#shaon watches ITV

[shaonsim]

Having a favourite show means that when you spot those people in other projects you immediately go "Hey, it's them !!!!! " It's a very happy feeling. Whatever positivity we can get ♥️

[shaonsim]

Anjan Dutta loves working with the hills. And I always feel like it is time for him to get over it, but then I watch the show or movie and there's this quiet beauty, the haunted skies and the large canvas of the sky and the general vibes, and then I too, fall for the hills. Just like that.

[shaonsim]

Funny, how in a society that has so many issues with women being in charge of religious events, where the pandits are always male because of 'reasons', but when it comes to tellywood/bollywood/other woods to portray an 'alpha male' type character who is THE MAN, they are either strict atheists or have to be blackmailed/persuaded by gooey eyes of their dear ones to participate in a religious event. What are you trying to achieve, society? When it comes to power and prestige, you won't let the women take it, but how DARE they associate such frivolous things with your masculinity? You make your own fate, blah blah. Also, almost every situation where the guy (much to everyone's surprise but the audience's) takes part in the religious activity, it is the aarti? He comes, stands there, does the aarti, which is probably the most prestigious and glamorous thing a participant can do. They never help with flowers, or cutting fruits etc. They don't even carry the heavy utensils etc. Give us male characters who are interested in pujas and such, and not just for the aarti. Thank you. And yes I am mainly speaking of Hindu religious activities because of out of context personal reasons.

[shaonsim]

I both love and hate that I called a character 'disposable', because yeah, writing wise he was disposable, go me for figuring it out, but where are the emotions???

[shaonsim]

I find it very frustrating, how, to a large part of the ITV audience, being shouted at absolves the recipient of their guilt* I do not support shouting, but we are human, and sometimes we shout, sometimes the situation is such that prompts us to shout, and just because a person lost their temper, does not mean that they were in the wrong. And it does not give the recipient any moral high ground, at least it shouldn't.

[* only applicable if a man (in most cases, the male lead) shouts at a woman (usually the female lead). Flip the gender and the woman is right to shout, it was the man's fault, what a terrible guy]

And being shouted at does NOT give you the right to use a patronising note with the other person, especially when you were at fault, when most, if not all, the blame lies in your behaviour.

It is just so easy for the writers to gloss over the faults of their supposedly perfect female leads. Just have a guy shout at her, you will get all of the sympathy points and you can ignore the character flaws so you can continue to write flat characters. shaon calm down.

[shaonsim]

We, the ITV audience have seen our heroes dragging, pulling the heroine's hand, blocking her path and so on, but our happy bubble comes crashing down if the hero doesn't believe the heroine when a) all the evidence points against her b) they have known each other for two months or so, as strangers at best, enemies at worst and c) a child was endangered and the hero in question is a father who is known to be panicky about the safety of his children. It wasn't ideal behaviour, but it was expected, given the circumstances and their history. And, at least to me, a lack of trust (there was shouting and throwing a plate of food, not directed at the heroine of question, but still, food is food too, but no one is bothered about what he did, their focus is on what he did not do), is far more acceptable than romanticising physical force. #rant over.

[shaonsim]

Not to judge people on what they do in their free time, but doesn't it take a lot of effort to comment on the post for a show you don't like? Although that might be me, I find that it takes a lot of effort to comment on posts with my favourite show. Don't get me wrong, ranting is perfectly fine, but what's the point of hating on the show in official posts meant to entertain the fans of that show? Shaon, you need to chill

[shaonsim]

Ahh, classic Ekta. Gul knew how to pay a classy tribute to her old mentor. Ugh, how much I hate this trope. People often shy away from commenting on it because this is disgusting, but I think we really need to take a moment and think about the way EK normalises crime and the narrative rarely punishes the criminal. I don't know about this particular case, but in ITV, villains and vamps are usually thrown out of the house and that's it, even if they commit heinous crimes. They are never punished by the law.

