There was a time when lovers wanted to get married the way their favourite filmstars got married on the screen. But that’s not just the USP of films anymore. Lavish weddings have become an integral part of television serials also, switching the viewers’ imagination to the small screen. So much so that the loyal fans actually look forward to such grand events in the shows. The TRPs shoot up once a serial shaadi goes on air. And a big fat gorgeous wedding also becomes a breeding ground for high drama, twists and turns which is said to make the story even more interesting!

So who would not want to incorporate something into the daily drama which would draw the viewers to the drawing room and draw their wondrous gasps as well? And weddings from the Balaji stable have always managed to grab eyeballs be it Kkusum or Kasautii Zindagii Kay in the past, and Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii and Kasamh Se in recent times. The best thing is the incorporation of cultural details of different communities in these tele-shaadis.

“People like to watch festivities and different rituals. In Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii we had shown a very traditional Marwari wedding. Similarly, in Kasamh Se, we had a ritual in a Gurdwara followed by the main ceremony in Punjabi-Hindu style. As far as the authenticity of different rituals is concerned, we do our research and also consult people from that particular community to find out the specific rituals,” says Sandip Sickand, creative head, Balaji Telefilms. Adding about the recent marriage in Kasamh Se, he says, “Kasamh Se is known for its real touch. So we are not having any elephants, camels or giraffes in the wedding. We thought we will take people back to the basics and hence our hero will come on a ghodi in the traditional way.”

But is that a dig on the rival show, Saat Phere, on Zee, which had shown its male protagonist Nahar Singh coming on an elephant? “Sharad Kelkar, who plays Nahar Singh my onscreen husband had to sit on the elephant along with a child artiste. The elephant had been brought and was kept waiting for the shoot. But during the take he refused to let them off. They had to keep sitting there for one and half hours after which the child started crying. They had to jump off the elephant later,” recalls Rajashree Thakur (the leading character Saloni) about the elephant incident.

Emotions also run very high in such marriages. Agrees Rajashree, “It was an amazing experience. There were three days of complete Indian marriage festivities from elaborate Sangeet to Mehendi to Shaadi. The costumes were wonderful; I was also wearing real diamonds. The sets were beautifully done. Everything was taken care of. It was great fun.” And interestingly, “The actors on the sets of Saat Phere have become like family to me. In fact, during the bidaai Mohan Bhandari who plays my father, Prateechi my onscreen mum, and my onscreen sister were actually crying. It’s almost like a real wedding,” she exclaims.

And when we talk about a lavish wedding how can it become the talk-of-the-nation unless it has that extra touch of oomph. Having celebrity guests from ‘neighbourhood serials’ is pass? now. It’s time for item numbers and foreign locations. “Neena Gupta performed a song 12 years after her last performance in Subhash Ghai’s famous Choli ke peechhe song. Apart from that, we also had traditional folk singers from Rajasthan who did the famous Kaalbeliya and Ghumar dance,” says Sunjoy Wadhwa, producer of Saat Phere. Similarly, in Kituu Sabb Jaantii Hai, singer Mika was invited to do a special performance apart from other celebrations.

Dia Singh of Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin supports the need for such grandeur. “Jassi was finally getting married to Armaan and that was the highest point in the show. And looking at Armaan’s stature, the marriage was bound to be lavish. So Malaysia seemed to be a perfect setting. It was something different and never done before.” It’s significant that Jassi’s marriage with Armaan was not only organised in Malaysia, but done in an authentic Malaysian style with all the authentic rituals as well.

Actor Amit Verma who recently went through a massive wedding in Sahara’s Kituu Sabb Jaantii Hai has some very interesting experience to share as far as marriage grandeur is concerned. “It was a lavish, well- publicised event. A lot of money was spent. And it was required because I play Rohan Kapoor who is a multi-millionaire. So that way, showing a lavish wedding was actually very important. For the shoot the entire Saina resort in Madh Island was booked. The whole place was very well done up. There were baraat arrangements; there was a ghodi, sitting arrangements, etc. It had the total feel of a multi-millionaire’s wedding in the show. I don’t know how much I’ll be able to spend on my actual wedding, so I enjoyed this to the fullest!”

When it comes to show the lavishness, neither the producer, nor the channel seems to be bothered about the cost factor. Everyone agrees that larger-than-life weddings require extra budget, but that is not a problem. “A wedding has to look good. If you have a screen wedding, you can’t have a dull set-up,” says Ashwini Yardi (Vice President, Programming, Zee TV) adding further that the channel assigns special budgets for such extraordinary set-ups.

