharma. QUBOOL HAI

The show took two leaps -the first was of a couple of years and the second, a generation leap of 20 years.
Surbhi Jyoti, who plays Zoya in the show, returned as her daughter Sanam, post the leap. Karanvir Bohra plays the new male lead after Karan Grover and Raqesh Vashisth.

PAVITRA RISHTA

Post four time leaps -including a generation leap where Ankita Lokhande played her own grand-daughter -the show recently took another leap of five years. This time around, Ankita she will play mother to a five-year-old girl.

SASURAL SIMAR KA

It jumped two years forward in June.
A huge drama unfolded just before the leap with Dipika Samson -the protagonist -announcing that she is quitting the show. However, she revoked the decision.

BADE ACHHE LAGGTE HAIN

This show has also had three time leaps.

What started off as a mature love story soon started focussing on several characters. The show finally ended last month.

MADHUBALA -EK ISHQ EK NOON

The show, which went off air on Saturday , had taken a generation leap of 18 years in February . But clearly , the tactic didn't help.

What prompts TV shows to go in for time leaps? Writer Raguvir Shekhawat says, "A time leap works as an alternate therapy when the existing story is exhausted. It sometimes revives the TRPs, but may even fail. Sometimes, it's introduced whn the original story or the charactersartistes fail to gather enough eyeballs. It has to be executed in a way that your connection with viewers is not broken.
It's like seeing your spouse in a new avatar after 10 years of marriage. It's usually the last desperate attempt to save a dying patient; there's a lot of thought involved in it."