How to handle an unwed pregnancy

1. Eliminate all logical alternatives 

2. Find a gullible baby daddy

3. Attempt to murder his fiancée 

4. Drug and rape him

5. Trap your baby daddy

[shaonsim]

I have never watched a single episode of this show, I don't even watch the promos, I purposefully ignore every piece of media concerning this show [ a whitewashed Krishna is probably the only thing that has contributed to my immense hatred of the show, since I don't know about the plot or distortions ], but today, hotstar forced me to sit through the promos, in every ad break, and I decided, that I will try to find the silver lining and make it into a positive experience, so here you go. [ also, aalta?? Reflections?? Of course I loved this ]

please do not repost ❤️

[shaonsim]

Hey...I wanted to ask you something. Is there anything that irks you about Indian serials? Like for me it's how every single soap or serial has the same storyline. Girl/boy meet. They get married. Girl has problem in sasural. A host of vamp comes and goes. And how it is up to the sanskari bahu to win the day. And like this particular woman is the epitome of goodness. Everyone else may do wrong but not her!!!! And anyone other girl who is not as sanskari is running after the hero! Like why???

Sorry I got to this so late! Connectivity issues and other things saw this sit in my inbox for days. Thank you so much for sending this in, means a lot. I love interacting with people!!!!

Oh nonnie, do I hate something about ITV/tellywood. Half the time I am ranting about the shows. In my posts, in the DMs with @lolfluff and @ratnas-musings, and to anyone else who is willing to listen to me blab about tellywood.

The thing with each serial having the same story is that ultimately, they all fall under the genre of (family) drama and there are only so many things that happen to a family. Also, marriage is a hot bed for drama. There are countless things that can happen, countless ways those can go, and not all of them are good or 'acceptable' and shows do try to highlight the positive outcomes (in the end, these are feel good stories, made for entertainment). It is so, so easy to fall down this rabbit hole. Life is VERY DRAMATIC and when your soul focus is family/relationships, it tends to get more dramatic and then there are a lot of reasons why it gets repetitive. Even then, there are minute differences that are often crystal clear for the fans or regular viewers (and it is one of my favourite hobbies to find these differences), but plot wise, there isn't much variety.

And of course, marriage is, to date, the expected outcome of any romantic relationship, at least for a major portion of the society. Myself included.

Another thing I would like to add is that girls do have trouble settling into their Sasural, even if said 'Sasural' is full of nice human beings. It takes a lot to leave your home and to shift into a new environment, with new people, and it takes a lot to include a new person into the fold. If you are wondering why it doesn't change when the girl has known the family for years (or has practically grown up in the same house), it's different. Being seen as a part of the family and being a part of the family are two different things. Marriage comes with a baggage of responsibilities, expectations, rights. There are some things you have to give to the Bahu of your house.

As for the Bahu being the savior/protector, she is the female lead. Every storyline has to revolve around her, or give her significance, because she is the main focus. She is the Hero of the story. And that's why she has to be the epitome of goodness. We root for her, support her in whatever she does, because she is the hero, it is her story, we have to be on her side. And fictional characters are judged much, much harshly than an ordinary human being. More so with the female characters. The lead has to be perfect.

All this, is in no way, meant to justify ITV and its clichéd plots, or to negate your feelings. I simply saw the question marks and word-vomited on the page, as I usually do whenever I have something to say. I am sorry I took this in another direction.

And yes, a lot of things irk me, really, it is a lot, but nothing irks me than the fact that the ambitious, realistic, vamp female character who falls for the male lead and goes on to be obsessed with the guy never sees the faults in the male lead. Even with the tendency to turn a blind eye to the male lead's wrongdoings, the female lead often gets to call him out on his wrongdoings. They scream, shout, hurl abuses and accusations (and still love their guys, but that's human behaviour, let's not go there), but the vamp logical person never gets to that. They just do everything possible to get the man for themselves, even if the guy is trash.

For once, I want the vamp to go "Nah, keep him. At least you love him enough to live with his faults. I don't need this trash." Or for her to destroy the relationship between the leads and say "I did this for you, because obviously you don't have what it takes to dump him."

Thank you so much for the ask, I hope you enjoy what you see on this blog and that it keeps you coming back for more. Feel free to pop into my inbox anytime you feel like it. Please.

[shaonsim]

Thoughts on the writing of itv!!! What kinda show would you writeee

My friend. My hero. Thank you for sending this in. Thank you so much!! You gave me such a wonderful opportunity to blab about stuff.

THANK YOU ❤️❤️❤️❤️

The writing of ITV, you ask? Hang on my friend, this will be a WILD ride. A wild ride. This will be loong and wordy and a little incoherent, jumping from one point to another, but this will tell you a lot about how I feel about the writing of ITV.

