GONE BUT STILL HAUNTED

 Ghum Hai Kisikey Pyaar Meiin has ended in possibly the worst ITV ending ever, but we are still haunted by our memories of Season 1.

Everywhere I look, people are reminiscing about the show. Videos, tweets, Instagram posts, YouTube, Facebook - basically everywhere.

And as you rewatch memorable scenes again and again, what just struck me, was PorkRat were married for longer than SaiRat & despite the show ending, it hurt to think of it.

Not even Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon hurt this much when it ended abruptly. 

Now I feel it will take a really special show for the Ghum viewers to get over the hurt we feel of a superb jodi destroyed mercilessly due to bias and off screen politics & manipulations. 

I hope and wish no one watches a Cockrow Shaika production ever again. Don’t knowingly bang your head on a concrete wall! 

Hamara Kya Kasoor Tha??

 Ghum Hai Kisikey Pyaar Meiin, isn’t in Top 2 for content, it is where it is due to the constant attempts to emphasise its INFAMY!

Supposedly & apparently, ITV shows are made for viewers. But not Ghum. This show was made for a real couple and storyline & tracks adapted only to suit them.

Hamara kya kasoor tha??

We the audience was blindly loyal & ever ever ever so hopeful, start to finish. Hope of justice being served, villains being punished and the jodi being kept together. Unfortunately, we backed the worst horse!

For the channel and the producers, we just did NOT matter. Trends, emails,DMs…nothing worked. What the couple wanted always prevailed. It isn’t every day that a couple can openly say on camera “Show mere liye banna hai”!

Now as the current generation rolls to its final halt, we STILL aren’t getting the jodi of the show together! The 2 3/4th years devoted to the show has basically been wasted. Even then, we pray for a happy ending….which we know we won’t get.

So, let this be a lesson to you all: 

1) Don’t watch a show with a real couple in it

2) Don’t watch a show where neither the channel,writers or producers care a hoot for you!

3) Stay as far as you can from a show that has Vankar, Cockroach Shark & Starplus as a combo!

ACHA SILLA DIYA HAMARE PYAAR KA!

Abla Naari And Indian “Entertainment” Channels.

 It’s 2022, the world has changed and modernised in so many ways. But ITV (Indian TV) channels still live in some bygone era.

Take your remote and channel surf across Indian channels. 

Tell me what you see, as a set pattern? 

Misogyny & Patriarchy. Of course with unheard of festival celebrations every 4th day!

95% of Indian shows start with a bubbly feisty poor girl/woman who stands up for others, puts smiles on everyone’s face and makes you love her because she is independent & muhhfatt. The rich guy ill treats her for months on end and boom,lo & behold they somehow get married. 

And then you see what Indian channels love to show. The subjugation of that feisty woman, the constant taanas of in-laws, the permanently present third wheel, who the hero himself brings home - an ex, a 2nd wife or like in Ghum Hai Kisikey Pyaar Meiin, his ex is his bhabhi and he has a spare bhabhi in a “Safe” house.

With the pattern so often replicated, one wonders if the powers that be, TELL the channels to keep this theme. So that women know whatever they do,they will always remain chattels. 

And the tragedy? There are women-mothers,mother in laws,neighbours, fans who will always sing the “pati is parmeshwar” song! And as long as women themselves remain their own worst enemies, misogyny and patriarchy will always remain.

World might change, but Indian channels’ content never will. Which by the way are mostly run by men….

Enjoy this song as a parting note.

The Excruciating Misery Of Having A Brain & Watching Ghum Hai Kisikey Pyaar Meiin & Starplus

 What is the hallmark of a show to run, in any language, right across the world?

It’s cast.

What is the hallmark of a show in the “romance” genre?

The chemistry between the lead couple.

So there I was, scrolling down the list of cast members and thinking, really looks good, so let’s give it a try. And as millions can attest with me, it was the role of Sai Joshi played by Ayesha Singh that made an instant connect. And true to my usual method, I decided to get involved in the fandom.

The story is right up Starplus’ alley as it drips in patriarchy and misogyny. 

The show is a remake and believe you me, the Hindi version is by far the worst adaptation because it purely copy pastes. 

 A story where a man is a vaada man, liberally doling out vaadas like they are 50 paisa sweets. The issue with him is the vaadas always involve bhabhis aka technically his sisters-in-law or friend’s wife. But due to the chemistry between the leads, I trod on.

