The Modern Love series, based on true romances, proved to be successful in its American version, and also in the Indian offshoots. Dharmatic Entertainment’s new unscripted series, Love Storiyaan, picks the same idea, but also the part-documentary, part enactment format used most recently in Wedding.con. The title is cheeky, playing on the fact that the term ‘love storiyaan‘ used in the Kesariya song, had got the lyricist trolled. But it has to be admitted it sounds better than Prem Kahaniyaan, in the contemporary urban context.
The six stories in the anthology are inspired by the India Love Project (by Priya Ramani, Samar Halarnkar and Niloufer Venkatraman) that record real stories of people who defied social norms and vaulted over hurdles to be with the one they love. The result is a mix—some heartwarming, some meh.
Written and directed by six directors, the stories are narrated by the actual couples, with parts of them enacted by lookalike actors. Inevitably, the staged portions are not as engaging as the real characters recalling their cherished memories.
The best of the lot is Homecoming, directed by Shazia Iqbal, about an elderly Hindu-Muslim couple, Sunit and Farida, sharing the tumultuous experience of their elopement from Dhaka to Kolkata, because, in the small Bangladeshi town of Chandpur, there was no way their relationship would have been accepted. They struggled in a new city, new country and finally settled in to raise a family. They are taken back to Chandpur, after nearly 50 years, and their story comes alive with carefully preserved photographs. Only Farida’s younger brother survived and they have an emotional reunion with him and an old college friend. Both had left behind their home, family and country to be together, and at a time when inter-faith marriages are frowned upon, theirs is a testament to the power of love.
The other notable story is Raat Sangharsh Ki, directed by Akshay Indikar, about Rahul, an idealistic upper class Brahmin engineer-turned-activist, who abandons a life of luxury to work with adivasis and be with the fiery Dalit woman, Subhadra, who he meet on the field and marries over the opposition of both families Subhadra is articulate, candid and witty, her presence makes the story glow with warmth, and Rahul, willingly lets the light shine on his spirited wife.
The other four, An Unsuitable Girl, directed by Hardik Mehta is about a divorced mother of two, who has to face opposition from parents and her two daughters when she wants to be with a man she has fallen in love with. Love On Air, helmed by Vivek Soni, set in Meghalaya is about rival radio jockeys falling in love and facing the problems that come with different religions, Nicholas’s divorced status, his womanizer reputation and addiction issues, all of which Rajni accepts to make the marriage work. Archana Phadke’s Faasle is about a Malayali woman, who falls in love with an Afghan man—it takes time to convince her parents to let her marry him, but the real conflict is living in a Taliban-ruled country, where women have no rights. Colin D’Cunha Love Beyond Labels is about Tista, a transwoman, who finds love with Dipan, a transman. They also have empathy in common, since both struggled with understanding their sexuality and eventually coming to terms with their identities.
The stories selected are diverse, the actors chosen are not well known, so there is an unpredictable quality to how the episode turns out, apart from the expected ‘happily-ever-after’ that makes all the trauma gone before seem worthwhile.
Love Storiyaan
Produced by Dharmatic Entertainment
