Pehredaar Piya Ki: A TV show that will make you wonder what the hell you just watched

Pehredaar Piya Ki is an accident. Or a bad dream. Or so I would like to believe. What it really is, is an awful concoction of child marriage, stalking, and a bunch of people who probably did not go to college.

Sony Entertainment Television’s latest show Pehredaar Piya Ki received severe flak when its trailer was released. People were bashing it left, right and center. Firstpost tried taking a neutral stand because the episodes were not out then and it was only fair to give the show a chance. However, the episodes are out now and the truth needs to be told.

Pehredaar Piya Ki is set in some mahal in Rajasthan. Full marks for originality. The first episode introduces you to the protagonists- Diya, a Rajasthani princess and Ratan a Rajasthani prince. Then the usual follows- unnecessary greeting exchanges in Rajasthani, ladies roaming around in lehenags and men casually going about their day in sherwanis.

It looks like the makers have made a conscious effort to shove the Rajasthani-ness down your throat. Not to forget the ample usage of Rajasthani folk music. We get it. It is set in Rajasthan. TV shows need to explore new cities to set their shows in, because honestly, we are over Balika Vadhu. Don’t push it.

But this is not the real issue. The area of contention is that an 18-year-old Diya (played by Tejaswi Prakash, who is 25 in real life) is being stalked by a kid, who is also taking pictures of her in a clandestine way and Sony channel thinks it is adorable. What’s worse? Even the kid realises what he is doing is creepy because he dunks and hides, when Diya turns around. In the beginning of the episode, the kid is seen hiding in a trunk, casually checking the woman out. He continues to take her pictures, while she is twirling on the terrace of her mahal and then it happens (Cue random Rajasthani singer’s alaap).

She spots a cockroach.

Disclaimer: Hold on to something. A killer wave of overacting is coming at you. After you recover, picture this:

She sees the cockroach and somehow, magically, slips, and guess what? Ratan dashes towards her and manages to catch her. So, science is another thing the makers are bad at (Cue random Rajasthani singer’s alaap). They look at each other for a good 7 seconds before the boy says, “Aap bohot bhaari ho”. (You are too heavy) This is the only factually correct statement in the entire episode.

It is surprising how the channel thinks it will compensate for all this nonsense by introducing a mind-boggling twist. It is disturbing to see a boy of nine engaging in acts of adult romance with an 18-year-old and India’s leading channel monetising on it. Reality check: No matter what your twist is, it will never justify stalking and romanticising a relationship between an adult and a 9-year-old.

If that was not bizarre enough, Suyyash Rai, who also stars in the show, has defended the storyline, asking people to not “jump to conclusions”. We understand that you might think your story is the most iconic one that India has ever witnessed, but seriously, get a grown-up to romance a grown-up. It can’t be that hard to understand. Here is Rai’s heartfelt (literally) Instagram post:

Actor Karan Wahi gave us some relief when he condemned the show, telling the makers “we can do better”. Kudos to you, Karan!

Here’s his post:

Basically, it is the viewers who have to guard themselves from the sh*tstorm that Pehredaar Piya Ki is.