And yes, this will read like a letter to the CVs because I am totally incapable of abiding the rules of grammar and I don't want to edit all this.

And I apologise for the out of context references that seeped in with time. Sorry, couldn't help it. I will gladly expand upon any of the references.

The main thing with writing (according to me, but I don't like repeating this disclaimer since by asking the question you already know that this will be my personal opinion, but still, for safety purposes)...The main thing with writing is that the core concept can be summed up in one single paragraph, and then you add words for emphasis.

You write in a thousand situations, in different styles, only for the message to hit home.

Look at our Epics.

Ramayana can be summed up as the Ram-Ravan conflict in a good Vs evil way. Lakshman is the devoted brother, Hanuman (ji) is an ardent devotee of Ram-Sita.

Mahabharata is basically another story of good Vs evil, where Duryodhan is the evil guy , Shakuni is an evil mastermind, 99 Kaurav brothers (+ Karna) the sidekicks, and the rest of the Kurus (+ Drona and Kripa ) as the silent voices of reason.

And almost every event emphasises these points. Because that's the story.

Look at Harry Potter. Three kids (young blood/new generation ) fighting against the big bad and pointing out and fixing the mistakes of the past along the way.

Look at Kalpurush (I read it during the quarantine and I am in love ❤ ) , where the main theme is that a mother worries whether the circumstances will lead to history repeating itself, whether a son will follow his father's footsteps, and whether she would be happy if he did turn out to be like that.

Technically, it is the same with shows.

Sasural Simar Ka began with the concept of the deep bond between the sisters, then moved on to supernatural forces interfering with the Bhardwaj family. The theme changed, but it didn't vanish.

Swaragini began as a show revolving around the sisters, and it stayed like that for forever, even when the plot went sideways and the sisters were pitted against each other.

Kumkum bhagya is a show where the leads battle kidnapping, murder attempts, misunderstandings etc and come out longing for each other and dreaming about happier times (the same was the theme of Pavitra Rishta too, if I remember correctly. But with less kidnapping.) And now the show has taken a leap with a love triangle between the kids (look, another similarity between kkb and pr. Go Ekta)!

KZK2 *cringe cringe* is all about AnuPre who love each other but don't end up with each other because of various reasons.

ITV has this thing down pat.

But it fails to come up with proper events to highlight their core concept and of course, they fail to choose an interesting theme for the show, but heyy, human mind and relationships is a gold mine for ideas. It is fascinating, and quite enjoyable, if it is done right. Am I biased because it is my favourite genre? Yes of course.

But the point stands.

Another important part of writing is that in order to come up with plot points that will reinforce your main idea, you need to come up with a cast of interesting characters, and develop their background to give you an ample opportunity to create the above mentioned plot points. The spectators, onlookers, the influencers need motivation - reasons for their actions.

Think about Karna. Think about Drupad-Drona. Think about Bhishma-Amba. Think about Jayadrath and his boon.

Sub-plots, side-plots. Parallel storylines.

For the most part, ITV fails in this department. The characters or stories they introduce are a) boring (either because we fail to understand their motivation or because they are diluted versions of the leads) or b) annoying because of their over enthusiastic and blind favouritism for the lead character they support.

^ Casting and acting also plays a major part in this (ugh Chandni ), but most of the time, it can be solved with focusing on the actor's strengths and weaknesses and changing the dialogues based on that. A writer can change things.

That's their job.

If your side characters are not interesting enough to deserve a story of their own, you aren't trying hard enough. That said, if you can't weave in their story in your main story, do not focus on the side plots. No one is interested in seeing your hodgepodge of TWO (or more) stories. It should all come together in the end, it should become one BIG story. Bring it all together!!

But do focus on the side plots, because there is only so much you can do with your leads, especially in the romance/family (whatever you call it) genre that occupies 90% of tellywood (and for good reason too!!)

A good plan is to create events with one of your main character and a group of characters (how small or big a group is for you to decide). If you force the audience to look at two/three supporting characters, no body will be happy.

Use your leads!!!!

Also, PLEASE use the show Vs tell method.

You want us to know that the male lead is adored by his sister? Show us. And by that, I meant scenes where we can see the bond they share, NOT dull monologues where the sister sings praises of her brother (a few monologues are fine though). You are an audio-visual medium.

ACT LIKE IT.