But soon even that got wilfully murdered. It is tough to have a brain and keep watching the male lead keep taking actions for which his wife always pays a heavy price. And despite the vast majority of audience,both online and many offline as well, HATING this theme and track, the producers and channel are making no effort to end nor stop the copy pasting.

As a writer myself, I personally find copy pasting the laziest way out for any writer. See any of the other remakes of this show,also simultaneously running in other languages, and they have ALL written fresh material and content. Their focus isn’t on the incestuous aspect but on the story of the leads. 

A channel and production houses run shows for an audience but in this case, both are deaf to feedback. 

But arrogance always comes before a fall and good times with regards to TRP will end one day. Then even if they decide to listen to the audience, the audience would have carried their brains to another show and a responsive maker.

As I Gazed At The Distant Greens....

As I gazed at the distant greens

Wondering how did we get here?

The world has changed in nigh 3 months and 

All around is only fear.

Fear of death above all else.

But why death when 95% recover,safe and clear?

Because weakened is as my system is,

It probably won’t win this battle clear.

What more can I do while looking out at the green,

Is pray that covid would heal hatred amongst people, please God dear!

So all that stocking up your larders will not help,

If the stakes are stacked against you and your near and dear.

Life in The Chronic Pain Lane

Chronic pain.

What exactly is chronic pain?

It is living your life in near constant pain, 24/7, 365 days a year.

There are good days. Good days meaning, the pain is bearable and you can live a semblance of a normal life.

And then there are bad days. Where the 1-10 scale of the pain score, probably reads at a 20/10. When all you can do, is wait the pain out the best one can.

There is an entire category of illness called the invisible illnesses, called thus, because the sufferer may look perfectly normal to the untamed eye, but the person is in excruciating pain and discomfort.

And no, such illnesses aren’t limited to old people. There are plenty of young people, even from their early teens, suffering from such illnesses.

The medicines to treat them, come at huge cost in some cases, and with an entire truckload of side effects.

There is just too much to be written and said about chronic illnesses. If this post even makes you look up the definition and plethora of illnesses in that basket, my aim to educate more people about chronic invisible illnesses would have borne some fruit.

I haven’t written in close to 3 YEARS, so if I sound kinda boring, I do apologise.

Painfully signing off now.

CREATIVITY JUST FLEW AWAY!

There was a time when many of us watched Indian / Desi serials ardently.

Oh, that doesn't mean people don't watch today. It just means now most of the viewers are just creatures of habit. What else would explain the sustained viewership ratings?

Creativity no longer exists. Every show is a carbon copy of the other or rehash of another serial by the same producer.

All serials on their launch day proclaim like the Maggi Chilli Sauce ad - "It's different" but within weeks, they are exactly the same as the other 2 you watched before this one.

Almost all have one villain haunting the show start to end. Plots are exactly the same. If one starts with a rain dance, you can be sure, the remaining will follow suit within the next couple of weeks. And the latest is adding the supernatural and the bizarre. Black magic is such an over used themed, that there are priests / actors who excel in the role and seem to be "haunting" every show.

I wish channels had the guts to look at producing quality products rather than trying to hit 7 years of non stop telecast.

One show that outdoes the gestation period of even elephants is Kumkum Bhagya. The illegitimate bun (child) being used as a bargaining chip has been in the oven for well over a year. Still uncooked. Thank god at least in this serial, the pregnancy became "visible" in the 7th month.....unlike others where one thinks the expectant Mother is probably going to lay an egg, the size of a hen's!

The show has severe paucity of creativity wherein in full 2 years, only one villain reigns supreme and the heroine fails on a daily basis at exposing her. As for the hero, he is a disgrace to the very word. A more spineless character has yet to be written. Grown up in terms of height, but the brains are stuck somewhere in the pre-KG stage. Tom and Jerry scenes and an eyelock a week, amazingly has kept the TRPs going. Though it truly defies the logic of any sensible human being.

It's sad that this flawed ratings method has perpetuated the need for dragging shows endlessly for years rather than introduce seasons. And sadder that the shows trying to buck that trend ,don't get the TRPs. Unless it's about a snake........

Meanwhile, do watch Indian television reach an all time new low......where the heroine is reduced to a fly!!!

Sit back and watch.....while creativity literally flies away!