The paradox of on-screen romance

The much awaited February 14 is around the corner and we know you cannot wait to buy that gift, throw on complementary clothes, hop on to a perfect date and round the day up feeling like that loving on-screen couple you consider #goals. With the spiking popularity of television, the characters of TV soaps have made their ways into our hearts and we often emulate them – in fashion, in makeup and in the relationships. But, all that glitters isn’t gold after all, and here we apologise to break your bubble if you imagine everything is equally gushy-mushy between the biggest pairs of Indian television.

Akshara and Naitik for instance. Even the uncles, who have nothing to do with soaps couldn’t escape these names when Naitik refuses to have a laddu Akshara extends, it becomes a national crisis to be discussed in the Parliament. Now, what if I were to tell you that the actors essaying these roles hate each other’s guts. The mutual repulsion is so intense that Hina Khan and Karan Mehta wouldn’t even say “Hello” to each other to even save their lives.

Things are not all roses and rainbows at the ‘Diya Aur Baati Hum’ set either. Actress Deepika had once landed one tight hot slap on the face that she so fondly caresses on screen, yep, we are talking about Anas Rashid who plays Sandhya Bindni’s husband on the show. The crew jumped in to handle the situation before it got out of hand and precluded the show from suffering the bitterness its main lead shared.

Shocked already? Hold your breath for the truth we are to reveal may send tremors to your heart. The casting of Star’s ‘Yeh Hai Mohabbatein’ is a gift that keeps on giving. Even after all those separations, misunderstandings, and memory loss – the quintessential masala that flavours our serials, Ishita and Raman have our hearts intertwined in their romance. But not so long ago they took to their respective social media handles and took some real wicked jibed at each other – like real dirty mudslinging. Totally had us caught in a situation that can be described as – Awkward!

Pretty sure producer Ekta Kapoor didn’t struggle much in maintaining the TRPs despite the tension brewing between her co-stars because the woman has mastered that art by now. The lead of her historical show, ‘Jodha Akbar’ weren’t the best to go along either. Rajat Tokas, who played Akbar, is said to have some massive attitude issues, and Paridhi Sharma was having none of it. This led to some major discord in the pair, which thankfully didn’t shake the soap or its production.

But that’s not it. Remember the oh-so-adorable Sujal-Kashish and Anurag-Prerna from the late 90s – early 2000s daily soaps? I bet you all do. The re-runs might make you cringe now, but you all loved ‘Kahiin Toh Hoga’ and ‘Kasautii Zindagii Kay’ back in the day and cried along with the destined-never-to-be couples.

Turns out we all wasted our fantasies on them for the reality is, these actors could kill their on-screen sweethearts if only they were allowed to commit one murder. These couples are every romantic heart’s daydream, all lovers’ idols, but the stories on-screen and off-screen have always been so distinct, it’s often impossible to fathom. Looks like you’ll have to look somewhere else for inspiration this Valentines. We say, how about looking into the mirror?

By: Avantika Debnath