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The Most Spectacular Weddings on TV
We all remember crying copiously when one of television's most-loved couples, Prerna (Shweta Tiwari, dressed like a Bengali bride) and Anurag (Cezanne Khan) from Kasautii Zindagii Kay called off their wedding on the wedding day itself, and it was a certain Mr Bajaj (Ronit Roy) who married her and took her home!
It was tragic and one of the first prime-time disappointments. Then, in recent times, Suguna's (Anandi's sister-in-law in Balika Vadhu) gauna ceremony (when the child bride is officially sent to her in-laws' home) came to a tragic halt with the untimely death of her husband. So, what is a prime time wedding without its bumps and potholes?
We take a look at some of TV's popular weddings, when channels and producers went the whole hog, making grand week-long affairs of the wedding, stars hopping from other shows to shake a leg for the newly-weds, everyone dressed up in their bridal finery and loads of naach gaana to Bolly-numbers.
Of course, today every producer worth his TRP has milked this shaadi formula to its last drop. When nothing works, throw in a wedding ceremony and it will attract eyeballs for at least the next five days.
Priya weds Ram in Bade Achhe Lagte Hain
This over-the-hill couple (she in her late 30s and he in his early 40s) are poles apart. They decide to get married for the strange reason that his younger sister is in love with her younger brother.
Priya is reluctant at first but then gives in to parental pressure. Now, of course, they are warming up to each other, after several hiccups (he, for instance, is obsessive while she doesn't think twice before sticking her bindi onto a dinner plate at a restaurant! Ewks!). The viewers can't wait for the two to get hitched and settle into holy matrimony.
The makers, of course, are taking sadistic pleasure in postponing the big day some more.
The pre-wedding festivities, which included the wedding of the younger siblings, got the channel a TRP of 3.6.
Archana weds Manav in Pavitra Rishta
These two cry babies (they have gone through several trials and tribulations and mental harassment at the hands of their respective families) got married two years ago in an elaborate ceremony attended not only by stars from Zee's other shows, but viewers as well (the channel really owed a big one to the show's loyal viewers who have been praying hard for a smooth ride for their beloved on-screen couple).
Held at RK Studios, it had Dance India Dance winner Salman Khan and Little Champs adding naach and gaana to the event that was aired live for its ghar baithe viewers. An invitation was sent out to the viewers via the show and its principal characters, who travelled in local trains and made road trips to invite everyone, making it a free-for-all event.
We are told that more than 5,000 SMSs had poured in blessing the couple. People from all over the country made the trip to Mumbai to be part of the festivities.
Needless to say, the one hour episode clocked a TRP of 5.4.
Tanya weds Tej in Saas Bina Sasural
Theirs was a love marriage. They were in love when the show went on air and are still much in love. It was an interesting match as Tej belonged to an all-male family of seven.
Naturally, her mother was worried sick wondering how she will survive the men. But marry they did, with Anushka Sharma and Ranveer Singh planning their wedding!
Yes, you read that right. The stars' Band Baaja Baaraat, in which they played shaadi planners, was due for release and it was a cross promotion for both the film and the show.
Daler Mehndi, too, performed at the wedding because he was judging a comedy show on the channel. The wedding had piqued the curiosity of everyone given the peculiar purushon ki duniya that Tanya aka Toasty was going to be part of. It clocked a TRPs of 1.5.
Avni weds Bhaskar in Maayke Se Bandhi Dor
She belongs to a lower middle-class Maharashtrian family, is the only working member of the family, has two younger sisters, a brother, an absconding father and a perpetually weepy mother.
She wants to continue giving her salary to her family after her marriage. Bhaskar is a greedy guy whose mother and sisters dream of marrying him off to a golden goose. He cons Avni into marrying him by first agreeing to all her conditions and then doing a volte face.
The wedding had the mandatory haldi rasam followed by mehndi etc. Dressed in the traditional Maharashtrian wedding gear and jewellery, Avni made a pretty bride.
The wedding was not without its share of drama as Bhaskar's family continued making unreasonable demands, forcing her mother at one point to dissolve a fixed deposit! Obviously, there was high tension, and much as you didn't want the marriage to happen, it did, and Avni's woes continue.
The show clocked TRPs of 1.62.
