Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai: Rajan Shahi reveals THIS person helped revive Harshad Chopda, Pranali Rathod's show when the ratings nose-dived six months back [Exclusive]
Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai maker Rajan Shahi is a happy man. Both his shows are reigning on Star Plus. Anupamaa has been the No.1 show for over two years while Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai has completed 4000 episodes. But of late we have seen that the writers and characters especially that of Dr Abhimanyu Birla, Anuj Kapadia and Abhinav Sharma are getting immense flak from audience on social media. Rajan Shahi told Bollywood Life that in case of Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai, it was always been about long journeys of characters. He said that viewers saw it in love story of Akshara - Naitik and even Kartik and Naira. He said, "While we work we tend to restrict our stories and characters. Then, you are left with a lifeless show and characters. Even the KaiRa divorce track faced immense backlash. But when you constrict characters you cut their journey."
He also addressed the fact that Abhimanyu (Harshad Chopda) and Anuj Kapadia (Gaurav Khanna) are being called out for being uncharacteristic from original character. Rajan Shahi said that there is no perfect human being in real life. He said shows were inspired by real life where people make mistakes, repent, introspect and swinging between right and wrong. He told Bollywood Life, "When you want to restrict growth of characters, you position them in a definite manner. You cannot watch a show for a long for just beautiful romantic moments. You have to deconstruct and construct everything."
The producer reveals that they talked about shutting down the show six months back. The pan-Indian numbers were very low. Shahi says they had many beautiful moments but the audience was not interested in the same. The numbers were on a non-stop downslide. "The channel told us that we would have to end the show if it continues in this manner. But then Zama Habib who is one of the celebrated writers and producers of the TV and film industry showed us the way forward. He was very strategic in his long-term vision." It seems he has come to the rescue in the past too. The whole Naira Rishikesh track was his idea. He helped them rebuild the mass interest on the show.
He said the character of Abhinav Sharma was his idea. Now, all the three main protagonists Akshara, Abhinav (Jay Soni) and Abhimanyu have a journey of their own. "We got a notice that the show is not performing and we might need to wrap up the show. This conflict was a very bold decision. We need some complexity to take the story and characters forward. The whole Kasauli track was his idea," he says. The ideas have paid off as Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai is back in the top three in six months.
Rajan Shahi says on-ground the feedback is good. "People are very invested in the three characters. You cannot hold interest with superficial naach gaana. Now, ordinary people on and off Twitter are talking about Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai. This means people are watching intently. Zama Sir has again done it for us!"