Bharvi Shah has had an illustrious career in the entertainment industry with her pen doing the talking and her creatively inclined mind leading the way!!

After being actively involved in lot many successful TV shows like Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, Kkusum, Bidaai to name a few in the capacity of Creative Director and Writer, Bharvi is now calling shots as Creative Producer and Writer in the successful &TV show Queens Hai Hum, produced by Jyoti Gupta. 

In conversation with Tellychakkar.com, Bharvi talked about her overall journey, about Queens Hai Hum and much more. 

Bharvi said, “It’s been a journey of more than 18 years now. Though I have been involved in Gujarati theatre for a long time, television came more naturally to me. It has been an enriching experience working in this medium for all the years.”

Talking about the ‘three musketeers’ in the writing team of Queens Hai Hum, Bharvi averred, “Currently, I am involved in writing for Queens Hai Hum, and also am the Creative Producer on the show. We are three women in our writing team. Razia Rizvi, comes with an experience of working for more than 10 years in Zee TV and Balaji Telefilms. She brings in the much-needed channel perspective while writing. Prarthi Dholakia, the newest writer of the team, who is also a theatre actor, brings in a third- party’s perspective of a fresher.”

When asked about the ‘difference’ that Queens Hai Hum has brought to TV amidst the usual GEC shows, Bharvi explained, “Our show’s tagline – “Real Thodi Zyada Hai, Fake Thodi Kam” very aptly describes the USP of the show.  All our heroines are way far progressive than what women are shown in normal GEC shows. Similarly the issues and situations are bold and far more relatable and real!  In our very first episode, we showed our heroines discussing about virginity and sex lives while sipping wine comfortably in their swim-suits! So definitely, the viewers have got to view something unique.”  

Bharvi feels that it is important to not get into the stereotypical way while adding value to the drama quotient of a show. “Firstly the concept of ‘Queens Hai Hum’ by itself is such that there’s no scope for tried and tested formulas; so getting stereotyped is taken care of.  Drama is necessary to highlight the issues/tracks on the show; so we present them in a different but interesting and real manner by brainstorming. Also, at times we derive inspirations from people around us.”

Bharvi who has been around in the industry for many years now certainly feels that the TV viewing audience has gone in for a change with time. “In cities, people are watching less of television and more of web-content while in rural and small-town areas, content is consumed only on TV. So the programming style has been modified and therefore we see less of progressive content and more of typical high-voltage drama shows to keep the masses glued on to their TV sets.”

With five Queens in her show, Bharvi went on to talk about the impact of television on women and on the society in general. “TV is a very strong medium with the widest reach. So the impact of whatever we show is huge!! For i.e. people also get majorly inspired by the look of the show. Masses also get influenced by the way festivities are celebrated on TV. As far as negative impact is concerned, people expect too much from their daughter-in-laws. Therefore pressure on a woman builds on to be the perfect soap-like heroine i.e. super woman! Their individuality and human side is hardly touched upon; her dreams and aspirations are least considered.”

Addressing the change in time slot that Queens Hai Hum has got recently after being moved to the early slot of 6.30 PM, Bharvi stated, “This is a boon for sure. Honestly, at 6.30 pm show we have less of competition and we are hoping to get fresher audiences. Who knows, the early prime time might just be the game-changer for us, provided our audience is ready for progressive content like ours!”

On her experience of working with the industry veteran Jyoti Gupta, she averred, “Producer Jyoti Kumar Gupta, had the courage to produce an out-of-the-box and bold concept like ‘Queens Hai Hum’ on Indian television as his very first show as a producer. He has given total creative freedom to everyone in the team and has also encouraged new talent in the show - both in front of and behind the camera. And together as team, our success mantra is ‘creativity with commercial interest.’”

Way to go, Bharvi!!