It takes three to tango

Love sells and more the love the more it sells. Love stories – be it on the big or small screen – have always been a safe bet. The audience has always been a sucker for love stories. In fact, a good love story attracts both the young and old alike. And as it happens in almost all love stories there is a kabab mein haddi who adds to the spice of the show. So a love triangle in many of our shows paves the way for a spike in ratings and keeps both the audience and the channel happy. Currently it can be almost called a rule of thumb as most of the current shows on air and some recently concluded ones have a love triangle in the show. Let’s take a look at some of them. In the recently concluded show Sangini Rudra was married to Gauri but his ex-girl friend Pihu wanted him back. In the long running Balika Vadhu Gauri enters the life of the married couple Jagya and Anandi. Uttaran always had a love triangle where Tapasya is the ‘other woman’ in the life of Veer and Ichcha. In Looteri Dulhan Abhinav who just got married to Billo was already married to Suman and in Pavitra Rishta Dharmesh is married to Madhuri but still marries Vaishali and now it is heard that a female will enter the life of Manav and Archana and disrupt their marital bliss. And if viewers can flip through the pages of history they can find out that each time the third side was introduced to a love story there was lot more drama and spice. Anytime if a show experienced a dip in ratings then a ‘woh’ was brought in to create some instability in the pati-patni relationship. A producer who has been successfully depicting love triangles in his shows feels that viewers like to see love triangles on shows as they don’t have it in their lives. Films have always been using the love triangle theme and though it has become a done to death formula still whenever it is used on a TV show it has always received a good response. In fact some love triangles have even resurrected some shows that had been sliding down the ratings ladder. In Kesariya Balam Aavo Hamare Des Rukmini and Rasal are sisters who love the same guy Ranveer but in Rang Badalti Odhani you don’t just have a love triangle but a love square. Simran is in love with Shantanu and Adi likes Khanak …but Shantanu and Khanak are a couple. And audiences are more than happy with this new twist. If love triangles worked for fiction shows even non-fiction shows cashed on to this tried and tested formula. In fact many seasons of Bigg Boss have always used this funda to up their ratings. Viewers will recall the Payal Rohatgi, Rahul Mahajan and Monica Bedi episode and the love triangle between Veena, Ashmit and Sara. This was one thing that really did well for the TRP of the show. However, the appeal of the theme increases when a show weaves the track very realistically with its main plot. This was the reason why Astitva Ek Prem Kahani made it to the top of the charts way back in 2002. It was the story of a doctor (Simran) who marries a photographer (Abhi), 10 years younger than herself. He is then involved with another younger woman (Kiran). And the same director Ajai Sinha had earlier made the path-breaking Hasratein ( mid- 90s)that also unfolded a love triangle but from the third woman’s point of view. This was also the case with Neena Gupta’s Saans (1998) which was another simply told tale of a marriage broken by the entry of the souten. These were some shows which did not take the public view in mind and neither was the track changed overnight to increase the ratings. When a show doesn’t piggyback on another that has worked and instead re-invents and innovates it works. Hence love triangles may be omnipresent on all shows but it works when it is used prudently. Coming to love triangles, one of the most popular tracks is in Laagi Tujhse Lagan. Nakusha was married to Dattabhau but now there is Deegu who is in love with her. Furthermore, Talli loves Kesar and Kesar is in love with Gulaal in the show Gulaal. In Sapno Se Bhare Naina Daksh loves Naina and so does Abhimanyu. In fact Gulaal was facing a slump for quite some time and was even placed under the scanner. The creative team brought in the love triangle and the show’s ratings improved and it is now doing well. And the list continues…seems like it’s a season of love triangles and audiences may get to see many more twisted love stories in the near future. Pyaar Kii Ye Ek Kahaani. The upcoming maha episode will unfold some mysteries as Dipannita Khurana’s true identity will get revealed and Abhay will come to know about the real werewolf in the show. Our source informs, “The maha episode will be an action-packed one as there are two exiting boxing matches lined up in the show which will be a real treat for the viewers. Abhay will fight against Chirag Doshi as he believes that he is a werewolf and he needs his blood to heal Chand. Abhay will be successful in getting a drop of blood but later in the episode he will find out that the real werewolf is not Chirag but someone else. Angad and Kabir will also try to battle it out in a boxing match and it will create a hilarious situation. However, Haseena’s suspicion about Dipannita’s identity will come true as Danish will get concrete evidence about the real Khuranas. Meanwhile, the show will soon take an interesting turn when Abhay and Haseena will get to know that Dipannita, Jay and Neel make the werewolf family.” We spoke to Karuna Verma (Dipannita Khurana) who said, “I have no idea about the maha episode as we are yet to shoot it.” Read more...