Friday, May 25, 2012

Eka Jhakaas serialchi doosrich goshta (Different perspective of an awesome serial))

According to my dear hubby, when I am watching "Eka Lagnachi Doosri Goshta" on Zee Marathi, I seem to carry an invisible sign on my forehead which reads "Please Do not disturb". Well, a sign which apparently only my hubby can read.

I genuinely understand the sarcasm underneath his keen observation and I also know that I am one amongst the growing statistics who has fallen prey to this  uniquely titled serial. It is not only worth watching but to its credit it has brought together an eclectic mix of audience back to their respective living rooms.

Mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, teenagers, young children and grand parents too... all are hooked on to it equanimously. Friends are discussing with each other over tea breaks about Ghanashyam and Radha's life's ups and downs (the stars of the show)as if they are talking about their next door neighbors, housewives are dying to know what next, the youth completely identify with the young characters and their lifestyles and old folks simply love the family bonding.

A serial be it in any language, the viewer profile is very clearly defined. In the typical parlance of TV advertisers, media buyers/planners and producers, the target audience would strictly be a 'SEC (Socio Economic Class) AB, Female, 25years plus, Mostly Tier 1/2 cities'. And this is whichever geography you chose to focus on. For instance, a Tamil serial or Kannada serial or Marathi serial would have the same audience profile, largely women. The only difference would be the language.

But this serial, has after a long time completely changed the audience profile dynamics. Sitting in the drawing rooms of Maharashtra whether a city like Mumbai or mofussil like Nasik has at 8.30 pm on week days a long with the women are tweens/teens, youths, males  to even aajis aani ajobas sitting in their favorite chairs glued to the TV and watching gleefully the drama in the lives of Ghana and Radha unfurl.

For those who are new to Eka Lagnachi Doosri Goshta (ELDG), its a light hearted romantic story of a young guy and girl, Radha and Ghanashyam who are ambitious and have their own goals & aspirations in life. Ghana's passion is to land a software job in US. He is very focused and will go to any limits to achieve the same. Radha is very independent girl and confident about her career moves and choices in life. She adores her father and dotes on him. She is doing great in advertising industry. Both full of fun come together and get married for reasons known only to them, and there on the story progresses with comic situations in their life and the twists and turns that are to follow.


I must say that I got hooked on to this serial a little later after it was launched.But after watching once or twice, I have not only got hooked to it but look forward to it  each weekday evening. And knowing that I may not be able to watch it every day, I have even pre-recorded the entire series.(Thank you Technology). This way I can catch it even later on if required.

What needs to be noted here is that the serial has a never before lethal combination which has got the simple Marathi manoos hooked on to it.

A hatke story + fabulous acting by one and all (more so Radha and Ghana for the nuances)+ great script + bang on casting (Koohoo, Devaki Kaku and Mau) + brilliant direction (Satish Rajwade) = Eka Lagnachi Doosri Goshta (ELDG)

Talking about the actors, their absolutely natural acting breathes so much life into the fictional characters of  Mahesh Rao, Devaki Kaku, Dnyana, Mau, Atya etc that they seem like our real life cousins, uncles or aunts or mother or father or niece or nephew. Either you identify with one of the characters or you feel like you know them from before.

Today's youth can be pretty blase about 'liking' a serial on FB especially if its non English. A typical reaction would be ..marathi serial...bah ..! or turning up of noses.
But Eka lagnachi...'doosrich goshta' aahe.
The fact that its FB fan following is 36000 plus (yes, I checked that as well) in a short span of few months itself proves that even the Marathi yuva pidhi has appreciated it and is flaunting its new interest on its FB profiles. It was a known fact that erstwhile Marathi serials have been always popular for all the right reasons such as good script, realistic acting and story but limited only to women, housewives or elderly folks. But after a long time we have seen the family coming back together to watch a serial.
For me too, it had been quite some time that I had seen the liquid crystal display emit any light on channel 836 (Zee Marathi). And now it does every week day without fail (mostly) at 8.30 pm since past many weeks.

Kudos to the entire team at ELDG and Zee Marathi for this pure entertainment...indeed you have scripted a doosrich goshta (a different story) here. And I am loving it!

Happy viewing to all my friends!


9 comments:

JUST LIKE THAT said...

absolutely well written .. am too a total fan of ELDG

Priya said...

Thanks Vedya...me too loves to watch this :)

Vaibhav Khale said...

This is the best marathi serial after "ASAMBHAV" by director Satish Rajwade. I read your post as I found it while searching about ELDG on google. I am too a very big fan of ELDG. The entire content written by you is too good. Hats off.. :)

- Vaibhav Khale

https://www.facebook.com/vaibhav.khale

Priya said...

Thanks Vaibhav, appreciate the same :)

Alka Tiwari said...

Another feather in the cap for this show is it is very popular with the overseas audience as well. Me and my friends along with our husbands eagerly wait for the show and love to discuss the storyline. A very rare thing for any show. Yes , the bang on cast is instrumental for its success. Ghana and Radha have become an integral part of our daily lives.

Priya said...

wow..I am surprised to hear about its popularity abroad. The best thing about the serial is the almost faultless acting by one and all. The serial has a feel good element in it. I am sad as it seems to be coming to an end shortly.

Vaibhav Khale said...

Totally.. As recently the episodes of the serial are available on desitvforum.net in about two hours after the episode is aired on TV, it becomes very convenient to watch. Many of my friends who have been staying elsewhere abroad and those who are out of city for studying, they too get a lot of advantage from the online episodes. I must say, I will surely miss this serial after it ends in august.. :(

Unknown said...

Nicely written... I was actually searching for a pic from ELDG and landed up on your blog... I would like to add a point to this... I guess, the simplicity of the characters and the dialogues between them has made people connect more to it... No excess special effects, extravagant sets etc... That added a perfect feel of real life to its reel, keeping a fine line of it dramatics intact...A near perfect star-cast, direction, writing and great background score! There is a void left at 8.30 slot now!

Priya said...

Thanks Alka, Vaibhav and Tejas. Appreciate your comments.

And yes, with the closing of this series I have started experiencing withdrawal symptoms. The 8.30 slot was indeed something to look forward to. :)