Monologues are for written things. Where we only have the words and our own imagination. Here, you have the tools to present us with the pictures, with the words they speak to each other.

Don't waste it.

In the same vein, do not repeat dialogues. Not word to word (don't repeat the same thing with different wording multiple times in a single episode or a week of episodes). Switch it up, and if you have to, have to repeat stuff, use an actor who has decent facial expressions and voice modulation. If the actor is stiff, robotic, then don't use that actor to parrot your lines. Seriously.

<< Not to hate on anyone in particular but Prerna's 'Anurag Anurag Anurag' is very annoying, for reasons that are better left unspoken >>

Hey, hey, you know what else is an integral part of writing? Research. Making a show on doctors? Police? Engineers? Lawyers? Chefs? Do your research. And if you want to take the short cut and go with the convenient business men/women trope, by all means, go for it. GO FOR IT. But show them working, and no, not because of tracks revolving around the business, but always. Running a business is a full time responsibility. Show that. I repeat, show that. Show that the character isn't home 24x7, show late night meetings, show files neatly stacked (or strewn about, your choice). Show the products or materials involved in the business. Show your characters being exhausted with the amount of work, show their involvement in their work. Or don't, if that suits the story and your character is neglectful, or if you have a proper reason to have them take some time off. Pay attention.

Time for a checklist.

Central theme? ✅

Side plots (+ characters)? ✅

Edit things because of the actors? ✅

Show Vs Tell? ✅

Research? ✅

How much DRAMA is too much drama? ❔❔

Now, this is a product of my curiosity (+ me posting the Fic Which Must Not Be Named), but I think this fits nicely with the rest of this answer. I wouldn't explain this in detail because the original post does a much better job (and I need validation, so go read that post) but to think, that ITV tells us stories of other people, and whether it is this very question, this doubt, that leads to the numerous kidnappings and accidents/fire/misunderstandings we see in 90% of the shows.

Okay, time to return to the checklist.

Oh. Oh! I forgot my favourite part.

The influences of the audience. Every writer has a story to tell. And while it is difficult to think that the ITV creatives know what they want to do with their story, I would give them the benefit of doubt. Besides, as a writer myself, I know that 80% of writing is having no clue as to where you want to take the story. ANYWAY, back to the topic at hand. I think, if everything was written and shot before telecast, we might get cohesive writing. As it is, the creatives put out some content, look at the reaction, and try to maintain the highs or fix the blunders, by hook or crook.

And the story suffers.

Complete revamping of tracks, characters behaving worse than pendulums, repeat of romantic scenes, bringing in new characters out of the blue - I believe, most of these things occur in a rush to fetch (or maintain) ratings.

Now, let's talk about copy-pasting tracks without bothering to look at the bigger picture. What works for one show, works only because it goes with the past and future events of the show. You can't grab xyz from show1 and throw it into show2, because S2 does not have the background of S1. It wouldn't work, because the characters are different, their motivation is different, their past is different, everything is different.

Also, can we talk about how two people of opposite genders can be friendly and helpful to each other without secretly pining for the other person? It doesn't always have to be romance, although it can be perceived as that, if you want a jealousy track. Character A and B both know there is no romantic feelings, but Character C is seeing green because heyy, DRAMA!!

((This is one thing that disastrous Bajlo tomar alor benu did right, in respect to Minu and Rudra))

Another important thing - people can (and should, if you want it to be realistic) be morally grey. There is a phase between liking someone or hating them or wishing them to be dead or actually killing them. Also, not everyone has access to criminals and goons. I REPEAT, not everyone has a criminal connection, or the mental capacity to actually execute the plan to the T.

Thinking of murder, planning murder and straight up plunging a knife in someone's chest are different things. Remember the difference.

USE THE DIFFERENCE.

And while you are on it, learn the difference between attraction, appreciation and love.

We might be attracted to a particular quality - a physical attribute, a skill, a specific philosophy etc. We might appreciate that quality in a fellow human being. And we might be attracted to and appreciate the person with those qualities, but that doesn't mean that we would love them.

In the ocean of unnecessary romance angles and third wheels, this core difference is often brushed away in a bid to gain trps. Please don't do that.

Another checklist.

Ratings changing the story? ✅

Copy pasting tracks ✅

The world is grey ✅

Less criminal activity ✅

Not everything is love ✅

Would you look at that! I covered so many things. Fear not, I still have a lot to say. Mwahaha.

