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One of the most loved on-screen jodi is that of Nakuul Mehta and Surbhi Chandna in Star Plus’ hit daily soap Ishqbaaz also spelt as Ishqbaaaz. Their characters Shivaay and Anika are very popular among their fans who have given them a sweet moniker of ‘Shivika’. The ardent fans have dedicatedly watched every season of Ishqbaaz know their passionate love story, crackling chemistry and every plot twist. However, the recent turn of events, in which Shivaay and Anika’s wedding is the centre of attention, has been highly disturbing. In the last few episodes, we have seen everything from marriage by abduction, extreme domestic violence, strong language subtly hinting at something as worse as marital rape! And, what’s with the usage of cuss word ‘rakhail’ (mistress) on supposedly a prime-time family show?
The current track on Ishqbaaz revolves around Shivaay and Anika’s marriage under unforeseen circumstances. They played out the most bizarre reason to get the couple married as no romantic relationship on the Indian television can kick off without ek chutki sindoor, mangalsutra ki takat and saat janmo ka vaada. Yes, it’s a new season of the romantic-drama series (sort of a reboot), and they are doing everything to bring in the freshness and excitement of their love-hate relationship. Fair enough, but what’s with the glorification of bride kidnapping, character defamation and crazy assault sequences?
It begins with the hazel-eyed dude seeking revenge from Anika for ruining his sister Priyanka’s wedding with Daksh. Also, he thinks Anika is responsible for Priyanka’s accident, causing her to be in a vegetative state. So, he has been seething with anger, and it’s here when viewers witnessed the worst of Nakuul Mehta’s character as he goes on a rampage against Surbhi Chandna’s Anika!
He breaks off Anika’s wedding with her fiancé Nikhil. Dramatic gate crashing at weddings are routine plot fixtures in the world of daily soaps, but it was the manner in which the scene unfolded and the choice of Shivaay's words is what are appalling. In this particular sequence, Shivaay brags about being physically intimate with Anika and how the two have spent several nights together in the pretext of work! If that was not cringeworthy, he goes on to show “CCTV footage” of their intimate moments. Obviously, it was a dumb execution with a projector at mandap and all, but his character defamation and leaking videos will remind you countless real-life accounts of women facing the horrors of character assassination and MMS videos leak by scorned lovers.
The ordeal for Anika and non-Shivika fans does not end at this. After Shivaay is done slut-shaming Anika in front of the guests, he abducts her! Yes, the HERO literally picks up the HEROINE like a sack and puts her in his car. Why? Because “Shivaay Singh Oberoi ko naa sunne ki aadat nahi hai! (Shivaay Singh Oberoi doesn’t take NO for an answer)” Take that Amitabh Bachchan and your 'No means No' lecture in Pink!
Moving on with Shivaay’s antics, he orders Anika to marry him. If you thought he is doing this to make up for his brash action of breaking her marriage in the previous episode, you are so wrong. In fact, the entire build-up to the wedding and finally, the reason still gives us the creeps. We see a scared Anika running away from him and how he hunts her down. That was not remotely romantic-ish but the stuff of nightmares.
Shivaay Forcing Anika to Marry Him!!
After a series blackmails and threats, Shivaay finally marries Anika in Lord Shiva temple (why am I not surprised) – the sindoor, mangal sutra and saat pheras wali shaadi. Yes, the guy literally lifts her *again* for the wedding rituals. While all the drama left you in a state of shock, makers and writers of Ishqbaaz delivered the final punch with the most distasteful dialogue ever. We hear Nakuul Mehta as douchebag Shivaay claim this marriage means nothing to him and it’s not legitimate as there’s no evidence or witness to prove it ever took place. And that Anika will be known as ‘Shivaay Singh Oberoi ki Rakhail’ (Shivaay Singh Oberoi’s mistress) in the society! WTF!!! Watch the extremely unpleasant clip below!
A Crying Anika Begging Shivaay to Acknowledge Their Relationship!
A Completely Shattered Anika Lying on the road
Ishqbaaz’s makers and fans seems to have lost the difference between a passionate love story and blatant display of aggressive violence. There’s a scene post the dramatic wedding episode where Shivaay forcefully drags Anika to his room saying 'Biwi Hone Ka Farz Pura Karo, Room Mein Chalo Mere'. You just cannot believe your ears about him ordering her to fulfil his needs (sexual) as a dutiful wife!
Shivaay to Anika: 'Biwi Hone Ka Farz Pura Karo, Room Mein Chalo Mere'
Another Scene Where Shivaay Violating Anika in Ishqbaaz
In all these episodes and dramatisation, what makes you really lose your calm is seeing the female protagonist bawl her eyes out. Surbhi Chandna as Anika is reduced to begging, crying, shrieking and it is not a delightful sight. No amount of intense romance in future days by writers can undo the horror they have shown in these episodes. We fail to understand how the makers are explicitly plugging in obnoxious concepts of non-consent, humiliation and domestic violence so nonchalantly. Actually, they are by cashing on the much-loved hit pair of Nakuul Mehta and Surbhi Chandna. But they fail to realise that such horrific incidents of revenge seeking does take place in real life and it does not end like their show’s ‘happily-ever-after’.
(The opinions expressed in the above article are of the author and do not reflect the stand or position of LatestLY.)
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 04, 2018 04:05 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
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