Web series take off in a big way
Web series take off in a big way
Yashraj launched Bang Bajaa Baarat and Living In A Man’s World, with B’wood names on board like Ali Fazal, Parineeti Chopra and Richa Chadda etc. Another popular series was Sony Liv’s Love Bytes, while TV shows like Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon and Badtameez Dil launched Web editions.
Experimental shows meet with mixed reactions Shows like The Big F, On AIR with AIB, Power Couple and Sumit Sambhal Lega were launched, but the jury’s still out on whether or not they will click with Indian audiences in the long run.
Shows that were surprise hits Bhabhiji Ghar Par Hai — This comedy show brought in excellent ratings for the channel (&TV). Comedy Nights Bachao — Replacing Comedy Nights with Kapil in its Saturday slot, CNB became popular in a short time with comedians Krushna Abhishek and Bharti Singh leading from the front. Naagin — This weekend show gained the number one position on the TRP charts. Chakravartin Ashok Samrat, Siya Ke Ram and Swaragini have also managed to strike the right chord with audiences
Shows that bombed These shows were counting on the star power of their celebrity judges to push them to the top. But Nach Baliye (Chetan Bhagat-Preity Zinta) and Jhalak Dikkhla Jaa (Shahid Kapoor) were disappointments despite the new panel of judges. Shows like I Can Do That (Farhan Akhtar), Aaj Ki Raat Hai Zindagi (Amitabh Bachchan), Sabse Shaana Kaun (Shah Rukh Khan), Farah Ki Dawat (Farah Khan) and Darr Sabko Lagta Hai (Bipasha Basu) also lost out in the TRP war. Shows like Reporters (Rajeev Khandelwal-Kritika Kamra), Gulmohar Grand and Kuch Toh Hai Tere Mere Darmiyaan were launched with great fanfare, but didn’t make a huge impact. Other casualties were Pyaar Ko Ho Jaane Do (Iqbal Khan-Mona Singh), Badtameez Dil and the initially promising Manmarziyan.
In memoriam The telly world lost its beloved ba — Sudha Shivpuri — in May this year. Veteran actor Mohan Bhandary also passed away after suffering a brain hemorrhage while Sanjeevani star Sanjit Bedi’s demise after being hospitalised for a month-and-a-half shook the industry.
Controversies Rashami Desai was given time off from Nach Baliye to recuperate from an injury. However, images on social media showed that the actress was actually in the US, performing for a show there. Her lie exposed, Rashami had to issue an apology on prime time before continuing with Nach Baliye. Chetan Bhagat’s stint as a judge on Nach Baliye was fraught with criticism. Contestants took umbrage at the personal comments Chetan made, and he later got into a nasty fight with fellow judge Preity Zinta. Deepika Singh alleged that her Diya Aur Baati Hum co-star Anas Rashid behaved inappropriately with her while filming a romantic scene and slapped him. The co-stars finally patched up after the team interceded. Karan Kundra slapped his co-star Saanvi Talwar, after she apparently hit him a little too hard in one of the scenes for their show Yeh Kahan Aa Gaye Hum. Last heard, producer Ekta Kapoor had brokered a peace between the two. TV actors Sai Ballal, Vishal Thakkar and Yash Pandit were all embroiled in allegations of rape.
The big breakups The year gone by saw several high profile small screen couples going their separate ways. Among them were Divyanka Tripathi-Sharad Malhotra, Rashami Desai-Nandish Sandhu, Daljeet Kaur-Shaleen Bhanot, Karan Patel- Kamya Punjabi, Achint Kaur-Mohan Kapoor as well as Kunwar Amar-Charlie Chauhan.