Gopi weds Kunal in Saath Nibhana Saathiya
An uneducated, simple, docile girl, Gopi's ambition is to get married and press her mother-in-law's feet. Her street smart cousin Rashi also gets married into the same family, to Kunal's cousin.
The show started off with the two marriages and after an elaborate, long-drawn-out sequence, Gopi's marital woes began, with her tyrannical mother-in-law Kokilaben wanting to dominate her right from day one.
Needless to say, the wedding episodes found a resonance among viewers as it fetched the channel a TRP of 3, and today it's one of the channel drivers.
Anandi weds Jagdish in Balika Vadhu
This had to be the most-watched wedding. After all, the bride was 10 years old and the groom, 12 or 13. A child marriage between the nakchadhi chuhiya and nakchadha bandar, as they called each other, warmed the hearts of viewers of all age groups.
It was heart wrenching to see Anandi playing hop-scotch one day and a bride the next. For the bride and groom, it was all child's play, where they get to wear nice clothes, eat lots of sweets and generally make merry.
The child marriage was the premise of the show, a first of its kind, about a practice that is still prevalent in many parts of our country. That Avika Gor and Avinash Mukherjee made Anandi and Jagya believable and endearing despite the sad underlying theme, was a winner from day one.
Anandi's school-teacher's fight to stop this child marriage, and Anandi's innocent denial of the same, lent drama to the goings-on.
The wedding was aired in the second week of the serial's launch and got a TRP of 1.5, and only grew in numbers as Anandi's journey as a child bride began on a sticky note under the hawk's eye of Jagya's Dadisa.
Ragini weds Ranveer in Bidaai
The show has long wound up, but the weddings of its two protagonists, sisters Ragini and Sadhna, took weeks of preparation.
Ragini's (Parul Chauhan) wedding went on for three weeks. The dress, the jewellery and the decorations were all done in the UP style, all pomp and glory. Ragini's wedding lehenga was rumoured to be so heavy that she could barely stand in it.
Looking at the almost-real rituals is said to have reduced Parul's real-life mother to tears as she saw her daughter getting married on screen! There was emotional drama, too, as her on-screen father (who's actually not her biological father, but who raised her as his own) did her bidaai and 'emotional kanyadaan', as the channel put it. There was a message attached to it and a big twist at the end of it.
The TRP had skyrocketed to 9 compared to Sadhna's wedding, which fetched a 6.07.
Tapasya weds Veer in Uttaran
Veer is in love with Ichcha, who is Tapasya's maid's daughter. A scorned Tapasya slashes her wrist on the day of the wedding, making Ichcha sacrifice her love and her shaadi ka joda for her childhood friend.
Prior to the wedding, there was drama already as Veer goes against his mother's wishes and decides to marry Ichcha. A few days of celebrations later, D-day arrives. Viewers know all along that this is not a wedding-to-be and cursed the wily Tappu as she emotionally blackmailed the lamb Ichcha into forsaking her fianc .
The best part was Veer going through the entire wedding with Tapasya, not knowing he was marrying the wrong girl! With her ghunghat covering her face, both families are in the dark about the switch.
Ichcha, symbolically dressed in white, weeps over her phuti kismet in her room as Tapasya takes the saat pheras with the man she loves. It is only after Veer takes the bride home that he realises he's married the wrong girl, and all hell breaks loose.
Undoubtedly, a superbly-shot wedding sequence, paisa vasool drama, and a nail-biting climax. It clocked TRPs of 8.2.
Simar/Roli weds Prem in Sasural Simar Ka
Simar is the eldest daughter who is engaged to be married to Prem. But she nurses a secret desire to compete in a TV dance contest.
Her orthodox father is against the whole idea, so she takes the help of her aunt and younger sister Roli, to get an audition for the contest, and even gets selected for the finals. The finals are on the same day as the marriage. Roli fills in for Simar, thinking the latter will be back in time for the pheras.
She isn't, of course, and Prem unknowingly ties the mangalsutra around Roli's neck. The wedding had Naa Aana Iss Des Laado stars attending it, and with the channel's lucky mascot, Avika Gor (who by now had grown into a fine young girl, a far cry from her innocent Balika days) as Roli, one can imagine the rollercoaster ride the viewers are going on!
The show had begun on a tepid note but with this twist, has finally wowed the viewers. The TRPs clocked 3.6.