JOIN USBitten by the love bug
Indian television has produced quite a few famous on-screen couples in the recent past. A quick recall will throw up names like Ronit Roy-Smriti Irani (Mihir-Tulsi), Gauri Pradhan-Hiten Tejwani (Nandini-Karan), Hussain-Juhi Parmar (Sumit-Kumkum), Shweta Tiwari-Cezzane Khan (Prerna-Anurag) and Sushant Singh Rajput-Ankita Lokhande (Manav-Archana). The latest to join the hall of fame is Drashti Dhami-Gurmeet Choudhry.
The lead pair of Geet - Hui Sabse Parayi seems to be the latest craze among television buffs. Not only have they managed to make their show get good TRPs, their individual popularities have also skyrocketed in the recent past. Their Facebook accounts alone have thousands of fans.
But what is so unique about the show that made it such a big success? After all, it is not very often that you see a family drama on Star One (a channel more inclined towards young viewers). Industry experts feel that it is the freshness factor and the youthful and mushy on-screen romance that is contributing to the success of Geet. The show revolves around protagonist Geet’s life. She gets married to a guy at the tender age of 18 because her family asks her to and she just cannot muster enough courage to go against the wishes of her family. Tragedy strikes thereafter and the man she gets married to, ditches her. At the same time, she meets a handsome young guy — Maan (played by Gurmeet Choudhry), and her life changes completely.
For Gurmeet, who rose to fame by playing Lord Ram in Ramayana, the character he plays is different that what he has worked on earlier and he is enjoying this change. “Maan Singh Khurana is a challenging role to portray. I have always tried to play unique characters in my career. Post Ramayana, people had high expectations from me and I could not afford to ruin that. I am thankful that viewers have loved the show, thereby giving me a lot of encouragement to perform better.”
What, in his opinion, is the reason for the immense success of the show? “The show appeals to viewers from all age groups. We have been getting a lot of feedback that says that elderly people too love the chemistry between Geet and Maan,” he says. Gurmeet has a point. While there is nothing unique about the storyline of Geet, there is no denying the fact that the young pair of Gurmeet and Drashti is a good watch.
Gurmeet’s on-screen beau – Drashti Dhami – is on cloud nine. She seems to be repeating her success story of Dill Mill Gayee in Geet. “Frankly speaking, we never thought that our chemistry and performances will be so well appreciated. It is such an immense pleasure to be playing characters that build a connect with viewers,” says Drashti.
Geet will complete a year within a few months. “We have given it our best shot and what has really worked well in this show is teamwork. The support that we actors get from the creative team is superb,” adds Drashti. The pretty lady explains further, “I come from a modelling background and I had no inclination of working in a daily soap. But this show is different. It gives me a lot of creative satisfaction.”
Does success intimidate her as when it comes to TRPs, anything can happen, any time. “Well, I won’t deny that there is no sense of competition, but I am not scared; just a wee bit nervous. We will continue to put in our best,” says Drashti with a smile on her face.
Adds Piyush Sahdev, who plays the parallel lead in the show, “This is one of the few shows where every actor can boast of a meaty role, which is why, despite playing a character which has grey shades, I have an impressive fan following.”
So far so good. But whether Geet will be able to continue the journey and keep its storyline and characters fresh and popular is something only time can tell. In the past, there have many shows with a youthful appeal, which digressed from what they promised to offer earlier on, and reduced to mere tearjerkers. We hope Geet does not follow suit.