Thursday, August 24, 2017

There is no end to Love...

When I came to know that the show is going to be over soon, I was also sad like many of you. However as time went by, I realised that a show like "Kuch Rang Pyar Ke Aise Bhi" does not have an end at all.. It will be immortal in our mind.. and in our life. Honestly, this show could potentially go on forever..as its the story about love.. about us.. about our life.. I was able to identify myself in many situations that the story took us through. And I am sure each one of you could relate to some part of it.. at some point of time...

I have never watched a TV show in years, apart from the Mythological shows that catch my attention every once in a while. I grew up in the era of extremely good quality TV content. Shows like Nukkad, Lifeline, Tamas, Yeh jo hai zindagi are all still fresh in my mind only because of their good content. Those were the shows I saw when I was young.. And later I got busy with my life.. Eventually, when I did have time for TV and came back to sit and watch, I was shocked to see the content and gave up on Indian TV shows completely. After many years, Kuch Rang pyar ke Aise bhi was one of the non-mythological TV show I have watched from start to finish – because, I felt there was a lot of take aways for me from this show…

To summarise the 400 episodes in a short blog is impossible… But I would like to share with you some of the good lessons from this show as well as a few unique traits of it... I am going to miss this show.. But I will keep in mind these lessons, as I continue with my life. Hope you enjoy reading this last blog from us 😊

Resilience

A dear friend lost her husband about a year ago. She is a single parent, not by choice, but by fate. I have known her husband. He was an awesome dad and I often used to point out to my husband, all the wonderful things he did for his kids. Today, he is not around and the mother is struggling to give the same life to her kids, that their dad would have given them.  She was a home maker before her husband passed away. Her educational qualification only entitles her to get jobs that pay much lesser than her husband. But she did not give up.  She has taken up multiple jobs to support her kids. And also finds time to make sure her kids do not miss out on studies or recreational/afterschool enrichment activities. Her resilience is something that I am in awe of! She is one of the many millions of women in the world who are challenged by fate, but yet never ever give up. 


Resilience is something that was shown time and again in our story of Dev-Ishwari-Sona.

Ishwari struggled alone. She did not have an education to support her. nor a family that caught her back when she lost balance. But yet, she sailed in the storm alone with the responsibility of bringing 4 little kids to the shore. She faced the difficulties of life single handedly and somehow managed to turn her son into a successful young man!

Sonakshi had her parents by her side and a good education that gave her the  confidence to make things work in her favour. She was in a better position than Ishwari to face the world. But she also represents the millions of women in this world who are disadvantaged just by the mere fact of being a woman, inspite of being in par or above than her male peers. She did not even once succumb to the humiliations she had to go through. Instead, she emerged stronger and more equipped to face the world. Her resilience is something that every woman should learn from. The fact that we are a woman does not define anything. Sonakshi showed us the way to respond whenever we are treated with injustice.

Even though the story is about these two women’s strength, the uniqueness of this show was that the narration was always from the man’s angle. Dev is not a villain. He has his own justifications for all that he does. And whether anyone else accepts or not, I am always on Dev’s side. He never let go of his mom nor did he ever stop loving his wife. He always struggled to bring the balance. His resilience is also something to learn from! To see this story from a man’s angle gave us all a different perspective to the “women empowerment” that is the talk of the town today.

Responsibility

A child’s responsibility is to learn good things. That’s all. The biggest take away for me from this show is that we can still expect this from our children. A few minutes of glancing at any other TV show always gives me (and the world) a wrong impression that children can do many other things from scheming to manipulating and many things beyond my comprehension. But this show very gently reminded us not to believe other shows.. The makers have handled the children very “Responsibly” and it’s a big lesson for all other Indian TV shows.

We as adults, often slip from our responsibilities as a son/daughter, husband/wife, mother/father, brother/sister, uncle/aunt. Through this show I have realized that its very normal to fail... But whats more important is to realize our mistake and without any hesitation, accept it and take up the same role you failed before, and do it sincerely this time..

Ishwari taught us one of the biggest lessons of life. Getting out of our guilt is hard. Accepting our mistakes and taking up the same role again and correcting ourselves is even harder. From one of the best mothers, she became the worst in the face of possessiveness for her son. The damage she caused to her son is unquestionably tragic. The harm she caused to another woman is unpardonable. However, she realized her mistakes and let go of her guilt and engaged herself again in her son’s life. This was possible only because of the unwavering love and affection of Dev and Sonakshi. No show has ever explored such a loving human relationship. In today’s world of extremely high number of “saas-bahu” drama, Kuch Rang Pyar ke Aise Bhi was a welcome change and for that reason will remain in our memories forever!