There is so much that goes into making a wedding talked about. But is all the hard work, money and planning justified as far as returns in term of TRPs are concerned? “It does help the TRPs. The audiences tend to enjoy it. The different and lavish set-up attracts them,” says Rajshree Thakur. Amit Verma also agrees, saying weddings are great publicity for the show. After Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! and similar films, the whole marriage thing seems to fascinate the audience. Earlier, it wasn’t there so much but now marriages draw a lot of attention. Showing what the bride does, what the groom does, and all the other minute details have actually interested the viewers and in the process have helped the TRPs.

But the channel and the producers don’t seem to agree with this. According to them, these tactics are not intended at fetching more TRPs. They term it just a ‘phase in the story’. “The marriage in Saat Phere was part of the story and it wasn’t just for the sake of the TRPs. When the marriage thing came in, we thought, we might as well make it elaborate,” says Sunjoy Wadhwa, producer Saat Phere.

Similar are the views of producer Manish Goswami who recently had marriages in two of his serials (Sarrkkar and Saat Phere). He says that marriages are necessary for any serial for the simple reason that all the relationships in a serial have to have a natural culmination in marriage. He also adds that when there is a marriage, there has to be celebration, you can’t show a court marriage or a temple marriage. Everyone identifies with the festivities, so it obviously gets the hype. These are the major turning points in the story and provide the twist.

Also, how would the actors who have had the experience of getting married grandly, want to get married in real life? Would they prefer to get married in a similar manner? “I like grand marriages. But I would not prefer unnecessary expenses. However, the basic rituals should be there. Marriage is important. After all, it happens just once in a life. Personally, I would like to enjoy rituals like saat phere, mehendi, etc. But even if not in a very big way, I would like to get married in the normal way with the basic rituals,” says Rajashree Thakur. “As for my own wedding, I wouldn’t like to spend so much. I don’t believe in such lavishness. I would rather spend the money on my new life with my wife. Unless, of course, I start earning as much as the late Dhirubhai Ambani did or as much as all those millionaire out there,” Amit quips.

When actors fancy their own onscreen weddings, one can very well imagine what would be the case with real viewers who see them (the actors) as their role model and try to imitate in every possible way! Nothing to worry about, though. Imagination is always better than reality. And there will be more lavish weddings coming up in the near future with more show and glitter. So, viewers, spruce up for some more proxy pomp, coming up, chakachak. (Sampurn)

Serial shaadis

The most memorable marriage masala

amanat: The show which gave Zee TV its highest rating ever, had the most unusual circumstances under which the marriage of Santosh (Puja Madan) took place. The groom was supposed to get married to her younger sister. But she ran away from home minutes before the baraat arrived. In such an emergency, where the family’s honour was at stake, Santosh was asked to replace her sister and sit for the marriage without the groom knowing about the ‘exchange’. What followed was a heartrending emotional story when the groom refuses to accept her.

koshish ek asha: Ekta Kapoor’s best serial so far, this was the story of a girl-next-door who is caught in the web of relationships and commitments after being tricked into a marriage with a mentally retarded man. She is kept in the dark about the groom and comes to know about it only on her wedding night.

kumkum: The wedding in Kumkum some years back was much talked about when devar Sumeet (Hussain) end up marrying the protagonist, his widowed bhabhi (Juhi Parmar) under dramatic circumstances. What followed was the story of Ek Chaadar Maili Si. This wedding also proved to be the biggest TRP earner for Kumkum.

kasautii zindagii kay: Protagonist Prerna’s (Shweta Tiwari) marriage to Mr Bajaj (Ronit Roy), who was double her age, was anything but normal. Prerna had to marry him in order to save her love Anurag’s (Cezanne Khan) family fortune. Actually, Bajaj had bought them out and had put up a condition before Prerna that he would give everything back to them if she agreed to marry him.

kutumb: People get married so that they can start a new life and be there for each other. But in Kutumb, protagonist Pratham (Hiten Tejwani) and Gauri (Gauri Pradhan) got into the institution of marriage in order to destroy each other. And they kept hating each other throughout the show. But in real life, today they are happily married to each other.

sinndoor: The name of the show itself indicates what this show is all about. One of the most bizarre stories ever told, where hero Dhruv (Sachin Shroff) gets married to a mad girl Vedika (Gurdeep Kohli) only to keep his mother’s word. The unusual twist gave the show the much required ratings and it went on to become the No.1 show on Zee TV.