Issues With 4Lions Heroes
from @rae-blogging:
AJ! Here I am, back to annoy you yet again (also planning on starting a blog just to rant about Indian serials because I do that way too often on my main blog, what do you think?) so I'm back to watching Ishqbaaz (idk if you can answer this here because it's unrelated to IPK) but I want to know your take on Omkara character and the absolute mess it became in DBO, like Omkara was my favourite 4Lions male character probably (I have not seen Qubool Hai past the first season so idk anything about Aahil) but why did they make him into a complete douche in DBO to the point where he was okay with practically handing Gauri over to be assaulted? And the fact that they never really talked about all her trauma in Ishqbaaz? Do you think they were conscious decisions on the part of the makers? Also do you have a favourite timeline from the show?
P.S. Sorry the ask got long and I probably spoke more than I asked
Dearest Rae,
Starting your own blog is always a great idea! I started Jalebi Likes with that motto - to discuss everything non IPKKND. Lol, so I posted your ask here to talk about Omkara from Ishqbaaz.
(that, my dear, is probably Omkara's own reaction at what he became to begin his 'angsty' love story).
It was unfortunate that they made him Shivaay 2.0 when in reality out of the three brothers it was Omkara who kept me hooked in Ishqbaaz. There was something very real about him. His character was, by far, the most interesting and intriguing one. We don't understand the level of his traumas given he appears 'sorted'. Has suicidal/addiction issues perhaps given his own screwed up parents and is really relatable in the form of he's wise, he's mature, he's aware that his family is screwed up but he's hanging in there. It's a daily effort for him to not be what his parents are and he's trying to be a better human being.
But one day, just one day given his untreated mental health he might even end up dead.
Ugh my heart for this man. Especially when in the initial episodes when Shivaay is being whiny about his family and like how he is a damaged human being in lieu of them, Omkara quietly snaps and reminds him that he too has a terrible family YET he's NOT using that as a crutch for anything unethical.
Them destroying this - THIS - man for whatever the hell DBO was is one of the many sins committed by 4Lions. And what's sad is Gauri-Omkara has the potential for an angsty love story even if they kept Om as what he was initially planned.
But no - they reduced him to a hair flicking abusive misogynist and God knows what (I heard he returns Gauri to her abuser, wtf) so as to they can have 'tashanbaazi'.
And the biggest problem with all of this is Omkara was never written as an anti-hero.
The only anti-hero 4Lions ever wrote well was Arnav, and he too had his own share of problems.
At this phase of 4Lions, they really thought abusive men ARE everything. This is a show where Shivaay-Annika are touted as 'the' couple where Shivaay has sexually harassed/threatened Annika MULTIPLE times.
And the sketch for that is given to characters as 'romance'. I remember Nakuul saying that the first 'romantic' scene Annika-Shivaay have is one in the pool. I only like Shivika as an established couple, platonic banters, or their few angsty bits. Scenes like below are a torture for me:
By this you can understand how the scene was briefed by the producer/director to the actors - they thought Shivaay harassing Annika was romantic?! Like thank the heavens they never thought Arnav tearing Khushi's blouse was romantic! In fact from Sanaya-Barun's interviews you can understand it wasn't explained as a 'romantic' moment.
But the fact is in IB the producers, directors and writers were at an all time high and off about what's romance (sometimes they still are? with Aryan they're very right actually for a change).
They couldn't think of romance beyond what they laid with Shivaay-Annika. And hence they morphed Omkara into being this abusive asshole and I have no idea what.
To be the devil's advocate though,
Gauri and Omkara have really good angst and redemption once they get their heads straight. And this angst was really worth it.
But yes, how could the makers talk about trauma when they literally use 'traumatizing' women as a way to show angst? They really went into this hole of a man pushing a woman to the most absolute worst situation possible and then showing him as a 'hero' for saving her.
Which is why my favorite part of IPK and why I even watched it is when Arnav saves her from the guesthouse - nobody is remotely impressed by it. He's not given a hero's glow up and everyone is like "you put her there, there's nothing heroic about saving her from a situation you put her in."
I had hoped the same for Ishqbaaz but the issue with the show - as you'll see - is that they spend an 'n' number of episodes showing the man causing torture/troubles for the woman, and then just one episode or two 'atoning' for it or even not traditionally atoning for it at all cause 'the character isn't one to say sorry'.
The only saving grace with Omkara and Gauri is that she does not forgive him easily and she has stellar moments in calling him out for his actions.
I won't be able to exactly say what timelines are the best for I haven't seen IB in full (and imagine I have so much to say, lol) so I will take the help of IB resident expert @tellywoodtrash (please address when is the best timeline of IB)
Also, yeah having these toxic relationships and toxic men in general is very typical of 4Lions and definitely a very conscious decision. You see their next show - IPK3 - and they really were so confused in how to deal with a villain for a romance hero and they ended up in a scene where Advay threatens Chandni of rape on their wedding night (which is 'ek raat ki dulhan') and all of that.
(The channel actually put a disclaimer when Advay was threatening her - it was that bad)
So yes if it was just one scene where the male lead is being torturous then we could say it was on oversight or they didn't realise how things would look ultimately and etc.
But if it keeps happening, the identical patterns all over for years then I can safely say that this is unfortunately a very conscious decision.
And why would they stop? Ishqbaaz ran for 750 episodes! People still lap up anything that production house produces. So... unfortunately that's the thing. Whatever they create is almost always a success.
And I do remember one of my television friends saying that yeah, for this production house, unfortunately misogynistic behaviors are paired with a perfectly good modern women for those fundamental thought differences stand out for 'tashan' when in reality it should be far removed from that.
Even see Haider - it was a web series with complete creative control and yet they created a man who literally ran away from his fiancee, ghosted her for six months and only returned to her when someone else told him that Meera and his best friend weren't involved.
The only thing is, she gets the base of such really good complex characters, with amazing casting and chemistry, and phenomenal production with serious good rom-com writing that 4Lions shows are never completely trash. They're the only escape from the saas-bahu nightmare TV otherwise provides.
There's always something to enjoy.
There's always something that gives you feelz
To share with you - there's something I found even about IPK3 charming. The idea of this rakish villain all set to seduce the heroine to get his goal (while getting attracted to her in reality) and the heroine who has gone through so much is actually enjoying the ability to feel desire for once and obviously not choose to marry him because he's a pretty face with sketchy thoughts.
(I love how the heroine is like, damn, loving my hormones but also shut up cause I knew you're not one to be trusted - but hey l don't mind the feelz). Dark comedy excellence if it went that way!
And I wish they'd work on their strengths! Imlie and Aryan seem to be their healthiest pair as of now (which they very nearly f'd up with forced wedding). Except the heroine isn't quite rootable as other heroines so that's the only reason why it isn't the best pair.
Lol sorry this was very less about Omkara and more about 4Lions shows cause everything that went wrong with Om is very much in line with how 4Lions writes male leads in the first place.
So it was obvious they'd screw him up once they started writing Om from a 'male lead' perspective.
Best and lots of love,
S
