Well-known Producer Sukesh Motwani is quite happy with the journey of his latest Zee TV show, Aap Ke Aa Jane Se. “For the last couple of years, the 10.30 pm slot has been facing reach issues across all platforms. Despite that, this older woman (Suhasi Dhami)-younger man (Karan Jotwani) show is doing 1.4, which is quite good; in fact, it is now the slot leader. We have given Zee huge growth for the same time band which was doing 0.8 before we came along. Also, at first, some people were afraid whether the above non-conformist storyline will get good enough viewership.”
What is the audience response? “We are getting very good feedback from the ground, especially about the above pairing. Zee always pays a lot of attention to research,” says this promoter of Bodhi Tree who along with partner Mautik Tolia has also made Nisha Aur Uske Cousins and Fear Files.
The lead couple is not getting hitched. Does it mean that audiences like sob stories? “Well, our dramatic star-crossed-lovers saga has certainly found sufficient engagement with our core TG. Any new show will have a broad story for the first 100 episodes. Beyond that, we leave it open to what the audiences like. And as of now, with the current trend continuing for a while, why rock a good sailing boat? If down the road we feel that the story is getting stretched, we might get Vedika and Sahil married.”
“Having said that, this reluctance on the part of the female is also reflective of social opposition to the older-woman-younger-man equation. Being a mature woman, with a 16-year-old daughter, Vedika is mindful of the pitfalls such relationships inevitably carry, even while the hot-blooded hero is shouting about his love for her, from the rooftops.”
When asked about the shift from man-woman thingy to family issues, Sukesh, who was earlier Zee TV’s fiction head, says, “We did start the way you mentioned, but later, found out that other family characters i.e. loud vamps (we had taken great actors, who were giving required entertainment) were picking up traction, hence had to start writing plots around them as well. Let’s face it, at the end of the day, a love story will not appeal to all sections of family audience, whose interests also need to be catered to.”
Keep the great work going, Sukesh!!