#BAIRI PIYA 13TH NOV 2009 TV#
“But I hope it all changes-it is reassuring to see familiar faces on TV on your favourite soaps,” she says.Īmarr Upadhyay, who played the ill-fated Mihir in Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, believes the cost-cutting mission will backfire on channels, as the ‘fresh faces’ may not necessarily spin TRP magic. “Since budgets were slashed, channels and production houses started looking for fresh faces who were obviously paid less than the superstars,” she explains.
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Singh has an interesting theory for the demise of the soap superstars: it happened because of the economic downturn, she says. Post Jassi… she consciously reinvented herself to host TV shows, do reality shows (Jhalak Dikhlaa Jaa), turn anchor and emcee at events and try her hand at films (she stars in the upcoming 3 Idiots and Lakshman Rekha). Mona Singh, who had the nation holding its breath for the unveiling of her glamourous avatar in Jassi Jaisi koi Nahi saw the writing on the wall. So have the TV soap stars of yore reached their expiry dates? And to think it was the same audience that once recorded a staggering TRP of 22 when Mihir (of Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi) died. Most soaps today record an average TRP of two or less very few go beyond three. Her two month-old show Bairi Piya on Colors is about the farmer suicides in Maharashtra. The drama queen has finally moved away from saas-bahu stereotypes and gotten ‘real’. Even Ekta Kapoor, the reigning soap queen who had channels vying for her soaps all along, had a bit of a shakeout last year when Star TV took the bold step of dropping three of Kapoor’s shows which had been running for the last seven years.