Not going to go into detail about my opinions on in-laws on ITV, because that is already covered here, but let's talk about the actual family.

The parents, siblings, cousins, relatives. Again, I am going to repeat myself and tell them to use the show Vs tell method. And actually focus on the dynamics because although the equations will change after marriage (for the male lead, the female lead will be cut off from her family 80% of the time), these relationships set the foundation for your character. Their personality. Motivation.

If you are going with a character who is distant, then by all means, do so, but do NOT ignore the family. Show that the character doesn't care.

Show it. Don't gloss over it.

That said, limit your exploration of characters and back stories. There is no hard or fast rule, but if it feels like too much focus, then it is too much focus. Go follow your basic INSTINCTS.

Okay, now is the time to come to the business side of writing for ITV. Bringing in popular characters, giving them smart dialogues and promoting them to the High Heavens. Wonderful trick. But do it in a subtle way. We will gladly let you play us, but only until we realise that we have been played. Subtly manipulate things. Subtly.

And, talking about that, let's also talk about how consistency is really important. Dumping black (or white) paint on characters would not wash away past grievances. It wouldn't remove the impression we already have. So if you want to portray someone in a positive light, work up to that point. Same with negative portrayals. Ease us into the change in perspective.

((Bajaj track in KZK2 is the perfect example of how the writers totally FAILED to follow this rule))

Also, if you are writing comedy, please hire good actors. Comedy is incredibly difficult, and if the performance isn't up to the mark, then it falls flat. And bad comedy is very annoying.

Another thing. If you have a social message, as in if the central theme is a social issue, do NOT forget your theme. And do not shove it down our throats. Don't make it preachy. Strive for balance.

And here, let me remind you that you do need a central theme, that's a very important part of your story. So pick a theme. And stick to it.

Think of your story like a human body.

Skeleton is the theme. The concept.

Blood is the undercurrents, the 'vibe'.

Organs are the characters.

Veins and arteries are the relationships.

Flesh is your plot.

Skin is the sub plots and side plots.

AND TOGETHER, THEY MAKE A STORY.

TOGETHER, THEY MAKE A STORY.

See how I repeated myself for emphasis? That's what you have to do, in a more subdued and complex way. I know you have it in you.

And because I wrote so much about adding sub plots and side characters, let's talk about what you shouldn't do, with me quoting myself:

Even CID, a show I loved to watch because it was a crime drama but less gruesome than what you would expect, could not escape tellywood’s clutches and turned into a chaotic mess with too many new characters and a massive shift in focus - in its last days, it was more of a romantic drama with the crime sprinkled in, and because there were so many new characters (who were boring 70% of time and annoying for the other 30%), I had ZERO interest in the series. The crimes have always been similar, what kept me hooked was the way they dealt with it and their group dynamics, which was ruined by bringing in a hoard of characters who contributed nothing to the story. And the Shreya-Daya track was a bad one from its conception, there was no need to drag it until my mild indifference turned into a major annoyance. And they could have avoided all of this. There was no need to ruin a perfectly good show with lazy, uncreative writing.

^ Bolded are the parts I consider important.

Also, let me take this opportunity to talk about shows similar to CID, in which every episode deals with a mini-plot and it is only the characters that remain the same. Crime dramas, medical dramas (although one the most popular ones on ITV - DMG was less about medicine and more about Jerk!Armaan and his jerk-ness and got rid of this problem in an innovative way that deserves an essay of its own, but I digress).

If the only thing remaining constant is your characters and their group dynamics, then do NOT throw in twenty new characters at once. Introduce them one at a time and limit the number of characters you will use. Keep the same cast for a decent chunk of time. Please. And do not add in multiple sub plots. The storyline is already a little blurry, jumping from case to case, so too much drama between the characters can be either too much to handle or just very, very boring. The focus is on the cases. Keep it there.

A show that did it quite well, was Goyenda Ginni, what with the overarching plot of a homemaker balancing housework and her passion for solving crimes. And because it was always about a family, with limited characters (bringing in spouses for the unmarried characters), it wasn't crowded.

