5 Plot Tricks That Indian TV Soaps Should Simply Do Away With!

5 plot twists that Indian audiences have suffered long enough. TV guys, please get rid of these now!

Mouni Roy in a still from the popular TV soap Naagin (Photo Courtesy: Colors)

Saas-bahu sagas might be passé, but Indian television continues to feed its audiences clichéd plot twists that have now become simply unbearable. In a world of shows like The Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad and House of Cards, predictability should be thrown out the window for original plot twists, that genuinely enthral and hook audiences to the show. Re-vamping plot-lines that are well structured can go a long way in helping improve what the idiot box currently has to offer.

Indian soaps give no attention to detail. Logic of course does not exist in the world of dhoom-ta-na-na! It begs the question, are we really not ready for sensible, realistic content at all? There’s only one way to find out and it’s high time that show makers abandon these 5 abused plot twists that just don’t work for us anymore!

1. Wicked Women Just for That Extra Tadka

Vamps who do nothing all day but plot evil in the lives of the protagonist are BORING. We can definitely do away with these ladies, their 24X7 make up and their pointless luring of male leads. Characters need to be more complex and real.

Komolika from Kasauti Zindagi Ki (Photo: YouTube)

Wouldn’t we love to see a vulnerable yet dark side of Komolika from Kausauti Zindagi Ki, or a shade of grey in Payal from Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thhi?

2. Let Characters Die, Say No to Plastic Surgery!

So Mihir of Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thhi is in a car that blows up. But jaako raake saaiya maar sake na koi. And Ekta Kapoor is no less than god himself in the big bad world of TV soaps. So Mihir doesn’t die. In fact, he comes back as a brand new person, with a winning personality and a face that’s all plastic.

The miracle called Mihir Virani from Kyunkii Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thhi (Photo Courtesy: HotStar)

We might have bought Ekta’s ‘rebirth’ twists back then, but we have now caught on to the fact that contracts run out and even actors get sick of the same old twists. It’s downright tragic that we are yet to evolve and learn how to stop dragging story-lines endlessly.

3. Bizarre Kidnappings

Senseless kidnapping just to spice things up is dumb quite frankly. We get it, actors want to take holidays. So writers get scripting temporary exits that are as easy as a game of lost and found.

Off screen holiday = on screen kidnapping :P (Photo: Colors)

And if a character gets lost, someone needs to find him/her. So the whole show becomes a test of one’s true love. The bizarre Sasural Simar Ka kidnapping is on the same lines. But honestly, we’re at a point where we couldn’t care less about Roli being found :P Guys, don’t murder your own shows please!

4. Generation Leaps Without Adequate Wrinkles

The funniest trick of the trade is one that no TV soap has managed to escape yet. From Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki back in 2000 and Uttaran in 2005 to Ye Hain Mohobbatein in 2016, all have seen the next generation bloom into equally black and white characters as the previous one. Qubool Hai  has taken a leap twice over on the show, maybe they thought third times’ the charm?

So let me get this straight. When you run out of plastic surgeries and bizarre kidnappings, the show takes its biggest leap of faith with a generation gap? Funnily enough, the younger lot grows up but the older lot remains just as photogenic.

Promo of TV Show Qubool Hai after the leap. (Photo Courtesy: YouTube)

Guys, ever heard of the concept of ageing?

5. Mysterious Supernatural Beings

Sci-fi characters are the latest trend and every other channel is infusing them into their stories as evil serpents and ghosts. Currently on top of the charts (which is Indian TV’s lowest low) is Naagin. Hamari Adhuri Kahaani has a naagin and a daayan! But have you managed to catch a glimpse of Yeh Kahan Aa Gaye Hum’s rockstar by day tiger by night creep? Vishkanya tells the story of a woman whose blood is poisonous.

A scene from Naagin (Photo Courtesy: India Forums)

Is it just me or is Indian TV getting more regressive and superstitious by the day? Well, here’s my honest reaction to what TV channels are churning out in the name of drama-

My feelings for Hindi TV soaps, that’s right! 

Thankfully, there a few exceptions to this scripted madness. The popular channel Zindagi offers some gems from sarhad paar, which try hard to put some sense back into our over the top dramatisation.

Does the half-hearted argument that ‘Indian audiences want over the top shows’ still hold true? In fact, television back in the 90s had some original gems like Dekh Bhai Dekh, Tu Tu Main Main, Hip Hip Hurray!, Shaanti and more. Solid story-lines, great actors and endearing portrayals of reality were things we were good at. Maybe it’s time we broke the spell Ms Kapoor has cast on us.