Eleven Successful Trends in Our Favorite Daily Soaps

Eleven Successful Trends in our Favorite Daily Soaps

With ever increasing competition across all the GEC channels and with the makers constantly under trp pressure to deliver, once again the channel and the producers are forced to go the predictable way in their daily soaps to grab maximum eyeballs for the high points in their respective shows ...

Telly Tadka looks at 11 of the most predictable yet successful trends on small screen that have been applied by most makers in recent times and have managed to come out with flying colours most of the time in the Trp and popularity chart ...

1) The Saga of Wedding Fiascos : Whenever a show is in need of trps, the best way is to conduct a wedding for at least a month and grab maximum attention in terms of popularity and Trps; The trend was successfully started by Rajan Shahi in shows like Yeh Rishta kya kehlata hai where the wedding of the main leads Naitik and Akshara which went on like forever, managed to draw record Trps during that time span as viewers loved to watch a Hum aapke hai kaun style lavish wedding even today provided its been dished out with a bit of suspense and drama factor as well; Shows like Star one's Geet Hui sabse parayi too followed similar trend with Maan and Geet's dramatic wedding surrounded with the suspense factor of Brij and Nayantara trying to kill Geet but in the end Maan coming to his wife's rescue which managed to grab eyeballs till the very end with interesting promos being released for its promotion; Shows which have gone off air like Bidaai have also successfully celebrated dramatic weddings of its lead couples Alekh-Sadhna and Ranvir-Ragini in the past; Top Zee TV show Pavitra Rishta too have seen not one but two dramatic weddings of their main leads Manav and Archana and have managed to pull off high trps everytime Manav-Archana Reunion is shown;  Recent hit show like Bade Achhe Lagte hai is also planning a lavish wedding of its main leads Ram and Priya and we are sure this is one wedding which everyone is looking forward to since as per reports Ekta Kapoor has some really lavish plans for this particular wedding ...

2) The Saga of Wife Swapping : One trend which has really made its mark on small screen is the saga of a man handling two wives at a time; The trend was started by Color's hit show Uttaran which saw the dramatic wedding of the century when Tapasya got married to Veer under ghooghat instead of Ichha and the show managed to break all Trp records across small screen ;Choti bahu season 1 too managed to pull off a similar stunt when Dev got married to Radhika under ghooghat but Vishakha was later presented as his wife and it did manage to grab eyeballs for the show; If reports are to be believed then Choti bahu season 2 is all set to pull of a similar stunt with Dev ending up with two wives Radhika and Barkha since Radhika is not eligible to be a Rajpurohitain ; Now it remains to b seen whether Choti Bahu season 2 could manage to pull off similar trps and popularity like its season 1 with this dramatic wife swapping stunt; Recently another show which has taken a huge jump in Trp chart is Colors show Sasural Simar ka which started off with low trps but as usual it followed the predictable route of wife swapping with its main lead Prem getting married to Simar's sister Roli but Simar is presented as his wife for now; Now we wonder if the show's title will be changed to "Sasural Roli ka" since Prem-Roli marriage did manage much needed trp boost for this show; So time and again its been proved that Wife swapping on the marriage day have given a real boost to all the shows that have tried out this trick so far ...

3) The Saga of 2 Wives and 1 Husband : Balika Vadhu is the biggest example of how successful this particular track can be if the actors know how to deliver and if the creatives can make the drama really exciting making sure that there is enough spice in the catfights between the two wives supported equally by some top-notch performances coming out from the supporting leads as well.  Whether its the catfight between Ichha and Tapasya of Uttaran or its the catfight between Anandi and Gouri of Balika Vadhu, this trend has alwas been successful in rating charts till date..

4) The Saga of Memory Loss : This is one track which has got a mixed response from its viewers but nevethless it has always managed to grab the eyeballs in terms of popularity and media buzz  ;Right from Kyunki Saas bhi kabhi bahu thi days when Mihir lost his memory or when Milind of Kayamath had lost his memory  till today when we have popular characters of current shows like Ishaan of Sasural Genda Phool suffering from partial amnesia and most recently the very popular character of Maan Singh Khurana from Geet hui sabse parayi too suffering from partial Amnesia or Piya of Pyaar ki ek kahaani suffering from Memory loss, it has surely managed to grab eyeballs and interest of the viewers to some extent and it also gives an opportunity to the makers to start a the love story between the leads all over again with a fresh approach ...

5) The Saga of Miscarriage : Whether Akshara loosing her baby or Archana loosing her baby or Geet loosing her baby ..the sentiments are same for all these popular Bahus of small screen and they definitely made the viewers cry their heart out after their dramatic miscarriage and the makers know exactly how to cash in on the emotional quotient of the viewers as till today majority of the viewers love to see a female lead shedding tears on screen ;Whether its the drama effect or the emotional sympathy that these characters could gain in such tracks ,but it always works and does give a trp boost to the shows as well ...

6) The saga of age-old Saas-Bahu Kitchen politics: This is one trend which is evergreen in our daily soaps and never fails to grab eyeballs whenever a bahu declares war against her saas or vice-versa ...Best example is the superhit show Saathiya where the saas-bahu jodi of Kokila and Gopi is currently the talk of the town and has managed to grab the highest trps even though its not a prime time show . In recent times the picture of a Saas has changed a lot and the Saas is no more planning or plotting against their Bahu's back but have become the real strength of pillars for their Bahus in the house ; Shows like Sasural Genda phool , Humari Saas Leela and Mrs Kaushik ki Paanch Bahuein have shown a very different and modern picture of Saas-Bahu relationship where a Saas is ready whole heartedly to co-operate with their Bahu's demands or try to change their thinking as per their Bahu's views; Viewers are definitely liking this changing trend in saas-bahu sagas... 