Before I forget, here are some of my common issues with ITV and their writing department ⬇️

EK and her love for the child!track

Portrayal of marriage and relationship

^ And I must add that the Fic Which Must Not Be Named came into being because I couldn't accept the marriage trope for the two characters from the show that has become my latest obsession, even if the trope is shown in a negative light and the people in it are called out and they realise how wrong they are. #shaonHatesDealMarriages

The year 2020 and tellywood marriages

For the most part the last two links say the same things, but the wording and examples and the object of focus is different (this is how you hammer it home, CVs, write long posts on the same thing until the world learns about your hatred for said things. You're welcome 😎)

Also, something I remembered while writing the little note about forced marriages - acknowledge the wrongdoings of your characters, EVEN if they are the leads and you want people to love them. Glossing over the misdeeds wouldn't help, but accepting the truth, pointing out the flaws and then adding the reasoning behind the actions, and later on, writing in the realisation and apology for the act, is a much, much better idea. It is easier to forgive someone if their misdemeanor isn't shoved under the rug. But don't go overboard with the accusations. Repeating the truth multiple times only serves to annoy us.

Have I covered everything? I don't know. Feel free to ask me specific things in case you think I didn't comment on something. It is easy for me to forget about things while writing an answer as long as this. Not to mention, that I framed the first two-three paragraphs in my head while I stood under the shower, so in the rush to jot down everything I had thought of, I might have missed some stuff. Happens to the best of us, eh?

Coming to the second part of your question, I must admit, I am not the best at coming up with original premises. I like to dwell on the thoughts of the individual, delve deeper into their minds and do stuff - as evident in my love for the romance/drama genre, and why I love that ITV has so many shows in this genre. Why my writing (the drabbles I wrote last week), is more about the people than the plot. That's just who I am.

That said, I think I would do good with a team. Together, we can write a lot of things. ((Someone agree to do a collaborative fun writing project right now, I love those. We can make full use of all this free time and write a story of our own)).

No, seriously.

I love writing as a team.

[shaonsim]

EK has a big ego, so she thinks that she knows the tellywood audience and whatever she does will be accepted with an aarti ki thaali. And the way the Bhagyas continue to rule the charts, I would say she does know a few tricks of the trade.

Introducing a child post-leap is one of those 'tricks'. See, when EK stretches the story to its limits but still wants to beat that horse, she takes a break and gathers her thoughts, tries to gauge the audience in order to choose the next clichéd idea from her arsenal. And a leap gives her the time to do these things. Post leap episodes focus on the new costume/hairstyle/makeup, new set and a new storyline (even if it is two episodes long and then everything goes back to how EK's dhows usually are) way more than it focuses on the past, because this is when she decides how yo deal with the garbage she served before the leap was introduced. The lead couple and their relationship completely butchered for DRAMA, EK relies on the audience to show her the way.

A kid is the best way to handle a leap. For one, no one can HATE a kid. Sure, we might dislike a kid, but we will never react as strongly as we would react to an adult person. And this way, she has a failsafe way to establish a new dynamic between one of her main characters and the kid, and a relation that won't have negative reactions (unlike a new romantic angle) AND it helps to divert the attention from the mess she made with her lead couple, because people generally want the kid to be happy with both parents in their life.

Also, kids are a great way to insert a third wheel even when none of the two adults are romantically interested in each other. And then EK will read the audience and decide on turning the third wheel into a negative character.

Not to mention, that unless something hugely disgusting took place in the past, introducing a child of the main couple establishes them as the 'end game' (unless it is kzk2, but it looks like EK has no idea where she is going with that one, so we won't talk about that show).

Having a child actor on set also helps with inserting filler scenes and maintaining a somewhat positive theme of the show. And we know how hard it is for EK to show good, happy moments for the main characters.

It also means that the leads will be shooting separately but there will be many, MANY hits and misses because of course, the parent who stays with the kid will always be around the kid and the other parent will always 'find' their child and bond with the kid so that we are manipulated into rooting for the couple, forgetting their past disastrous acts (all EK's own fault, but shhh).

And if, by any chance, the kid angle doesn't work as expected, she will injure the child or introduce an illness or any other thing to force the couple together and give us lollipop bits of domesticity. If all fails, she will kill off the child (while simultaneously throwing all logic and sanity out of the window) and introduce another leap where the leads blame each other for 20% of the screen time and pine for the other like hormonal teenagers for the 80% that is left. What about their feelings on losing their child, you ask? Pssh, we don't do that in Ekta Land.

