Conpsiracy Theory 2: Kyunki Amar bhi Kabhi Mihir tha...
This Review is not on the serial per se...it tells us about one of those stories which happened behind the scenes. If you love/hate the TV show and would like to know more on the making and what happens behind the scenes...read on
The death of Ansh brings about a new landmark in arguably the most loved and the most popular television soap opera in the new era of Indian Television. There are rumors that we haven’t seen the last of him, he might be back maybe he never died, maybe he has someone out there who looks just like him, maybe he would be reborn ! There has to be an end to everything, what starts must end, who enters must leave. Indian TV viewers can accept everything, plastic surgeries, stories moving 20 years ahead in just two weeks, old ladies never dying, stories changing tracts, same character new person, same person new character, what the hell they can even accept a new Kkusum ! But what they cant digest is someone being written off, a character being deleted, their favorite person out of the show, so why does Ekta Kapoor try her hand at character assassination, if I may call it ?!
The end and a future rebirth of Ansh brings back memories of another such episode a few years back, the death of Mihir Virani. The story of Amar Upadhyay and Ekta Kapoor and the making of ‘kyunki’ in it’s peak period, forms the basis of a fascinating story, atleast more fascinating than the soap !!
So in this review of mind I am going to give you a sneak peak of what goes behind the television screen, the fallouts between ‘stars’ and ‘star makers’ the real shades behind the colour screen. Let me add a disclaimer….my story, and my views are not fiction, but fictionization of facts. It’s more like a documentary, or a docu-drama and is totally based on facts whose source I would be glad to reveal on being questioned about authenticity of facts. But for all those who don’t care….here is the story !
Prologue – The Magic Show
It is said by Television pandits that ‘Kyunki – Saas…..’ owes it’s popularity to ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’- the show that changed the definition of television. Peter Mukhrejea the Star CEO calls is ‘Piggyback system’ . A show would only be judged good or bad, or addictive or not only if people watch it….it depends on the show’s promotion but also on other popular shows which fall around the slot the show in question.
It is said people used to catch a scene of two of Kyunki when it began right after KBC and found they quite enjoyed it. Slowly before they could realize they were hooked to the show….in short KBC carried Kyunki on it’s piggy back. Slowly the show became so popular and addictive that it instead started to carry KBC on it’s back during it’s lean phase ! It the partnership broke all records on television.
What people found popular on the show I would never know. The show when it started was meant to be a glimpse into life of a joint Gujarati family. It was meant be light and lively family drama minus the usual melodrama and stuff. People say that the comic angle played by Ketki Dave as Daksha was the real star of the show. The Saas- Bahu angle was a straight rip off from hit show ‘Tu Tu Main Main’ . Infact there is a source which says that Ekta’s basic idea was to make a daily family soap out of the basic concept of Tu Tu Main Main ! Whatever it was…it clicked big time.
Genesis of Mihir
Who is Mihir Virani ? Mihir Virani started off as just one of those characters in the family…just one of the those side roles that just has to be there. Somehow people , especially the male audience who was forced to watch the show identified with the character easily. He was a loving son, a loving husband and a good elder brother…he was just perfect guy, in a perfect family with a perfect wife. He just got the regular lines here and there that the writers wrote for him to give Tulsi a break. No one realized that slowly this side character was growing in popularity and fan following…no one realized how important he was…until…he died !
Mihir Amar Hai
Amar Upadhyay was the perfect Mihir that could be . He fit the role like a hand glove. A little known actor who dabbled in both films and TV, Amar was had the right age, the right profile and the right looks and a charming smile for the character of Mihir. Though he had worked in the hit show ‘Dekh Bhai Dekh’ but “kyuni” was undoubtelbly his biggest break !
So Mihir died and Amar was born out of his ashes like a phoenix. Mihir had to die to give a tortoise tale a steroid shot but his death increased his fan following. There as a huge hoopalah, a lot of hue and cry when Mihir died. He was like a family member to many and his death was painful. People wrote letters to Ekta to bring him back, someone I heard even threatened to commit suicide if Mihir didn’t return ! A cult figure was born….the sudden raise to fame of a lesser known actor like Amar caught both him and Ekta as a surprise.
There are three schools of thought at this junction. One says that Mihir’s death was a stunt and he was always meant to return and other’s say that it was meant to stay put, it was only media pressure and love of his fans that brought him back to life.
Also you see in TV you have a contract system. Actors are signed for a fix number of episodes and they are payed a fix amount for that. Once the contract expires, the producer may either renew it of terminate it. If the character is singed for say 100 episodes and his character dies at end of 75 episodes the TV people have to continue to pay him for the rest of the number of episodes, whether he works for it or not. So one point of view says that Amar had a few episodes to go before the contract got terminated, and after seeing how popular he was and how cheaply he had got him for Ekta thought of using the opportunity and saving a little cash !
But whatever it was seeing the popularity of Mihir did inflate some egos. One was of Amar Upadhyay. He started to think of himself as Elvis, infact he even called himself the ‘Shah Rukh of small screen’ . The dude got so hooked with his popularity that he even started a website of self promotion and fan club called Mihiramarhai.com ! He was in seventh heaven and still has some to ground level !
So Ekta did have to bring Amar back…for the good of the show and the return of Mihir Virani was seen by millions across the country and the world and the episode of Mihir’s return broke all TRP records of all time. But one thing changed , seeing his popularity the writers did have to add a more life into his character. He could not remain a henpacked husband dominated by Tulsi. This was probably the biggest mistake the writers of Kyunki made and are paying it for it even today ! People simply could not accept Mihir having an affair with another woman, especially a sex starved vamp Mandira Bedi ! The show rose and fall again…and they needed another steroid shot…this time the oldest trick in the book…bees saal baad !
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