Afsar Bitiya and hereafter - Page 2

u know shiv when i watched the 1st episode of the show i was extremely surprised that they choose to start the show with her at the end of her studies. it felt rather than being made a part of the show i was a viewer and nothing more and as the days continued i thought to myself what where they planning to do get her and pintu married after a months. where is this story going are they rushing it so that they can eventually bore us to death with saas bahu crap with TT being the loudest saas i am ever going to see. but even so i have to say that i have become very attached to the show and i love it very much.

Originally posted by: sandiab

u know shiv when i watched the 1st episode of the show i was extremely surprised that they choose to start the show with her at the end of her studies. it felt rather than being made a part of the show i was a viewer and nothing more and as the days continued i thought to myself what where they planning to do get her and pintu married after a months. where is this story going are they rushing it so that they can eventually bore us to death with saas bahu crap with TT being the loudest saas i am ever going to see. but even so i have to say that i have become very attached to the show and i love it very much.

i normaly agree with everything u say but having watched a few indian shows( only zeetv and now Sp channels available in my country) i have to say that with all its flaws and i say that there are alot of them that its 100 times better than what i have seen be4. other shows the way they treat woman its heartbreaking and dispicable to watch and so i feel that all these hurdles that krishna is having actually aint that bad atleast they show us her struggling 4 a day or 2 and show her overcoming them qucikly. the rest of theses shows will show them overcoming everything 2 weeks be4 the show can end and call them great woman.

this show has probably the most beautiful dialogues i hav ever heard and the way they are building up the relationships in the show and the prishna jodi is amazing its very sweet, new yet very deep and meaningful. but as u i do wish they would concentrate on how they actually move the story forward and the steps they take to do so. i think we must never forget to do the basics in any job we have and i think here the cts are so good at the major things that they forget the minor details.

coming to Pintu i actually dnt think he is her knight and shining armour he has a desire to want to help but when she needs him he isnt there or if he tries to use his brains and help on his own he makes everything worse. the question bank papers created so much trouble 4 her and anything could have happened to her she could have been knocked by a car or those boys could hav done something dreadful to her. than when he speaks to swati to stop the wedding this makes Krishna more determined to get married. his next move, moves the engagement date forward. the only time he has actually helped her properly has been with babloo's suggestion and help. when he forced her to write her exams he was the only who i feel is strong enough to deal with her every1 else babloo and even her dad wouldnt have been able to make her write. his feeling that he has a right over her, to tell her what to do and him actually acting in that manner was correct.

now coming to the matter that has iked u and other issues as well her title track depcits her life perfectly every step she takes something is there to block her way she gets the question paper and than what happens. bt i have to say that these hurdles might not be as realistic as we want it to be but when u poor this happens evry step u take is such a struggle and when u are nearly at your goal everything from every side just pops up and and makes the last steps seem the hardest. this new 1 4 krishna is not so far fetched the way she was holding her bag any1 would have thought she had something valueable in it and to her it was. krishna will reach the interview in time and she will win in the end coz she is the sort of person who justs needs a few minutes to gather herself and calm down and she will be fine.

Before I say anything, I want to tell you that I hear you and your complaints and I totally understand that you are partly just venting about what frustrated you but there were a few points in your post that I felt I needed to answer in defense of the show so here I go!

Originally posted by: shridevigaddam

It seems to me that the creatives do not have a great story to tell in Afsar Bitiya.

I think this depends on what your definition of great is...

Instead of showing struggles of the girl on her way to dream in terms of idealogical and circumstantial oppositions faced when going to college etc, here the show started straightaway with her going for Interview of the Preliminary Exam.

Take a moment to think about this at a practical level. How much could they have really shown of Krishna's college life etc. I mean for the most part college would have been a routine and showing her struggle here would have implied more taunts from her classmates for not paying the fees, more conjured obstacles etc. To me they covered whatever they could have covered in a college setting in the coaching centre between the first interview and the mains, with the issue of fees, the question bank and the way Krishna's classmates were taunting her. Plus, if a story starts that far before the ultimate goal (which has been promised) it is really easy for the CVs to drag it to no end (I have seen this happen with another show).

It took one month for the creatives to actually let Krishna sit for Mains exam when in actual story it was scheduled a week after the Prelimn interview.