Looks like all of Ekta Mayya's shows have a " baccha" as a plot device for initiating romance. Why can't she find original storylines or non repetitive plots? Do you think Indian audience always laps up stories with kids making cry baby faces?

To appeal to all the mamta feelz that allllllll female audience undoubtedly has or some such shit......?

[shaonsim]

The only thing I want out of tellywood in 2020 (let's be honest, I want a lot of things, but this one might be a possibility) is to get rid of that ridiculous pink lipstick on our male actors. The natural lip color is my favourite, and even if they have to use lipsticks, there are nude shades.

[shaonsim]

Me, when Star Jalsha first announced their Dure thekeo kache achi programme (where a handful of actors, mainly couples of the popular shows, dress up and come together in a in-character video chat) : Hahahaha, what a stupid program.

Me, watching the aforementioned program with a crazy grin on my face: Hahahaha, what a nice program, what a clever idea, look at them. So funny. Adorable. Look at that cute cliché banter.

[shaonsim]

I was just thinking about the general state of tellywood in the recent years, and I am just so.. Disappointed in the way they treat marriage and relationships? Like, I know, forced marriages, bride/groom swap or accidental marriages or heck, arranged marriages are a big part of tellywood culture, that's the main focus, that's how the story progresses, but somewhere down the line we moved out of that place and travelled into the 'marriage/relationships/love is a bargaining chip' phase. Like old shows on tellywood had their cringeworthy marriage tracks with an angry bride/groom who is not ready to accept the marriage, the ones who kidnap or force the other party in marrying them... We had it all. But these days there is a sudden influx of 'deal' marriages? Marry me because of this. Marry me because of that. Marry me or I will bring your family to the streets, marry him because he has important information regarding xyz.

In the past, marriage itself was the reason. Call it infatuation, obsession, lust, call it anything you want to, but the marriage was asked for. Marriage wasn't treated as a step towards your ultimate goal, nor did ITV glorify the usage of marriage or relationships as a tool. But now, it is always that.

And of course, we never show these relationships in a positive light, because we need DRAMA and we need negativity and people are bad. We rarely see people enjoying the comfort and happiness that comes from being in a relationship with someone you like. There are cute moments, romantic moments, but not many... Domestic moments? Moments that are not really romantic in nature, but there is a comfortable vibe about the whole thing and we see that the two people are actually enjoying being together even when they aren't participating in romantic activities.

I am not saying that everything should be roses and daisies, definitely not, and there is nothing like a perfect relationship and there are plenty of bad people, plenty of reasons why a relationship could be harmful for one or both of the people involved, but there is a stage between good and ugly, and that neutral 'okay' stage is never shown.

And that, I think, is a primary reason why tellywood is having such a hard time holding the attention of the people. By focusing on only the two extreme sides, we end up with a very flat and uninteresting relationship. There is no substance, no element of normalcy and we just don't care about the characters and their relationships. ITV being ITV, they will always focus on love and relationships and marriage, and it is high time they focus on all aspects of life.

[shaonsim]

Aamna looks gorgeous in anything she wears. Even in Komo/Sona's weird clothes, she looks stylish. And I guess it is because of her ability to pull off these styles that we have seen a change in Komo's costumes. Because in the past, Komo's clothes were cringeworthy. Or maybe it is just Aamna who makes them look good.

And Nivi and Mohini... Ekta and her kachra CVs have a weird idea regarding Bengali fashion, and it shows. Nivi's outfit irks me more because I get the point that they had to drape Mohini's sari like that to prove that she is bengali, and the jewellery + makeup is too much (but somehow it's less than how it was before? Small mercy), but Subhabi looks so young in that night suit. The heavy makeup is what brings her to the age of being Anu's mother. So obviously, they need the jewellery too. I don't like it, but yeah, okay.

But Nivi? Nivi and her weird way of wearing the sari and that komarbandh? Nivi's look isn't put together. That style of draping, those jewellery, that bindi... It doesn't come together. The only thing it does is irritate me to the core. And Pooja deserves better. I loved her outfit in Swiss.

Nivedita to Komolika: yeh kaise ready hui ho? tumhe dekh ke aisa lag raha hai ke tum kisi shaadi mein jaa rahi ho! we’re just going to meet the interior designer!

Komolika’s outfit:

Nivedita’s outfit:

Mohini Basu’s outfit: