Star Bharat fantasy show, Mayavi Maling will soon go off air. The shooting of this limited series is all set to wrap up soon. According to sources, the makers (Peninsula Pictures) had always planned it in seasons.
Had the first season done well, they would have come back, but alas, the numbers never came.
In a bid to find out what went wrong, we spoke to Aparna Kumar, who plays the negative lead, Madhumali, and she said, “I was emotionally devastated when I first heard the news. I was crying for five days. The creative and my co-star, Harshad Arora, calmed me down.”
“Our show was not meant for Indian audiences. Had it been a Netflix original, the story would have been completely different. Let’s face it. TV is not watched by urban audiences and the heartland janta does not get multiple tracks. They prefer simple stories hovering around just one lead (Angad and Pranali).
Here we had more i.e. Ankit (Chegu) and Preetika (Ankita).
“Also, unlike most desi TV shows that keep beating around the bush; our pace is so fast that if you miss one episode, you end up losing the link. The sad part is that we tried to keep unnecessary drama out of the plot, yet it did not work,” she said.
“Last but not the least, our 7 pm time slot was not right. While we positioned the show for kids, its layered content went over their heads. It was meant for adults,’ explained the actress.
“All said and done, I thoroughly enjoyed my bit with the above unit. I would surely have been in, if Season 2 would have got the green signal.”
Before bidding adieu, Aparna admitted, “Having come back after a three-year sabbatical, I had a lot of expectations from this show. Had it been a hit, we all would have been on a different high. That said, I am still getting casting calls; with Madhumali, people are now realizing that this classy English-speaking gal can truly enact Indian roles.”
Best of luck for your future endeavours, Aparna!!