7) The Saga of Reincarnation : Whenever a daily soap reaches its saturation point, the makers try to go in for fresh start all over again and so we have seen many makers going for age old reincarnation tracks to give a fresh start to a love story; So far such tracks have received mixed response in the past; While shows like Kumkum and Banoo Mein teri Dulhan have managed to run for another whole year successfully post the reincarnation track, we have shows like Kaajjal too which have failed in this department; However in the later case, it failed maybe because the lead actors left the show otherwise if the same actors are shown taking rebirth, it has worked so far as the viewers get to see their favourite couple romance and have a fresh new start all over again; If rumours are to be believed, then theres a buzz that Star one's popular show Geet hui Sabse Parayi might follow this same trend post channel's revamp to give a fresh new start to Maan-Geet love story and viewers sure will be looking forward to see their favourit actors and characters go through a fresh journey all over again; Whether it happens or not only time will tell but one cannot deny that it does give lots of scope to the makers to restart a show all over again with a fresh approach..

8) The Saga of Leaps : Another trend which has worked successfully in many cases once a show reaches its saturation point is the saga of taking a leap and giving the story a fresh start all over again with new generation; Past shows like Kyunki saas bhi kabhi bahu thi have seen close to 4-5 leaps and new generations successfully with old characters like Baa managing to stay alive miraculously in all the generations; Recently shows like Zee Tv's Pavitra Rishta and Yahaa mein ghar ghar kheli have also gone for time leaps of few years and have managed to get good ratings post the mini leaps even though rumous of Sushant and Ankita not happy with leap and might quit the show coming Diwali are still doing the talks .Some shows lke Balika vadhu, Phulwa and Laado of Colors have gone for big 20 year generation leaps with a complete new cast change and have managed to grab eyeballs for sure with Balika vadhu rulling the trp charts while Laado in recent times have slipped a bit but still holding its ground, and now it remains to be seen whether Phulwa can cross the bridge for Colors successfully or not; If rumours are to be believed then even Uttaran of Colors is all set to follow the channel's trend and go in for a 6 year leap but the makers are still having debates on this since the current set of actors might not be comfortable playing older roles ;All said and done leaps in family dramas most of the time have worked for daily soaps..

9)  The Saga of Song/Dance sequence or Item numbers : Like Films even Daily soaps are not far behind when it comes to a song sequence between the leads or some item number in a party or wedding ;It has always managed to grab eyeballs for the episode; Whether its Ishaan-Suhaana doing  Aaaj rapat jaaye naughty rain act  or  Maan-Geet doing a Kurbaan hua or Mahi mahi or Roop tera mastana or the evergreen Woh hai zara khafa khafa romantic and passionate numbers, it has always been loved and appreciated by the viewers and not to forget have also helped in getting the ratings for the show as well; Even item numbers seen in shows like Maryada or Pratigya being performed by well-known Actresses like Sayantani Ghosh or Mink have always managed to grab eyeballs; So daily soaps are not really far behind when it comes to giving competition to the Munnis and Sheilas of Bollywood ..

10) The Saga of coming back from the Dead: When Mihir of Kyunki Saas bhi kabhi bahu thi was shown dead, it created a mass hysteria but when same Mihir was back from the dead ,viewers welcomed him with open arms forgetting all the logics because the emotions took over logic and this gave rise to one of the most successful trends in daily soap which is even followed today where whenever a show needs boost in trps, kill the main lead and then bring him/her back either with face change in case the actor quits or with same face but mayb with Memory loss and it works wonders in the trp Chart. While this trend worked wonders in some shows like Kaisa yeh pyaar hai in the past where Angad was back as Zaib or even in the recent Yahaa mein Ghar ghar kheli where Karan too was brough back from the dead and managed to get good ratings in the chart but it failed to get ratings in past shows like Kahi toh hoga or the recent Laagi tujhse Lagan simply because the original actors playing the famous characters of Sujal or Datta Bhau were replaced and viewers could never connect with the actors replacing them...All said and done this trend of coming back from dead does give temporary boost to a sinking show in terms of ratings...

11) The Saga of Sequels or Season 2: Now this is one department where Daily soaps have not seen much success even though the try is still on; Whether its the sequel of Kutumb or the sequel of Kitani Mohabbat hai in the past ,thery have all failed to repeat the success story of its first season; Main reason could be the story is not as exciting as the first season or mayb the viewers expectation from their favourite couple and the show is really high in second season but so far the sequels have mostly failed; Even the current sequel of Choti Bahu has not managed the kind of success Choti bahu season 1 had seen in Trp charts but history can be changed here if the coming marriage fiasco of Radhika-Dev-Barkha is able to get the ratings of this show high ; Sony's evergreen show CID have seen many of its sequel series successfully though and is a rare exception in this case ...

These are the top 11 trends which have been followed in daily soaps over the years and still continues to grab maximum attention when any of the above is followed in your favorite daily soap; Viewers can love these cliche twist and turns, they can hate it too but they can't simply ignore it; Whether these trends are good or bad, they surely manage to bring the excitement and curiosity factor back in the soaps ...

Author - G.Ganguly

Telly Tadka