In that one month, never was there any positive moment shown, but it always how unlucky she gets, be it the question bank fiasco, be it Swati's marriage fixing and her getting pulled into inadvertently, then the girl losing focus succumbing to her mother's wishes and then finally succumbing to her father and Pintoo's wishes to write the exam. So she has a MIRACULOUS redemption from backing out on her goal of life.

Ok here I think you are being too hard on Krishna. She wasn't backing out of her dream because she was lazy or had just lost interest. She was under a huge amount of pressure from her mother and while that pressure was in the abstract she could handle it bravely but when it came down to her sister's marriage (basically life) or her studies, it seemed selfish from Krishna's perspective to want to pursue something that may or may not work out while dashing her sister's hopes at her dream, ie marriage. She wasn't 'distracted', this was an extremely valid struggle and because the path she chose seemed so logical and seemed to make the most people happy she needed some drastic force to slap her in the face (literally!) and tell her that her dreams were not selfish. Who better to do this than Pintoo who is a self-serving brat for the most part? So he forcefully took the decision out of her hands. Yes, it was a knight in shining armour moment.

But let's not forget. She passed. And that is something that nobody could have helped her with. It was the result of her continued efforts. Plus she honourably gives Pintoo his due credit when she passes. This to me makes all the difference. She knows she has been helped and doesn't at all imply that she is entitled, either by being a girl or by being poor.

Ridiculous!!!! Did anyone hear of anyone writing exams buckling under the pressure of her knight in the shining armour ? Is this really story of an Afsar Bitiya or the story of how the Afsar Bitiya was helped miraculously. Do you call this focussed and dedicated story of a determined girl or a girl who will get lucky in the last minute through the Divine Providence's wish of her being destined to be Afsar Bitiya anyways.

BOTH and BOTH! This is a very wonderful and unique genre that I happen to love in Indian movies and shows. It is real in the characters and details but just a little bit fairytale like in the way things turn out in the end. Good things happen to good people and you are left with a feel-good satisfaction by the end. I mean look at Satyam Shivam Sundaram. Did Zeenat's character need a man's love to validate her beauty as a person? In terms of reality, no, she shouldn't but it wouldn't have made half as good a story without the romance and the fact that it was essentially a fairytale didn't stop it from getting a message out about burn victims and the stigma they face. Similarly in Lagaan, we all know they are going to win the match in the end but on the journey, they are faced with all possible obstacles, only to be helped by an English lady. But audiences don't discredit the effort of the team depicted just because they got help from an English lady. Similarly, we can't discredit Krishna's efforts simply because Pintoo helped her take that last crucial step. Maybe you are not as much a fan of this genre but I love the uplifting feelings of fairytales about real people!

So then is Afsar Bitiya a fairy tale story that will end well inspite of all the problems or is there any way an epic is being written where we can see some amount of resourcefulness within the character instead of just depending on miraculous saves and divine interventions. Retrieving a stolen bag seems miracle to me!!

I would say again both, using the same justification as above and I would also argue that we have seen a lot of resourcefulness from Krishna! I mean just take the bag situation. While her dad is hitting a dead end with the police, she is appealing to the sentiments of the watchman who obviously knows the thief and gets the information she needs. Furthermore, she is brave enough to face a man with a knife, see, understand and evoke his humanity so that she can get what she wants. I can see that ability serving her well as a BDO. So yes, Krishna faces a huge amount of problems but that is because she is representative in this story of so many poor and trusting people who get taken advantage of in numerous ways. Who knows which of these incidents will hit a chord with someone who has faced the same and allow them to get invested in this story and inspired by Krishna's eventual success, inevitable as it may seem.

So basically, so far I am not disillusioned at all with this story. In fact I liked the farfetched, fairytale feel it sometimes gives, coupled with the hard-hitting details. The combination gives me a feeling that I have long come to miss in movies. I do hope I made some sense in this post as I was trying to get a lot of different ideas down all at once..

