Rambling of the mind converted in words by pen
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Pavitra Bhagya – A Flopped Show or A Missed Opportunity
A day that started as any normal day or should I say as the new normal of 2020 ended up becoming a black day for the PB’s viewers. The count of viewers, I daresay as it seems the channel and production house knows it all too well for us to repeat and make any difference because they based their decision on it. A decision which left the fans in limbo, how many is still an open question at least according to the viewers. They used, which algorithm is something I am very curious, and at the same time wary to know, about.
For, based on it, a 3-month old show was declared a flop and was asked to shut the shop down almost overnight without giving them the chance to come to a logical conclusion and left us, the viewers, with loose ends. I would like to play the devil’s advocate over here and say Production House and Channel had their choice cut out for them, as how can they allow a show, to be on-air which doesn’t show high rating after all that is why they produce and telecast the shows, to earn profit. After all that is their endgame and to say otherwise would be an insult to everyone involved be it the production house,the channel, the cast and crew or the viewers. It always better to call it as we see it, the production house and channel did support otherwise the show would not have seen the light of the day for those 3 months also but was that support sufficient is a different question altogether which we will try to unpack once I stop being their’s advocate, attorney- client privileges one would say. Let me know if my statement is incorrect in any form, as the PB viewers are impatiently waiting for a response from the production house and channel since our black day. Anyways, if and only if we render ourselves useful to them will we hear from them. Till that time pin-drop silence is all we will get, which is fine for now but before we proceed any further let’s take a trip down the memory lane to the beginning of the PB.
It started with pomp and show, like most of the ITV shows,but what intrigued the most was the promo and the tagline ‘Dil se jo ho chuke hai judaa, kaise judenge who bhagya se’. Someone, on seeing it would really wonder, how the three people so different worlds would end up being a family. It was what made me and others, watch the first episode but without no expectation to follow it as ITV shows are stereotypically the same, you know same wine different bottle concept. So my expectation was all time low and decided to follow the show till the time it was logical, which usually is first 50 episodes when the original story ends.
At that point of time, I wasn’t aware about the Palki Malhotra and her body of works, as I am not an avid fan of ITV Shows, since I am from the generation who saw the start of ‘Kyuki’ and its after-effects on the TV industry where gems like Dekh Bhai Dekh, Hum Paanch, even Saas, Shakti were replaced by series of shows with almost same concept and execution, which people watch till date, thus usually prefer a web-series over ITV Show for good content.
So you can imagine my surprise, when Pravitra Bhagya proved me so wrong and showed running solely on story, good acting and direction is possible without the usual gimmicks, though one did get the feeling that was being included in the small ways maybe due to the pressure of getting more audience but at the same time one also get it that creators trying their best to show the story with as much aesthetically as possible for them. Because it was a story that need to be told, something which has social relevance, a story about an unwed mother and her love of her child and extent she had to go for it. Kudos to Palki and the team for showing the story with such love and care.
The last Balaji production I watched was ‘Bade ache lagte hai’ on Sony and still remember the initial episodes and promos, so refreshing it was to see a simple love story where Priya recording Ram’s snoring in a video as proof and have lost the number of times I have seen people do it in real life. It showed to people that age is just a number and people can find love at any age if open for it. That was the point I realized the true importance of good shows thereby the repercussions of a bad one. When I started watched PB, it gave me the same vibe that it is something which tells a relevant story in a format that appeals to the younger lot thus in its fan base, if I may say so, there are mostly people under the age of 35 on an average.
Another reason for it is the fact that, for the generations before us, the concept of unwed mother is something of a taboo as talking about our periods, even more. For them, Pranati’s mom did the right thing to force Jugnu to live a life of orphan even when both her parents are there. Such children are of bad blood and all, she didn’t even bother to go back and checkup on her, if she was being treated well. Thereby making the story of social importance, because it helped people open up and talk about taboo topics like I remember having a healthy discussion about it with my mom, making us understand each other better even if not on the same page. And I believe most of the viewers had that question and discussion with their mom about it, what went wrong, how to handle it. Many would say Rey’s stand was correct as they were too young to handle parenthood. Thus, making us talk about it and before anyone says that it is was promoting child out of wedlock concept thus should not be shown, its actually the reverse, it showed the repercussions and made people aware about their actions and their consequences.
Another thing which makes PB unique, was the fact that they showed repercussions not just for the girl but also on the boy. Someone who just want to enjoy his life without any responsibility was made to face the consequence of his actions. It was the most important thing, especially since time immemorial it has been said that the girl has to be the one cautious as they only have to bear the after-effects lifelong and that only her life is destroyed. ‘Ladko ka kya hai maza karke nikal lenge’ as much as I hate writing this line, it was told to me by someone very close to me which is shocking, but the sad truth. Such thinking is deeply rooted in our society, I was very appreciative of Colors and Ekta to have gotten such a show on-air and also the creatives to stay true to the subject as much as they can.
This is the reason, it is so saddening to see such a strong storyline and team with so much potential going waste due to number game and the shows with no social relevance are topping the charts. If there was more support to the team who was working day and night in such challenging time also, maybe the situation would have been different. As then that potential could have been capitalized to get the needed numbers, since the show was just setting up its roots, after all it was 3-months old in true sense and just started garnering love and adulation required. To have 9.2 IMDB rating with 95% liking is no joke for a ITV show. I, personally, don’t remember seeing such high number for any ITV shows till now including the old ones. Even with current standing at 8.9, still tops that charts in case of ITV show list, by a huge margin as the next highest is, if I remember correctly, at 7.6. It makes me wonder the aim of ITV shows, because good content seems to be far down in the list it seems, which unexpected from the people who heading the industry, as they have the responsibility to lead the industry in correct manner. It is not a piece of cake to be at the top and remain at the top, so kudos for being able to do so for so many years now but at the same time making it even more imperative to be a good leader.
I know for you it is a flopped show and not worth investing time, energy and money in but from where I am seeing it is a missed opportunity which the channel and production house should have used in correct fashion. I don’t say this from a viewer stand point as then my note would be more on emotional connect we had it the show, but as a person who can has seen the evolution of the ITV for past 20 years minimum, PB was, is and will always be a story worth telling, it’s up to you to decide if you want to let this opportunity go or make use of it. You both have been known, for the latter,also you both betted on it, and trust us, it wasn’t a losing bet just was pulled out too soon from the market to give any dividend. Imagine in such short time, it got so much love, even when it was riddled with so many problems like no fixed timing, no promos, had those issues not been there it was would have done even better and maybe even gotten the result desired.
I am closing this note on the hope that my words resonate with you and we see PB back in action soon, but one thing is for sure it resonates with each and every PB viewer who has been waiting for your response with bated breath.
Regards
PB Viewer On SM for PB.
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