Unwavering Love

If its not forever, it cannot be love. Dev-Sonakshi, Dev-Ishwari, Dev-Suhana, Dev-sisters, Dev-the Extended family – all these relationships had its ups and downs. But Dev never changed his “Love” for any of them. His equations changed when life became very difficult for him. But  the underlying love for everyone just remained the same.

In our life, we often face situations that challenge our relationships…The easier way out is to express our disappointment and hatred for the person and end our relationship with them.  It almost seems impossible to befriend a person again after our relationship with them is strained. I have often jeopardized my relationships (especially with friends) either because my expectations were different from theirs.. or simply because of my ego. After watching the different phases of Dev and how he managed to wade through all difficulties.. my perceptions have changed quite a bit. To have disagreements is inevitable. But I have started making conscious effort to not let those disagreements jeopardise the relationships that I have with the individual. This is also a very big take away for me from this show! Where is the time to hate, when there is so little time to love??

Forgiving

I still remember how I was fuming with rage when Maami ji burnt her own house and landed in the Dixit family. I had no way of stopping my anger when Ishwari took those sleeping pills and instigated the breakup of our dear DevAkshi.. And who can even forget the drama in the Dixit home after Sona married Dev. When Vicky and maami took advantage of Dev’s weakness and vulnerability and separated him from Sonakshi, I even prayed for them both to burn in hell! Everytime, something bad happened to Dev and Sona, I hoped that at some point things will come to the forefront and everyone will face the consequences of all their wrong-doings. But that grudge never was fully satisfied. Many of the fans even started questioning all this and blamed the makers for not giving justice to DevAkshi.

However, there was one episode that changed my perception about the grudge that I and the rest of the fans were building up. Some of you may have guessed which episode I am talking about… It was the one in which Dev walked up to his maami and asked for her forgiveness for not acknowledging all her support for their family and thanking her for being there for him and his mother when they needed emotional support. There is probably no TV show that made a hero out of the villain! But our show was a trendsetter! Maami, after this lost her evilness.. and became a binding force for the family..

A tamil poet “Thiruvalluvar” once said, “Do good to the sinner in such a way that he is ashamed of his own act.” After Vickey’s treacherous act came to the light, Dev did send him away. But later he also rewarded him with a gift of opportunity to succeed in life… Sonakshi was humiliated in the Dixit home beyond imagination. However, she never kept any grudge against anyone when she eventually came back. Even those who kept the grudge were only eventually proven wrong. I think that the fact that the makers never even touched some of the wrong-doings committed by the antagonists are a way of underplaying the negativity which is otherwise exaggerated in other TV shows. That way, our show set an example and gave us all a priceless lesson for life - Forgiving 😊

Happiness

Throughout the show "Happiness" got a new meaning. Amidst all the material longings of this world, we got to experience and understand what true happiness is. Forgiving is Happiness.. Love is Happiness.. Sacrifice is happiness.. And all of this was shown in a very close to reality and completely relatable situations. Every time I sit to write about this show, happiness naturally comes into me, because of the positive destination that the show ultimately takes us during every challenging situation of the story. The infinite number of videos and write-ups about the show in social media is a proof of the happiness it brought to us! In the earlier days of the show, I remember the interviews the actors had given and Shaheer mentioned that when you go to bed after watching this show, you will have a smile on your face. This was true most of the times and when we didn't have a smile, we always had the hope. And thats what life is all about, isn't it?

Women Empowerment

It is easier to show women empowerment when there is a clear suppression of them.  In the background of a dark black, its easier to show pure white. However, in real life there is no one that can be categorized as pure evil and no one that can be shown as completely sane. Most of our real life situations are based on our grey shades… And to show women empowerment in such a scenario is new to the TV industry.  And that was the reason why the fandom was divided into TeamDev and TeamSona… Its hard to say who was right and who was wrong and our lives are all pretty much like that. Everytime I read the fan comments on social media, I used to always be amazed at how the makers have shown a very close to reality situations and made the fans discuss those with so much of conviction about their point of view! Many fans brought up their own lives and compared it to the show. I myself have done that many times. Honestly, after watching the show I am able to identify situations in my life, where I can stand up more for myself… And this is real “Women empowerment”. The urban population of women is assumed to be modern and independent. However, in all our households we have women, who get themselves behind, in order to give their spouse and children the priority.. This is always not necessary.. and if only they speak up for themselves, many men might understand.. Most of our men are not full evil and can easily be made to realize where they are going wrong..  I really enjoyed watching this in our show and I am sure many women in the fandom will share the same feelings as mine!

Values

“Telling lies is wrong”, “We should always give respect to elders”, “Parents must be treated with lots of love and much respect”, “Family is the most important thing” – such basic human values have become so unimportant in today’s world in the face bigger atrocities happening around us.. Watching these morals in our show through the eyes of little children was very endearing. Like I always say, children are fragile and must be treated with utmost care. We must take tons of precautions while using them in the entertainment industry. This show has set extremely high bar in making sure that kids are not taken beyond the allowed limit. Pretty much all Indian shows should take notes from our show!

Fashion

I am not talking about the banaras kurtis.. I was not a big fan of those. However the Sonakshi that we saw in the pre-breakup track was one terrific fashionista!  Her jumkhas, her bags, kurtis didn’t just mesmerize Mr.Dixit! We were all impressed with those. When I went to India for summer vacation last year, I bought quite a few things for myself. I was a fan of many of Ishwari’s cotton sarees as well! Needless to say, Mr.Dixit always takes our breath away… The phase post-breakup was especially impressive, with the stubble beard! 

Apart from these, one of the biggest highlight was how underplayed the jewellery was! The heavy jewellery with even heavier zari work sarees is a norm in TV shows. Everyone except Gareeb ki beti broke this TV norm. It was such a welcome change !!

Bridging the Gap

We are often troubled by the generation gap in our households. Its predominantly the main reason for more and more nuclear families these days. Another unique trait of this show is the way they show the bridging of this gap. Divorce, Remarriage, Inter-community marriage, Infertility, Single parenting, working after retirement, Live-in relationships and many other social-stigmas were brought up in this show and very impressively handled. In one of the recent interviews I heard the producer say that they tried a new narration style – They took away the “story” and created situations instead and took the characters through the situations.. I think this new style definitely worked well. Sometimes, because of this style, there were loose ends. But, I am sure if given enough time, the makers would have eventually closed all those ends. Generation gap is always a topic that will be received with mixed opinions.. But the makers must be appreciated for the efforts they took in this direction!

Extra ordinary talent 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Whenever I went through the social media reviews, I was always surprised at the shower of praises for the actors and the crew of this show. Fans are always raving about the talent galore of our show!

Senior actors Supriya Pilagaonkar and Mushtaq khan enthralled us with their superior acting skills! The fact that audiences hated Ishwari (when she was not favourable for DevAkshi) is a proof of her acting skills. Mama ji entertained us with his comic timing and many times made us cry when performing in emotional scenes. 

Shaheer played a variety of roles within his character of Dev Dixit. Each one was better than the other and its hard to pick 1 best scene or role and there was not one scene, in which I can comment that he could have done better!! He always says, he became an actor by accident. But its too hard for me to believe that!! I think he is a born actor! Business tycoon, The man in love, crazy lover, Heartbroken lover, Husband who is struggling to find a balance between his wife and mom, Father of a beautiful daughter, Uncle of a naughty little boy are only few of the roles he played in this show!! He even got to show off his fighting skills, thanks to Vicky!! Romantic scenes, Emotional scenes, Comedy, Fight – Which is your favourite part of Dev? It is just impossible for me to pick!! Many thanks to the makers for giving us a character like Dev to dream about and Thank you Shaheer, for entertaining us through this show 😊

Whether it was the independent Nutritionist Dr.Bose or the woman yearning for her prince charming, Erica stole our heart. Later she inspired us as the woman who refused to give in to challenges she had to face.  The lead actors Shaheer and Erica beautifully complimented each other and created a magical world for us!

The child actors Golu and Suhana were extraordinary! It never seemed that they are inexperienced young actors. They went into the skin of the roles they were playing and amazed us almost always!

The actors that played Asha, Bijoy and Saurabh brought the spicy bengali flavor in our show and everyone of them taught us something valuable. The antagonists Vicky and Radha rani were very valuable assets of the show! The sisters completed the family. The family cooks didn't fail to impress us..especially Kichu bhaiya in the first season and dk in the second season!

The makers also did a great job choosing the temporary roles. All of those short temporary roles were performed to precision. Natasha, Ritvik, Tina, Payal, Nisha, Soha’s teacher, even Shruthi made an impression in our hearts J Who can even forget the villain Khatri!! 

Just like the cast, the crew was extra ordinary in this show. My ringtone is the song “Tu mujme mujse zyaada” 😊 I don’t think any other TV show has a original sound track like ours!! What a magic it was, when this song was first played in our show!! Even the sad “Kismat” song is something I hum.  The dialogues often gave me goosebumps! The screenplay, direction, editing were all amazingly done.

I wish the cast and crew of this show, lots of good luck. I am sure all of us will watch out for them on small and big screens 😊
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Well… I can go on and on and on and still not be content. Someone once told me that the reason for wearing a ring as a symbol of being engaged in love is – a ring has no end and so does love. Kuch Rang pyar ke Aise Bhi will remain in our heart forever 😊

Many thanks to the readers for traveling with us in this amazing journey ❤️