Sometimes you end up doing wrong stuff in life, but don’t feel bad, thinking that the other deserved it and more.
This is exactly what 17-year old fun-loving and bindass protagonist, Kalyani (Reem Shaikh),of new Zee TV show, Tujhse Hai Raabta, is going through. Her entire life gets topsy-turvy in a day– mother, Madhuri (Amrapali Gupta), dies in an accident, and father, Atul (Pankaj Vishnu), goes to jail for the same. And to make matters worse, her father has made the same lady, Anupriya (Poorva Gokhale), who she feels is responsible for the friction between her parents and mother’s death, to be her legal guardian till she turns a major.
Something we did not understand is how come, if Kalyani was so close to her mother,calling her by her first name, was unaware that differences between Madhuri and Atul had reached the divorce stage? And if that was the case, how come they were ready for a second marriage? Maybe it was just for Kalyani- what not Indian parents do for their kids.
Also, Madhuri’s death is not making a lot of sense; if she was falling from the balcony, how come Atul did not scream for help?And secondly, was it not a bit immature on his part to have let go of Madhuri’s hand when Kalyani slipped in the room.
Kayani also bumps into Atharva Deshmukh (Shagun Pandey), who she falsely accuses of theft and has him beaten up. Interestingly, Atharva and Anupriya are related in some way– he calls her mai, quite a small world indeed.
Atharva, who seemed quite sick in the hospital when Kalyani begs him to take back his curse,seems to recover miraculouslyin a matter of hours; what medicine did the doctors give him? It could become pharma’s next best-seller!
Kalyani is a very lucky girl, for she seems to get away with blue murder. First she falsely accuses Anupriya of child-trafficking and yet walks away scot free. Further, she posts her numbers as a hooker. While we get Kalyani’s hatred, yet hope that they show her repenting her above unacceptable actions, given today’s time, where crimes against women get so much attention.
Full House Media seems to have given us something unique – a greyish lead. But wonder how long this darker shade will last, given that leads need to be squeaky white.
Poorva, who has done several shows over the years, is effectively bringing out Anupriya’s internal dilemma. She really does not want to have anything to do with Kalyani, yet has to bend to Atul’s request.
From whatever little we have seen, and knowing desi TV, there will be no wrong relationship between them when the whats and why open up. We do wonder what equation Kalyani and Anupirya have which will justify the title or it is between Kalyani and Atharva?
16 year-old Reem is doing a good job as a young lady whose life has been shattered. But she seems a bit over-jovial for such turbulent times, i.e. her banter with Atharva. Yes, some amount of light-hearted stuff is required.
Our TV industry leads are getting younger by the day, for puppy love always sells. Wonder what kind of guidelines do industry guys follow when taking minor actors, as parental permissions become anissue. Newbie leads shoot 30 days a month and there is no shooting limit.
Hope we get a lot of flashback of Madhuri as a lot is still left unsaid. Amrapali is good as someone who might be psychotic. Pankaj is apt as a middle class dad who can’t think beyond family expenditure.
Veteran actor Savita Prabune’s character is the matriarch of Anupriya’s extended clan. She is a very traditional but smart lady who knows when not to say what. Kalyani has a run in with her as well; this should be called burning all bridges, what say… guys?
What kind of stuff will ACP Malhar Rane, aka Sehban Azim, bring to the table? He gets Anupriya out of the police jam, so has already proved his positive credentials. Sehban’s action sequence in his very first episode was shot just to give some masochism to the character – poor guy, despite being good in his craft, he is still unable to bag lead roles.
Since the backdrop is Pune/Aurangabad/Goa, characters smartly mouth Marathi words and phrases to give it a regional flavour. Also, Savita and Poorva, being Maharashtrian, will add to the authenticity of the characters. A big Ganpati track should ideally follow next.
Today, audiences being fickle, high drama needs to be incorporated, right from the first episode. It is no mean task to be a daily soap writer. Tujhse Hai Raabta is going down the same route. It deserves 3 out of 5 stars for a decent watch. Nothing which will remain etched in memory forever.