Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai Take 2' to 'Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon 3: It's the season of sequels

World over shows run in seasons, but here the concept is still alien, at least for fiction shows. There are exceptions like 24, but it’s adapted from an international show and automatically lends itself to the seasonal format. Usually, when a show is a hit, the channel and producer prefer to continue airing it for as long as it gets ratings. Every trick in the trade from generation leaps to characters returning from the dead is used to sustain it. Only when it runs out of steam and the ratings dip, does the serial go off air. Of late, channels have started experimenting with a new formula. They are cashing in on a hit serial by bringing its spinoff when the original is still on air!

Ishqbaaz is a case in point. While it focusses on the love story of Shivaay, Dil Boley Oberoi is about his brothers Omkara and Rudra. Buzz is Kumkum Bhagya will soon have a spinoff, too. Diya Aur Baati Hum went off air after five years, but was back within six months as Tu Sooraj Main Sanjh Piyaji with a new pair of lead actors. Sajan Re Jhoot Mat Bolo has returned as Sajan Re Phir Jhoot Mat Bolo with a fresh lead cast. Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai is back with the same actors, but as a web series. Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon is returning with a third season, Hum Paanch will be revisited as Hum Paanch Phir Se, and we hear Khichdi is also on its way back. Then there’s Hamari Bahu Rajni Kant that is likely to have a sequel.                          

Hit hai toh sequel hai

Since shows are not made with inbuilt breaks, or potential sequels, it depends on how the show fares. As Sumeet Mittal, producer of Diya Aur Baati Hum, says, “Sequel is there because a show is hit. The story in the first part was loved by viewers and it ran for five years. But somewhere we wanted to inject a new story in the existing one. That had to be done on a big scale and for that we needed to take a break. If we had extended the one on air it wouldn’t have got that freshness.” In case of Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai it was public demand that forced the producer to bring it back. In its initial run, the quirky sitcom did not get good ratings, it was only after in its re-runs that it became popular and reached a cult status. “Everywhere I went, people asked me when I was bringing SVS back, even on social media there was a clamour for it, so finally the team sat together and decided to bring it back,” says JD Majethia. It was more or less the same for Sajan Re Phir Jhoot Mat Bolo. When producer Vipul D Shah approached the channel with a show, he was told to make something on the lines of his successful comedy, SRJMB. “I was told it had the right mix of a family sitcom and should bring it back. So, I decided to revisit it, but with a fresh lead cast. The premise is the same, pyaar ke liye jhoot bolna, but the set-up has changed,” he says.

Similarly, IPKKND3  is a totally new season but is carrying forward the brand and tagline of the romance of the original series.                    

Recall value

JD says, “It’s a known devil. People are familiar with the characters, and you know it will not fail drastically. It has better chances than a fresh show.” Sumeet adds that while the legacy helps them bring in the viewers they cannot rest on that. “The story of DABH2 continues with a 20-year leap. Earlier, it was Sooraj-Sandhya’s story, now it is about her daughter Kanak and Umashankar. I also told the crew to consider it a completely new show so that they don’t get complacent,” he says. In SRPJMB the entire cast is new save for Tiku Talsania. The main lead Sumeet Raghavan is replaced by Hussain Kuwajerwala. Says Vipul, “The first season completed 550 episodes, and was on air for three years. People know those actors, the situations, their reactions, and even their nuances. I didn’t want that similarity so I brought in a new set of actors.”

Pressure of expectations

Avinesh Rekhi, who plays the lead in DABH 2, admits he was apprehensive when he signed on. “It is quite natural as the earlier one was popular. I was quite nervous in the beginning, even the makers were nervous. It was a big challenge, because people kept telling, ‘we want Sooraj-Sandhya back’ but once it went on air and people accepted us, everything was fine,” he says. For Vipul, it was a task getting an apt replacement for Sumeet.

“Sumeet had done a wonderful job, and I had to get somebody who could do justice to the role and also bring eyeballs. Hussain fitted in perfectly,” he says. That he is replacing Sumeet didn’t matter to Hussain who is returning to fiction TV after nine years. “I liked the concept and since I have never done situational comedy on TV, which I wanted to do for long, everything fell into place,”  says the actor. IPKKND 3, however, is banking on Barun Sobti who was part of the first one to grab attention. “I am sure there are expectations. I don’t know what kind of pressure the production house or the channel is feeling. They are aware of the expectations, that’s why they are planning this in such a massive way. For me as an actor, the best thing to do is not to take myself seriously, thinking that the whole thing is based on me.”          

Way ahead

Though more and more makers are contemplating bringing on sequels or spinoffs, Gul Khan, producer of IPKKND 3, Ishqbaaz and Dil Boley Oberoi says, “Having seasons is always a good idea. However, the Indian television industry is not financially structured to do shows, season wise yet.”

Nevertheless, every producer who has a hit show, wants to capitalise on it with a fresh season. While Vipul wants to bring back Saas Bina Sasural, JD is not averse to revisiting Baa Bahoo Aur Baby, which he feels met with an untimely death. “It was taken off air when it was at its peak, and it has a lot of potential,” he signs off.