By Anil Merani: Star Plus show Iss Ishq Ka Rabb Rakha falters on the TRP scale. This Fahmaan Khan and Sonakshi Batra-led effort, which earlier was hovering around 1.2 or the early evening 7.20 slot has further fallen. The latest number is 0.9, which is not what the doctor ordered. As per industry chatter, A TRP below 1.5 often spells trouble for a show in a competitive slot, signalling to producers and channels that it’s not pulling enough viewers to justify its costs.
Star Plus mandarins must not be pleased. It does not even air sub 7 pm, so there is no fig leaf for low ratings. Star will not be wrong if they expect more significant numbers.
So far, we do not know if the show is currently under the scanner. Some unconfirmed report back at the fag end of 2024 had suggested “Sword of Damocles” hanging on the show’s fate, which the producer Saibal Banerjee had then denied.
According to fan chatter, the show has several red flags, including shifting the emphasis from the leads (MeghBir) toward less engaging secondary characters or “bland” subplots. This shift might be diluting the appeal that initially drew audiences, causing dissatisfaction among fans who expected a consistent focus on the romantic and cultural clash storyline.
The fans and show actors feel miffed about the lack of channel promotion. Star Plus uses its marketing muscle to push biggies like Anupamaa or Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai to the detriment of other low-rating offerings. The stans feel. Instead, the reverse should be the need of the hour.
Some die-hard Iss Ishq Ka Rabb Rakha fans feel the show has enough juice for the long haul, providing it gets the heavy lift support.
The writers of Iss Ishq Ka Rabb Rakha and most shows need to wake up and smell the coffee. Gone are the days when they could rest on stereotypical portrayals (e.g., the Bengali family). Today, the audience has wisened up. They will not tolerate being taken for a ride. The show promised a unique cultural romance, but if it leaned too heavily into typical soap opera tropes (e.g., family drama over romance)
The audience will bolt in drove if you don’t deliver something innovatively presented ( even in the limited saas-bahu space)
With IPL approaching, the process of commissioning new shows slows down, and the maker has a slim margin of a few weeks to make up for creative missteps. The need for creative innovation is more pressing than ever.
If the numbers dont perk up, the channel might shunt the show to slots below 7 pm and eventually pull the plug, a grim prospect for the future of ‘Iss Ishq Ka Rabb Rakha ‘.
A few weeks back, Fahmaan and Sonakshi were confident that the show would last 1K episodes. Only time will tell whether this was absolute confidence or bluster.