New Delhi: TV show ‘Tere Ishq Mein Ghayal’ has been facing a lot of flak for being a copy of the popular Hollywood show ‘The Vampire Diaries’. Some have gone far enough to call it a ‘cheap rip-off’ and ‘totally cringe’. Meanwhile, Shipla Agnihotri, who has made a comeback with the show, has responded to allegations about the same. In an interaction with a publication, Shilpa said that it was unfair to compare both these shows.
Shilpa told Hindustan Times, “It took nine months to shoot one season (of the original show) which comprises 13 episodes, whereas we end up shooting that season in 26 days, or maximum 35 days, so what are we comparing here?.”
“We don’t even have the bandwidth to match the quality, so how can we even compare the two shows. This is a daily soap because everything here is cut to cut. When I reached the set for the first time, I was even surprised to learn that they are shooting for 17-18 hours every day.”
When Shilpa was asked if showrunners in India should focus on what they are good at instead of copying the West, she told HT, “I think it’s the ‘what if’ that keeps everybody going in the industry. Who would have thought that a show on dayans and naagins would do so well in today’s time. It was a surprise that people indeed accepted such characters. So, who knows what works.”
The actor further added when she was approached to play the role of Vish Kanya, her reaction was, “Are you mad. Kya kar loge tum isse?’ However, she did go ahead to play the part as this was something she had never done before.
Shilpa also gave a pragmatic answer around the trolling saying that no showrunner green flags a project knowing that it would be trolled mercilessly or be a flop show. “If tomorrow, I wish to recreate Grey’s Anatomy, as a producer I might have certain ideas and expectations regarding the show. But everything sort of changes when you start the groundwork. Once the channel has approved the project, makers have to get verifications, look into what the audience want and what they don’t, wahan se aate aate everything changes. Kya soch kar nikalte hain, aur kya banne lagta hai and finally kya banta hai, uss mein most of the time bohot difference hota hai.”
Shilpa also emphasized that there is a lot of difference on what is written v/s when the show is actually shot. Sharing that having undergone similar experiences in the past, she said, “A story was narrated to us but at commencement, it was something different. While shooting it, it began to change a little more and after we were on air and had given two episodes, everything changes because everyone has suggestions for improvement ki ‘aisa krenge toh better lgega.’ That’s how TV works. I don’t think there is much of space for creativity here. I also understand that you or me would not be the kind of people who watch TV but I am pretty sure there must be good shows happening even now because producers are constantly trying to bring out something new.”
Meanwhile, ‘Tere Ishq Mein Ghayal’ also stars Reem Shaikh, Gashmeer Mahajani, Karan Kundrra, Nalini Negi, Arun Bijlani, Kunal Khosla, Nia Sharma among others.