Originally posted by: sandiab

u know shiv when i watched the 1st episode of the show i was extremely surprised that they choose to start the show with her at the end of her studies. it felt rather than being made a part of the show i was a viewer and nothing more and as the days continued i thought to myself what where they planning to do get her and pintu married after a months. where is this story going are they rushing it so that they can eventually bore us to death with saas bahu crap with TT being the loudest saas i am ever going to see. but even so i have to say that i have become very attached to the show and i love it very much.

i normaly agree with everything u say but having watched a few indian shows( only zeetv and now Sp channels available in my country) i have to say that with all its flaws and i say that there are alot of them that its 100 times better than what i have seen be4. other shows the way they treat woman its heartbreaking and dispicable to watch and so i feel that all these hurdles that krishna is having actually aint that bad atleast they show us her struggling 4 a day or 2 and show her overcoming them qucikly. the rest of theses shows will show them overcoming everything 2 weeks be4 the show can end and call them great woman.

this show has probably the most beautiful dialogues i hav ever heard and the way they are building up the relationships in the show and the prishna jodi is amazing its very sweet, new yet very deep and meaningful. but as u i do wish they would concentrate on how they actually move the story forward and the steps they take to do so. i think we must never forget to do the basics in any job we have and i think here the cts are so good at the major things that they forget the minor details.

coming to Pintu i actually dnt think he is her knight and shining armour he has a desire to want to help but when she needs him he isnt there or if he tries to use his brains and help on his own he makes everything worse. the question bank papers created so much trouble 4 her and anything could have happened to her she could have been knocked by a car or those boys could hav done something dreadful to her. than when he speaks to swati to stop the wedding this makes Krishna more determined to get married. his next move, moves the engagement date forward. the only time he has actually helped her properly has been with babloo's suggestion and help. when he forced her to write her exams he was the only who i feel is strong enough to deal with her every1 else babloo and even her dad wouldnt have been able to make her write. his feeling that he has a right over her, to tell her what to do and him actually acting in that manner was correct.

now coming to the matter that has iked u and other issues as well her title track depcits her life perfectly every step she takes something is there to block her way she gets the question paper and than what happens. bt i have to say that these hurdles might not be as realistic as we want it to be but when u poor this happens evry step u take is such a struggle and when u are nearly at your goal everything from every side just pops up and and makes the last steps seem the hardest. this new 1 4 krishna is not so far fetched the way she was holding her bag any1 would have thought she had something valueable in it and to her it was. krishna will reach the interview in time and she will win in the end coz she is the sort of person who justs needs a few minutes to gather herself and calm down and she will be fine.

Originally posted by: Samanalyse

Before I say anything, I want to tell you that I hear you and your complaints and I totally understand that you are partly just venting about what frustrated you but there were a few points in your post that I felt I needed to answer in defense of the show so here I go!

Ok here I think you are being too hard on Krishna. She wasn't backing out of her dream because she was lazy or had just lost interest. She was under a huge amount of pressure from her mother and while that pressure was in the abstract she could handle it bravely but when it came down to her sister's marriage (basically life) or her studies, it seemed selfish from Krishna's perspective to want to pursue something that may or may not work out while dashing her sister's hopes at her dream, ie marriage. She wasn't 'distracted', this was an extremely valid struggle and because the path she chose seemed so logical and seemed to make the most people happy she needed some drastic force to slap her in the face (literally!) and tell her that her dreams were not selfish. Who better to do this than Pintoo who is a self-serving brat for the most part? So he forcefully took the decision out of her hands. Yes, it was a knight in shining armour moment.

But let's not forget. She passed. And that is something that nobody could have helped her with. It was the result of her continued efforts. Plus she honourably gives Pintoo his due credit when she passes. This to me makes all the difference. She knows she has been helped and doesn't at all imply that she is entitled, either by being a girl or by being poor.

So basically, so far I am not disillusioned at all with this story. In fact I liked the farfetched, fairytale feel it sometimes gives, coupled with the hard-hitting details. The combination gives me a feeling that I have long come to miss in movies. I do hope I made some sense in this post as I was trying to get a lot of different ideas down all at once..

Shridevi,

Thank you for sharing your story! It truly was wonderful to read about your journey and how you have come into your own. I understand the reality of life and why perhaps you may not be happy with the way things are shown on AB with relation to the reality you have faced.

