The older-woman-younger-man romance is one TV theme that has not been overdone yet. After Na Bole Tum Na Maine Kuch Kaha (Colors), it was tried on Sony’s Kehta Hai Dil Jee Le Zara. Now the theme sees its next variation in the Zee TV show, Aap Ke Aa Jane Se.
We hope a time comes when we can show divorcee women getting a second shot at love; until now, either the woman is shown to be unmarried, or, as shown here, a widow.
We have a very sacrificing Vedika (Suhasi Dhami), who lives with her mother and a 15-year-old daughter. She has family issues, with her bro-in-law demanding her to vacate her house or dish out a huge sum.
To be honest, given the way the character has unfolded so far, Suhasi has a limited, one-dimensional graph (stern but loving). Let’s hope her character is given more shades later.
On the other hand, you have a rich, irresponsible, 25-year-old Sahil (Karan Jotwani), who flunks his exams and can’t tell the truth to his family, so gets a false certificate, but his fib gets caught.
The meeting scene of Vedika and Sahil was fun, courtesy a classic case of misunderstanding. Sahil openly flirts with her. Karan is doing a good job of playing someone who takes life easily as he has a free pass.
We guess producer Sukesh Motwani (Bodhi Tree) might get both married fast, for, Sahil has quite a huge family-a loving mother, an all-controlling aunt, an elder sister, and yes, a good-for-nothing brother-in-law. The equation can never be complete without a selfish younger sis, who will sell her brother for a song.
As it happens, his aunt wants him to get married to his best friend as a way to bring him to heel, but he puts his foot down and walks out of the house in a huff. The scene where he throws his wallet at his aunt was quite melodramatic. But his easy ride continues, as his mom still funds him.
Sometimes, we just wish that writers would make an effort to think out of the box, for here, they again follow the template- no prizes for guessing that Sahil ends up as a PG in Vedika’s house, and that too, after protecting her honor from the neighborhood rascal (quite novel, right?). Guess they needed to show interactions with the entire family. He has lied to her that he is married, so we wonder how romance between them will bloom.
To be fair, the makers are not wasting time, and are quickly trying to show chemistry between them. He is fast earning brownie points with both,mother and daughter. We hope the romance is shown with maturity.The biggest issue will be the daughter- will she accept someone barely 10 years older than her, as her father? This is one very relevant conflict; hope it is not treated with daily devices.
If the story proceeds as we assume it to- Vedika getting married and moving into Sahil’s house with daughter and mother in tow, it will become another regular saas-bahu clash, where they will torture her for ruining Sahil’s life.
Alas, Indian TV is simply not ready to abandon the formula, for the risks involved are too much. Well, till then, we have to make do with what we get. Our only option is to shift to digital, but there too, we don’t get balanced content.Whereas tube shows are old-fashioned, web stuff is too modern for most middle-class Indians.
IndianWikiMedia.com gives this effort 3.5 stars