Pioneers of Art! What DevonKeDev Mahadev was to Mythologies, Ishqbaaz has been to Romantic Dramas!

In an era where very few things are left to the imagination as the average viewer is bombarded with multiple sources of entertainment, it is undoubtedly a herculean task  to sustain any level of engagement, especially on TV. Yet, once in a while a show comes along that catches your eye on day one. You think, huh! not bad, lets check it out one more time and then just one more, and long before you know it an entire season has passed by and you didn’t miss a single episode. Then you tell yourself, there is no way someone can sustain this level of interest and besides when additional characters come in, it will change the dynamics as others may not be as good or even well-etched out as characters, leaving a lot of room for boredom to set in. But no, this show proved us wrong again, and again and again. Ishqbaaz, has been to all romantic dramas on TV and even films, what Devon Ke Dev Mahadev was to all mythologies when it aired back in 2011. Like how Devon Ke Dev Mahadev redefined the scale and depth of writing and presentation with a perfect cast and brilliant screenplay, Ishqbaaz has broken away and created new canvases to showcase romantic dramas.  Each day was a new cinematic experience. How can one not appreciate the tireless hours that must have gone into sketching the perfect screenplay which ranged from romance, bromance, suspense, to the ideal dash of humor at the precise moments (which reflects the genius of the writers)! As the world bids farewell to this ground breaking show, wanted to take this moment to thank the writers, editors, director, cinematographers, art directors, casting directors, music directors along with the entire crew and the generous visionaries who were the creators and producers of this show. Kudos to the love, effort and joyous design of a phenomenal show that pioneered art in a sensational manner, breaking new grounds, bull dozing barriers, carrying trends and catapulting its star cast to new heights of performance. Amidst the unnecessary social media drama due to comings and goings (which is but natural, given the need to channel all that love and energy and interest in some way, failing which it can at times go awry, yet), if we could pause to truly appreciate and acknowledge that it takes a visionary to imagine such a show, brilliant writers to tell the story, art directors to splash the screen with riveting colors, directors, cinematographers,  and editors who know what to capture, what to keep, how to elicit that emotion and know when to stop the actor from digressing from the perfect emotion needed to sustain the audience’s interest and that too week after week for 13 seasons, one cannot deny that it definitely deserves a heartfelt celebration of their achievement. Ishqbaaz deserves some special award in the history of Indian Television for bringing to its audience a refreshing experience. While there is no denying the superb acting skills of each and every single actor who was a part of Ishqbaaz, one cannot but wonder, if it was not the space that was created by the producers and crew that was a core motivating factor in continuously eliciting such great performances from its cast. Creative expressions occur only when there is a lot of love, support, security and a champion, which right till the last season, seemed intact. This article is an ode to each and every crew member that designed and executed the production of this show week after week. It is to thank them for the timing of the music, the nuances in lighting, dialogues, dialogue delivery, angles, background, scene changes, and most importantly the brilliantly interweaved, drama, romance, bromance and suspense with the perfect pinch of humor at the most unexpected of moments making it an exhilarating and delicious experience.  The show simultaneously also let you celebrate the entire history of Hindi Cinema in one place with fresher, newer, and many a times way cooler screenplay and acting. It was always a delight to see the leads give interviews, but the interest was piqued to hear what the writers, producers and directors had to say. Yet the one time one of the writers wrote, it appeared to have had a backlash instead of letting us learn from such a beautiful mind, how one can create so much joy and entertainment. It is not to take away from the love one has for certain characters, as there is no question of the brilliance of each of the characters, yet it took away the months of love that had been poured into that character by the writer, which for some reason seemed hard to return to at the end. The viewers’ thirst to see more of what they like is natural. For instance, even in recent films, certain characters made such a splash on screen that the audience wanted to see a lot more of them. And when you love a story and certain characters in it, you hope theirs is a happy ending, allowing the audience to live vicariously through their experience, which leads one to hope that the makers may at some point in the future utilize the ingenious loophole they had left before the redux version began and pick up that thread to allow fans to see one last time what may have happened if the main characters had never separated that night and how their lives may have indeed turned out! Even if that never happens, it still cannot take away the stupendous effort of the makers and their team, including the superb cast for bringing such a beautiful experience to our screens. So, as we move Ishqbaaz to the hall of fame of pioneering art on TV, like Devon Ke Dev Mahadev, here’s to the entire team for a job superbly done! and wishing them continued success!