Rom coms rule the roost

A still from Dill Mill Gayye


Say goodbye to saas-bahu serials and hello to teenage romance. Teenybopper love stories seem to be the flavour of the season what with not one, but four such serials airing on prime time television.

Channels have changed strategy and wooing younger audiences with their Gen-next programmes. So oodles of cakey makeup, weird camera angles, the whole nine yards and those tiffs between saas-bahus have now been replaced with bubble gum colours, casual ensembles and tiffs between lovers.
We take a look at all such young love-centric serials :

Dill Mill Gayye
This show can undoubtedly be hailed as the pioneer in teenage romance. When it was launched, Dill Mill Gayye was touted as a sequel to the once successful Sanjivani. The hospital drama revolves around a bunch of doctors, their lives and experiences at Sanjivani hospital. Once the show started becoming popular, the hospital drama was soon turned into a rom com - read: a humour, emotion and love triangle-filled story. Guess, it was time to introdce a desi Scrubs to the Indian audience.
It also gave us the ever popular Karan Singh Grover as Armaan, the protagonist. Grover won everyone’s hearts with his antics and die-hard love for fellow doctor Riddhima, now played by Jennifer Winget. The serial, which has completed over 300 episodes, has also introduced characters played by Amit Tandon and Shweta Gulati, simply to add some masala and romance to the existing love story.

Sayantani Chakraborty, a Class 12 student is hooked on to this prime time show. She says, “It’s a welcome change from the saas-bahu serials. I never watched those because I couldn’t relate to them. I simply love Armaan’s character in DMG. He’s a die-hard romantic just like me.”

Miley Jab Hum Tum

Riding high on the success of Dill Mill Gayye, Star One soon came up with Miley Jab Hum Tum. This show revolves around two small town sisters, Gunjan (Sanaya Irani) and Nupur (Rati Pandey) who are complete opposites and their adventures when they move to a city college. They share a love-hate relationship with their classmates Samrat (Mohit Sehgal) and Mayank (Arjun Bijlani). The serial, which takes a humourous look at first love, heartbreak, the trials and tribulations of youngsters, is quite popular amongst college students.
Vinisha Seth, a college student and a regular follower of Miley jab hum tum says, “It’s fun to watch a show that revolves around students. It’s almost like watching your own life with a twist.”
Kismat connection

Sahara One’s love story on re-incarnation Jo Ishq Ki Merzi Woh Rab Ki Marzi has now been revamped and re-launched as Kismat Connection. The show which was earlier set in the 1890s is now set in present day and focuses on two couples. Though the original star cast remains the same, two new characters have been introduced. Despite being engaged to two different people, how the lead characters fall in love forms the crux of the story.

The show was allegedly revamped since in its earlier avatar, it’s TRP ratings were at an all-time low. Let’s wait and watch if Kismat Connection manages to grab some eyeballs.

Love Ne Mila Di Jodi

The latest to join the bandwagon is Love Ne Mila Di Jodi which aired yesterday on Star One. The show promises to be a love story cum family drama. The story revolves around three brothers who come to Mumbai and then fall in love with three sisters. How predictable! The show has two known faces, Gaurav Khanna and Chandana Sharma. Besides that there are many new faces like Dishant Arora, Karan Thacker, Simran Kaur and Pemeet Chauhan. Let’s see if this serial climbs up the popularity chart with its new cast but clichéd storyline.

The whole emphasis is on getting young blood hooked to TV serials. Whether the audience falls for these rom coms, or gives it a miss remains to be seen. Do you think it will work? Leave us a comment and let us know.