They are mean; they are rude; they go out of their way to make the life of their lady loves miserable. They are also tall, dark and handsome, the typical Mills & Boon hero. The trend of romantic shows on the small screen has finally caught up as never before, says SANGEETA YADAV
They are rich, charismatic, powerful, enigmatic, acerbic, filled with pride and definitely not easy to deal with. They are tall, dark and handsome and drive swank cars, live in a mansion, and wear branded clothes and accessories. The telly’s heroes are mean and rude but have a soft corner for that someone special.
So, be it Ranveer, a driver who went on to become a millionaire in Meri Aashaqui Tumse Hi and who leaves no stone unturned to win back his lady love Ishaani, or the spoilt brat Zain of Beintehaa who hates and loves his wife Aaliya with equal passion, or for that matter, Abhishek of Kumkum Bhagya who makes Pragya’s life miserable but never admits to being in love with her — angry young men on TV are giving some groovy moments in the soap dish.
“Two people falling in love and how the love-hate relationship builds even after marriage, their silly fights, separation and reunion — all this makes for an interesting story to watch. When they show their soft-side to that someone special and express their love, it often creates magic onscreen. These mean dishy but angry young men — you love to hate them and that’s where their USP lies. So whatever! love them or hate them but you just can’t ignore them. So such shows become the most watched,” Anuradha Sharma, an ardent viewer of Beintehaa, Jodha Akbar and Qubool Hai (QH), says.
It’s a welcome move from the saas-bahu and crooked family drama staple that Indian television has been all about despite the Best Jodi Awards down the years. Romance is here and it’s a welcome break from the usual kitsch
“Every serial has to showcase a different take on romance and their conceptualisation depends on various factors. The Mills & Boon style love stories should be the main theme of such serials. One can add family drama or saas-bahu conflicts but only as a backdrop to the main story which is the romance between the lead pair. So the men become the pivotal point and all the characters revolve around him. Every story requires a long running conflict as one has to complete at least a 1,000 episodes to even recover the cost of production. In such cases, the romantic interest starts with the male being the anti-hero and slowly it develops into a love story,” Gul Khan, producer of QH and Humsafars tells you. One is also told that to make a successful love story, the characters need to be realistic so that the viewers can connect with them. “like one gets to see small spats between a boyfriend and a girlfriend in real life situations,” Khan says.
Hence, it is not surprising that Sujal Garewal of Kahin to Hoga, Maan Singh Khurana of Geet Hui Sabse Parai, Abhay Raichand of Pyaar Ki Ye Ek Kahaani, Arnav Singh Raizada of Iss Pyar Ko..., Rishabh Kundra of Madhubala... to Asad Ahmed Khan and Aahil Raza Ibrahim of QH or Rudra of Rangrasiya all have managed to hold the audiences’ interest and left a long lasting impression making sure that their character remains popular even if the show has gone off the air.
When it comes to character sketching of these TD&H mean men, attitude and persona make a lot of difference and to make sure that they are as close to reality and yet be different from others is an uphill task. “When we pen the character, we visualise the person as good looking, aspirational, having amazing chemistry and being very different in nature and class of the lady love. In Humsafars, Sahir and Arzoo carry their respective baggage from their past and that justifies the mean part. But they both are incomplete without each other,” Khan says, adding that from this week, Humsafars will show the love angle. Harshad Chopra who plays Sahir, an arrogant boss and the owner of fashion house in the show, says that to portray such an intense character, he had to grow long hair, sport a beard, build-up six pack abs and develop a dominating, elusive businessman’s personality.
“Sahir’s look is very different. Playing a character who gets royal treatment, drives swanky cars and lives life king style is the best part of the show. But it becomes difficult to play a softer side which is a typical Mills & Boon hero,” Chopra says.
In MATH, Ranveer’s love for Ishaani is so powerful that he is willing to get married to another. Whether Ishani will realise Ranveer’s true love for her only time will tell,” Shakti Arora, who plays Ranveer tells you.
“love stories between two unlike personalities are charming, passionate and emotional in equal measure. It’s always fun to watch two contrasting characters in love and also at loggerheads. When we design lead characters we make sure they have many different shades available. In romantic dramas, it’s important to have interesting lead protagonists who are larger than life personas and yet relatable. It is this combination that makes characters like Abhi and Aahil attractive to our audience,” Namit Sharma, Zee TV programming head, tells you.
I enjoy playing Zain who is very charming and flamboyant. When it comes to dealing with the world, he is very tough. But his relationship with his family, especially Aaliya, is very emotional. Zain beinteha pyar bhi kerta hai aur gussa aane pe beintehaa nafrat bhi. I try to give a personal touch to my role and make it more real so that the audience can relate to him