'Qubool Hai': Yet to reveal real plot

Oops! Zoya-Asad lost second chance to marry, thanks to wily Tanveer! Such worn-out twists and turns are spoiling "Qubool Hai", otherwise an entertaining show. But its writer-director-producer Gul Khan doesn't think so, as she has her finger on audiences' pulse and adds that real twist is yet to come.

First Tanveer's manipulation stopped Asad, played by Karan Singh Grover, from reaching the venue to marry Zoya (Purbi Jyoti), and Zoya is so heartbroken that she runs away to Ajmer to nurse her wounds.

Guilty and concerned, Asad tracks her down and the two reunite in Ajmer.

To make an impact, the show's writer-director-producer Gul Khan took the pain of travelling to Jaipur, Ajmer and Pushkar to shoot at real locations, including the areas around Sufi shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer, in scorching heat with the lead actors, and it paid off well with TRPs soaring.

Now, when the two sorted out misunderstandings between them and agreed again to marry, Tanveer, played by Amrapali Gupta with aplomb, struck back with another devious plan and succeeded in stopping the wedding once more.

Why Asad, an astute businessman, remains naive towards his deceitful childhood friend Tanveer's tricks?

Pat came reply from Khan: "Because I want him to be like this."

Tell her that such melodramatic turn of events have become common on the small screen, and she dismisses it saying: "It's rating well. We are catering to masses who do not identify with high-class realism. They need to see high-voltage drama and emotions."

"If the ratings are not coming, you have to shut the show," she added matter-of-factly.

She revealed that soon Tanveer will be exposed and they will show reason behind her bad behaviour. She added that "Qubool Hai", which has completed about 190 episodes on Zee TV, is essentially not about love.

"The real story will begin after 200 episodes. Right now we are just setting up. The real story is not about Asad-Zoya, it is about the clash between the two brothers - and we are soon going to show that," she said and added that the show will have a long run on the small screen and the real concept will open up soon.

Set in Bhopal, the show, beamed on Zee TV, highlights two different sensibilities and schools of thought through two families.

If Asad's family is modern and educated, his dad Rashid (Vaquar Shaikh), who abandoned his mom Dilshad (Shalini Kapoor Sagar) many years ago, to marry Shireen (Shabnam Sayed), lives with his in-laws who are conservative and orthodox.

Khan, who produced "Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon" and ongoing series "Arjun" under the 4 Lions Films, is from Jabalpur, a small town in Madhya Pradesh, and lived in a joint family, therefore, she was keen to tell this kind of story.

"It is very natural for me to tell the story. I wanted to capture a family where 'sage-sautele hote hain'. Children are close to each other, but elders are bickerish."

She has brought her real life experiences through two families.

"In every family you have relatives who have studied abroad and have modern thinking and there are people who have lived in small town and are conservative," she said.

Khan says that the female lead Zoya is her own reflection.

"Actually she is completely me - a girl caught between traditional values and modernity and trying to find a balance," said Khan and added that as far as Asad's character is concerned, she had seen guys like Asad around her.

"I have met guys who are well-to-do, educated but at the same time when it comes to their women, they are conservative...," she added.