But for me, being in that very stage of parental pressure for marriage, these shows sort of help me get through the day. And since you have shared your story, I too will share a little of mine. Around this time last year, I was really facing a lot of pressure from my parents and they were explaining everything so logically that I almost felt I should give in and start thinking about marriage seriously (even though I was only 22 at the time). It was at that time that a show with a similar essence and genre as AB sort of "saved" me. You can see my DP for details. 😉

For me, shows like this, with their strong, progressive female leads coupled with the fairytale aspect in the romance aspect act as affirmations for me that marriage is not the only think that maters. And the fact that these heroines have great love stories makes me believe that I too can have one, and if it happens, it will be all the greater for the fact that I had conviction in my own individual dreams before I became part of a "love story".

So for me, these shows don't need to reflect reality exactly. I like them for the essence of a girl struggling and achieving her dream against all kinds of improbable odds (like black cats!) and getting her prince charming, who thanks to her has a healthy respect for women and treats her as an equal.

I guess given the different things that we expect from the show, we are bound to disagree about its progress but that is when discussion gets most interesting, isn't it! 😃

Sam,

On the last note of yours, we should share a toast!! "To our Dreams and Hopes" 😊
And nothing could be apt that this one, 😉 our ZEE TV slogan.
Ummeed Se Saje Zingagi!!!!


God! I am being such a campaigner for them 🤣

Let me have a good laugh when we are agreeing to each other views.
And let's continue to hear each other out in agreement, disagreement and let's just have fun and forget everything. 😊

So now you know in what age category I am in. Last night I told my younger brother that I got hooked to IF and writing posts. He was laughing so mad at me and said that "main paagal ho gayi'. So I said yes. Sometimes being crazy is just fun. I like fun!!!!

Originally posted by: AngelDark

This stolen bag story line is a bit silly, but it could happen. CV's should not drag the show with silly story lines.

Krishna should come to the interview center and talk to the issuer of interview cards and get a copy of the card after paying the fine for losing it. Is it not how these things work? I lost one of my certificates and I got a copy of it after paying a fine but it took almost 5 days.
Maybe Babloo sir can help speed up the process.

I feel the same that Creatives are bit short-sighted with the story lines.

I trust the CV's will know how to get out of a tight corner if they write themselves into a corner. I feel that good cinema needs to show things on screen. They can't always just show internal conflict because it is not something physical. The kind of scenes like Krishna fighting inside her head with her mother and father and sister would soon turn out repetitious. Therefore protagonists needs to have antagonists who take out turns plotting and trying to harm the protagonist in some way. The protagonist becomes emboldened and rise above the situation because of it.
And here are two of my favorite quotes.

A good film is when the price of the dinner, the theatre admission and the babysitter were worth it.
Alfred Hitchcock

Amen to that Shridevi!

😆 You remind me of myself when I first joined the forum last year. I was so surprised at how addictive it got and fast! But the truth is, I love discussing these shows and characters, highs, lows, strengths, flaws. and all and people in real life make fun of me for getting so involved. At first I used to hide the fact that I discussed on a forum about supposedly "time pass" daily soaps but then slowly I realised that the discussions I have are legitimate and if nobody in real life wants to validate them, well who cares? And that his how I became an unabashed, "pagal" IF addict.

Of course the same people who make fun of me for all this discussion seem to have no complaints when I have all the latest news about their favourite celebrities. 😉

@Angel: I totally agree with your assessment of the need for antagonists in the show, demons outside Krishna's head, that is. And I loved the two quotes! The first one is describing what we in India call "paisa vasool" and the second one is exactly what I love about these shows! Either the dull bits or cut out or the dullness is romanticised until it is unrecognisable. 😃

Originally posted by: AngelDark

I trust the CV's will know how to get out of a tight corner if they write themselves into a corner. I feel that good cinema needs to show things on screen. They can't always just show internal conflict because it is not something physical. The kind of scenes like Krishna fighting inside her head with her mother and father and sister would soon turn out repetitious. Therefore protagonists needs to have antagonists who take out turns plotting and trying to harm the protagonist in some way. The protagonist becomes emboldened and rise above the situation because of it.
And here are two of my favorite quotes.

A good film is when the price of the dinner, the theatre admission and the babysitter were worth it.
Alfred Hitchcock

Drama is life with the dull bits cut out.
Alfred Hitchcock

PS: @ Sam and Shridevi enjoyed reading what you wrote about your life and I empathize with you guys.