Star Plus and acclaimed Producers Gul Khan and Gorky (4 Lions Films) are all set to launch a huge project from tonight (27 June) at the 10 pm slot, titled Ishqbaaaz... The show will give the audience a larger than life canvas, which will be a diffusion of various emotions like love and hate, revenge and redemption.

Tellychakkar.com got in touch with Producer Gul Khan for a candid chat on her newest launch, Ishqbaaaz... And the acclaimed writer, producer, director obliged to share with us her personal ‘Ishqbaaaz’ diary....

So, over to Gul:

People tell me that I always have shirtless heroes in my shows, and that is infact very correct! But nobody has ever asked me why I do that, apart from the fact that they look good shirtless of course!

Today I would like to answer that unasked question since Tellychakkar.com has asked about it finally!

In every story that we have told, if you look carefully, behind every shirtless man there has always been a non conformist woman. And that shirtless handsome man’s job is to make the blow she is throwing at our society, by looking a little less harsh and a little softer.

It’s called subtext by the way, but most people assume that Television makers have probably not heard of that word.

With an industry worth 9 million dollars and with a reach of 167 million households, TV makers hold a very strong position when it comes to shaping thoughts and influencing mindsets of an entire generation. It’s a very powerful position to be in.

Sometimes when there is a scene I am in love with, is on air, I stand on my balcony and imagine the millions of households it must be reaching, right at that very moment.

For instance, when one of our heroines stood in her jeans and asked that, “kaun hai woh chaar log jinke wajah se hum jeans nahi pehen sakte? Aaj mujhe un chaar logon se milna hai!”

It’s truly a joyous moment to see that what is discarded by many as pointless opposition of conformity and tradition, turns into some sort of a national rebellion, reaching out to millions of households perfectly packaged, wrapped around a shirtless hero!

Coming back to the point that behind every shirtless man stood a non conformist woman - In one of the shows, when the hero said “I love you” standing shirtless of course, the girl replied, “I am pregnant and married”, “but I love you too.”

Moral of the story, a pregnant woman dumped by her husband, dares to love another man. And she believes she has a right to find life again!

Trust me the six packs worked!

In another show when the heroine by mistake ends up walking into the washroom of the hero, who obviously is shirtless, it gets cheesier, and in a tub! She is mesmerized by his 6 packs and refuses to leave!

Moral of the story, it might come as a surprise to many, but women can lust after men, and that too men they are not in love with!

We were walking a very thin line here we were told, but the audience loved her, despite her honest opinions on lust!

Thanks again to the shirtless hero, for giving us cover from the shellings thrown at us in our e-mails! But the youngsters lapped it up and loved it!

Since we have become bolder now with our constant endeavor of pushing the envelope, this time in Ishqbaaaz, we will have not have one but three good-looking men, and hiding behind them will be three very strong-headed and non conforming women.

This time the subject of non conformity too is going to get bolder.

The surname! What in India defines everything about you, where are you from, what caste you belong to and obviously your marriage status.

We will question the basic core of our feudalism and re-examine how we all, despite being educated and open-minded, keep contributing to this old and archaic tradition of changing and adding surnames.

Anika (our heroine) in Ishqbaaaz will question this in a very big way and it will lead to an existential crisis of our hero, and hopefully of the people who are watching them.

In the last decade alone, India has lost 10 million girl children before they were even born, all eventually boiling down to the fact that girls do not carry the family name further.

In a country where there are fault lines in every corner and we are deeply divided on many fronts such as religion, cast and class, female infanticide strangely crosses all borders of these divides, and unfortunately the fascination of having a boy totally unites them across religions, caste or class!

Unflinchingly, united we stand when it comes to choosing a son. Because they will carry the name of the family!!

Now we are going to give you a girl who is going to challenge this notion and we assume we will have undivided opposition across all communities, since she will be questioning the core of our feudalistic nature.

But not to worry, we have enough six packs to shield her and hopefully she will be loved and hopefully, she will succeed in at least making a way for lot many other heroines to come after her.

And hopefully people will stop for a second and think before adding new surnames to themselves, like a new owner’s name in a new land lease and rather think of it as a silent and sub conscious conformity which has far reaching and devastating effects on the situation of women in our world.

We do not aim at a revolution, but the revolution is definitely coming, and when it shall come, hopefully Inshallah, Ishqbaaaz shall be mentioned as a pioneer to the thought.

So in short, Star Plus’ ‘Nai Soch’ in the form of Omkara, Shivaay and Rudra has just got lush hair, blue eyes and a very brand new six packs! And it’s called Ishqbaaaz!

Please do watch us at 10 PM everyday on Star Plus, ideally without your shirt (smiles).

Regards,

Gul Khan 

Writer, Director and Producer, Ishqbaaaz

(As spoken to Srividya Rajesh)