How Bollywood inspires TV shows...

Waaris – Sarkar and Sarkar Raj

The show Waaris aired on Zee TV revolves around the life of an underworld don, Rudra Pratap Singh (Ashish Vidyarthi), who is searching for a suitable ‘waaris‘ (successor) for the position that he created in the criminal world. Sounds familiar? Of course, it does. Starting from the teasers, the look and feel of the show uncannily resembles Ram Gopal Varma’s Sarkar and Sarkar Raj. The similarities don’t end here. While Ashish Vidyarthi’s character has been heavily inspired by that of Amitabh Bachchan’s, Iqbal Khan as Vidyarthi’s son Shankar is a take on Abhishek, who too played ‘Shankar’ in the film.

Kareena, Hrithik and Hamaari Betiyon Ka Vivaah

Remember Sooraj Barjatya’s Hrithik, Abhishek and Kareena starrer Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon? Sanjana (Kareena Kapoor)’s parents want her to get married. So Sanjana’s sister Roopa suggests the name of Prem Kumar, a US-based businessman. Prem (Hrithik Roshan) lands up in Sanjana’s town and Sanjana’s family receives him. Sanjana is disapproving at the start, but later falls for Prem’s charming ways. But by a twist of fate, everyone (except Sanjana) comes to know that this Prem is not the actual suitor. His real name is Prem Kishen and he is a subordinate of the real Prem Kumar. Well, if you have missed the film, you should watch Hamari Betiyoon Ka Vivaah on Zee TV. The serial is a scene-by-scene rip-off of the film, with two Rajs fighting for Trishna.

The show is also a take on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and Gurinder Chadha’s Bride and Prejudice. As in the book/film, here too you will find four daughters with a nagging mother trying to get them married off to rich men. To attract the viewers and to bind them with the serial, everything is there on the show – romance, comedy, drama, emotions…. Do we need more?

Om Shanti Om and Banoo Main Teri Dulhann

Banoo Main Teri Dulhann (on Zee) or should we call it Om Shanti Om?! For a long time the show was moving towards a climax. It seemed Vidya (Divyanka Tripathi) was getting braver, and ready to face Sindoora (Kamya Punjabi, the female version of Arjun Rampal in the film) in order to protect her husband Sagar (Sharad Malhotra). Sagar, on the other hand, was getting closer to the truth, and then finally realised that his eldest sister meant him harm. And then it happened. Sindoora shot both Vidya and Sagar to death.

But picture abhi baki hai mere dost. No, we never said that, but the teasers of the show shamelessly propagated the OSO theme. Sagar and Vidya were born again. They met, fell in love and got married. And not only that, the couple (now Divya and Amar) have started recalling incidents of their previous births and in the current episodes, Divya is all set to take revenge on Sindoora, exposing her true colours. Does that sound interesting?

Kasautii Zindagii Kay and Devdas

Kasautii Zindagii Kay (on Star Plus) began as the love story of Prerna and Anurag, but turned into Devdas somewhere along the way. Cezanne Khan aka Anurag Basu happened to be the handsome, soft-spoken son of a rich father, while Shweta Tiwari aka Prerna was Paro, who got married into a rich family and a husband she never loved. Yes, her much older husband had three children from his previous marriage, quite like in Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s novel. And a la Aishwarya in Bhansali’s Devdas, Prerna too was gifted a portrait by her husband Bajaj, where she donned the Ash look.

Pyaar Ke Do Naam and Rajshri films

The Barjatyas too draw from their own, and sometimes their friends’. Pyaar Ke Do Naam – Ek Radha Ek Shyaam was a unique melange of films like Hum Apke Hain Kaun…!, and Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge. The serial showcased wedding sequences, complete with sangeet and antakshari ceremonies that characterise Rajshri productions. If you remember, the lead pair Indraneil Sengupta and Barkha Bisht had even unabashedly put on a Shah Rukh-Kajol (and sometimes a Salman-Madhuri) act.

Shveta Salve and Sushmita Sen

Shveta Salve of Left Right Left became the middle-class man’s Sushmita Sen after the soap happened. Be it the way she used her eyes or her flowing chiffon saris, psychiatrist Dr Ritu Mishra’s character took up from where Sushmita Sen left off in Main Hoon Na. The serial was a take on the lives of cadets at a premiere military academy, and Shveta played the muse for the young students just like Sush did in the film.