Proud to break away from the usual trope with her new family show, Uff… Yeh Love Hai Mushkil, writer Sonali Jaffar critiques risk-averse television landscape
(From left) Shabir Ahluwalia and Ashi Singh in Uff...Yeh Love Hai Mushkil
While writers in Bollywood and digital entertainment struggle to navigate the spectrum, the television industry tells a different tale. Writer-producer Sonali Jaffar, who has previously penned shows like Bade Acche Lagte Hain, Pyaar Ka Dard Hai Meetha Meetha Pyaara Pyaara, Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya, and Bahu Hamari Rajni Kant, says she has “no complaints”. Now, Jaffar returns with a new show, Uff... Yeh Love Hai Mushkil, starring Shabir Ahluwalia and Ashi Singh, which hit the small screen yesterday. In conversation with mid-day, she discusses shifting trends on TV, how the show’s messaging aligns with the channel’s vision, and why the team avoided melodrama.
Excerpts from the interview.
What prompted you to come up with this concept?
When we approached Sony SAB, we knew their messaging was all about family entertainment. We wanted to make sure we didn’t deviate from that. One thing we felt was lacking on the channel was romance, so we wanted to incorporate that with a twist. It couldn’t be the typical boy-meets-girl story. We wanted romance within a family setup. So we added the tadka of family to the romantic element.
Sonali Jaffar
We are at a time when family viewing as a concept is no longer widely practised. Even TV shows have become private viewing experiences on the web. Do you think people will still come together to watch the show?
I feel the channel has achieved that with Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah. The show has become a habit, and families do watch it together. So we wanted to use the same platform to tell a new story. If we manage to achieve that, it would be wonderful.
The channel also talks about portraying more reality than melodrama. So is this show free from over-the-top antics?
It has been our brief from the start. We were told [no kitchen politics] and melodrama. We had to show the real problems of these youngsters, which the protagonist then helps resolve. The only heavy part of the show is his backstory. It’s much more about fun and masti. We only pitched the concept. It was meant to be more in the space of films like Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi [1958] or Satte Pe Satta [1982]. It’s a fully alpha-male home, and the fun begins when women enter that space.
After writing for TV for so long, what do you think is the current trend? How is the medium faring?
I feel TV isn’t doing too well. This is the time for change and TV needs risk-takers, not safe bets. Unfortunately, most channels are still playing safe — taking regional shows and recreating them [in Hindi]. But viewers have already seen those. So, what’s the point? You have to explore new boundaries. Everyone is satisfied with being safe; no one is trying to excel. It’s true that sometimes you’ll succeed, and other times you won’t. But one must take that risk. I thought the channel was brave to take on this show despite it not being within their usual genre. We shaped it to suit the channel’s messaging — added a layer of romance, family values, bonding, and humour instead of going the saas-bahu route.
For decades, stories revolving around kitchen politics have worked. Why are those shows still topping TRP charts if the viewers have changed?
The audience must still want that kind of entertainment. Big cities are no longer the primary TV viewers — in fact, they’ve mostly stopped watching. So yes, this show is a risk, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. If you give the audience a good story, they will always return.
How do you change the trend? It’s not like people haven’t tried before. Even Ektaa R Kapoor tried something different with the Sonali Bendre show Ajeeb Daastaan Hai Ye, but it still faced criticism.
By introducing unique programming. For Ektaa, Naagin was different, and that worked. First of all, the writing must be superlative. When viewers watch the show, every episode should offer a bit of everything so they return for appointment viewing — which reflects in TRPs — instead of waiting for it on OTT.
Be it Hindi cinema or the digital space, writers still don’t get their due, especially with regard to pay and credit. Yet TV doesn’t seem to have that problem. Why?
I’m not complaining. I feel television compensates its writers well, and in this medium, the buck starts and ends with writing.
Up Next
After writing Bade Acche Lagte Hain, starring Ram Kapoor and Sakshi Tanwar, Sonali Jaffar now returns with the new season of the show, set to launch on June 16. She says, “This time, the story is completely different. It is about a girl who hires a man to be her husband because she is meeting her parents, who believe that she has been married for long. It is a nice love story [with lots of drama].”
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