Hey all,
I know the forum is burning with more important issues right now and I don't think I need to give a run down of it 😆 But all the discussions have brought in some wonderful view points from both the opposing sides 👏
This topic is not necessarily about the recent events in this show, at least I am hoping it won't be. One of the arguments that I came across was that we could not accept the current track as we seek perfection or idealistic characters. If perfection was what we were seeking I guess we would be singing praises of shows like YHM, YRKKLH or the tons of Kekta shows that showcase the female lead as perfection personified. But right now Bepanah is the no. 1 forum in IF and it has been since its inception. Why is that so? The only sole reason is a minority of the audience base that exists still prefer sensible content on TV. Yes I call us a minority coz that's a fact and it would not be wrong to count ourselves in that niche category. Our forum is the most active forum amongst all and that's bcoz it has offered us plenty of room to discuss on many interesting topics - be it the concept, characterization or the many beautifully crafted moments between the leads and supporting characters too. Now when there has been an uproar in the forum in recent times, we get to see a question where it is asked that are we seeking perfection? Coz of which we can't accept flawed characters? But was that really the case?
Adi was not perfect when the show started - he behaved like an angry child whose favorite toy was snatched from him and he went about vanadalizing anything n everything that reminded him of his dead wife's betrayal. Does this make him perfect or justified? Hell NO. As audience we can empathize with him but we cannot justify his actions. We saw one extreme in him.
Then comes Zoya - a woman who has been betrayed by her husband and she has all the proof she needs to believe that she was cheated on but she chooses to be delusional. Zoya is pure at heart n she is naive but her being delusioned makes her flawed. Another extreme to counteract Adi.
Adi's vehement disapproval of this extra marital affair was met with Zoya's defiance of acknowledging it. Both are in pain, albeit a different kind. Adi's pain is driven by anger whereas Zoya's by grief. Adi taunts her, reminds her of how her cheater husband's family does not even want her near the funeral ground but she is willing to sacrifice even her self respect for a man who could not honor his vows to her? He gives her a precious advise on that day - Respect Yourself. He torments Zoya only because she is sailing in the same boat as he is but instead of sailing along she wants to jump out of it. Adi being Adi doesn't like that n he resorts to extremes to give her a reality check n when he does, he is shattered himself seeing the state she is in because he put her through it.
This was the beauty of the flawed characters for me. Not sure if you feel the same way but for me it was.
Then comes the part where it is said we only make posts to bash the female lead whereas the male lead gets away with anything n everything. I thought over this for a long time. Believe me I did. I even had a chat with a good friend of mine, Indu aka Paint.It.Black. It is kinda true. I have been in IF for 12 years now n in almost all the forums, it was the female lead who was the most criticised and most bashed. The male lead was always the object of our sympathy or ignorance. So I did ask her why is that. I wasn't this active in this forum in the initial days but I seldom saw posts bashing Adi like we are doing Zoya currently. We all accepted that Adi was wrong to treat Zoya like that but where were the posts supporting Zoya? There were certainly some posts made but I don't think the threads were this active esp as it has been the last two weeks.
My friend had an interesting answer - the reason why we bash the female lead is because since the majority of the members in the forum (no offense to the opp gender please 😊) are females, it angers us to see the female leads portrayed badly in the Indian shows. Esp in terms of inconsistency. A common pattern I noticed in all the shows I have seen so far are:
1. The female lead is meek n suffers all sort of humiliation at the hands of the male lead
2. She never utters a single word, endures all that shit when he is being a total jack***
3. When he finally turns into a prince from the monster, she suddenly feels the need to doubt his every move
4. She who had been silent all this while, is quick to jump the gun and call out the hero a bad guy
5. Give him a cold shoulder even though he is innocent at that time n break his heart time n again
Oh and by no means does Zoya fit in all of those categories, maybe some 😆 The male lead turns from being monster to a good guy which is a progressive change but the heroine goes on a downward spin n y is that?
If there are any 90's kids here, am sure you can understand my point. Back then we had shows like Saans, Hasratein that portrayed EMA in such a mature manner. Some of the shows on DD in the early 90's or late 80's were far more progressive than the crap we see today. The characters there were never justified but they were the way they were and that was the beauty of it. Why is it missing now? Why are justifications being thrusted on us? My anger does not stem from the fact that Adi n Zoya are on opposite sides but the manner in which the events are unfolding n the message it seems to be giving out. I might be wrong but this is my view.
We saw the advent of social networking taking over. Previously when story writers came up with script, they felt no pressure to live up to TRPs. They were telling a story n not selling a product. The shows were shot on a realistic budget. A middle class family was shown to be in the state a middle class family lives n not wear designer outfits n expensive imitation jewelry we see on shows today. The characters were the writer's brain child n they were already sketched during their inception which is why they stayed true to their character. It will be really hard to spot a show then that had such high inconsistency in terms of characterization or story telling. The stories were finite n the flow was set. Unlike now where things change dynamically for various factors - audience comments n views on social media, actors quitting the show n the track changing owing to that, so on n so forth. So even if the characters are crafted beautifully in their inception, they falter coz various factors compel the writers to change it. We blame the writers for poor scripting but we forget that they are paid professionals. Why will they be poor at their job? We have so many wonderful writers in our forum who write as a hobby whereas they r professionals. So why will they do a poor job? When a concept is set along with the pace, it is easy to continue with the flow but random switches do no good even for the writer coz that leaves room for loopholes. I kinda feel sorry for this mess
Being a 90's kid I belong to a different millenial n it is highly likely your thoughts on this matter will match mine too. Would love to hear what you feel about storytelling in general that u see in today's shows 😊 What is that you seek in a show? Perfection or a rational reality? Or maybe something entirely fictional that has a touch of reality?
This forum probably has the most civil fandom ever even though if they sometimes find themselves on the opposite side n I am sure this thread will not turn into a war zone but still a humble request - please feel free to disagree in a respectful manner so that others don't feel hurt. Know this is not needed but a gentle FYI 😊
Edited by BeyondHorizon - 7 years ago