MUMBAI: Saath Nibhaana Saathiya 2 actress Vaishalee Thakkar thinks festive sequences in TV shows are special.

"Festive sequences are very special in terms of drama and daily soaps because mostly that's where the drama is happening where somebody is getting shot, somebody is falling in love or some secrets are getting revealed and other things are happening, so they become very important, colourful and beautiful sequences and the audience definitely enjoys them," she said.

Audiences love to see their favourite characters all dressed up during the festive season. The song and dance in festive sequences also add value to the storyline and drama. "Just imagine somebody sitting in some village, watching this particular show where everybody is celebrating Holi and there are a lot of colours and songs and dances happening. They definitely love it and if their favourite characters are performing some dances then the audience definitely enjoys it and we definitely see the soaring TRPs," she said.

Also, certain scenes are shot keeping that in mind.

"For a special festive season sometimes the location is changed and the channel also asks the producer to have a different location for it. Even the shooting pattern is changed. We call for a trolley and the latest equipment to shoot. It's shot in a very beautiful way so everything is very beautiful and colourful. Therefore, a lot of effort goes into these sequences," she explained.

For many shows that she has done, festivals are used as a great backdrop where you have to reveal something and unfold secrets or if there is the entry of some other character coming in then that's where this kind of backdrop is used.

"They also use it for romance and it's a very famous technique to use festival backdrop for certain kinds of dramas and it's always been done, especially during Navratri where women power is celebrated," she said.

"We have so many sequences coming in daily soaps where lead is always symbolised as Devi. Holi is more for romance, Diwali is more like a social theme. They show the kind of unity that a family has. So these are the festive backdrops and that's how the story gets weaved in and I have done a lot of scenes and shows like that," she added.

She feels festive sequences help to get more TRPs. "At that particular time, the audience is already in a festive mood and we don't just have an episode. We have a proper track coming in the show where you shoot a few episodes in that festive mode, so when we talk about a week or a 10-day track for the festive season, it is definitely a hit.

"One of the shows which I was doing had a death sequence coming up during the Ganpati festival," she recalled.

But the channel instructed the show's makers to not put any death or serious scenes during the festive season as people don't like to see that because of the celebrations.

"Because of the daily soap, people get so attached to their favourite character or the family that they would be very disappointed if they see their favourite character in pain. We literally had to put a different track in between because it was the Ganpati festival," she said.

"While talking about a daily soap, we are talking about the characters and the daily stories loved by people. When the show is very popular and viewed by a huge audience, they have their favourite characters in the show. They feel that the family is like their own family when they see them celebrating," she added.

Earlier when she started in showbiz in 1998, this concept wasn't there.

"But once the television industry started developing, it became more glamorized. The stylist will style their leads and the family as per the colour combination and everything, the audience also copies. They have this theme of pink and yellow and we see normal families doing the same thing. So we have to understand that the audience actually connects with you emotionally because whatever we do as the characters of the show, the audience tries to replicate that," she said.

"So anything which is so glamorized, people love to see it. Not in the bigger cities, but when you go to two tier or three tier cities, you will see that women actually dress up and they have their sarees and jwellery themed as per the show. Also, the name of the sarees is as per the show like Komolika sarees and Ramola bindis," she added.