Veteran actress Lubna Salim who plays an important sweet negative character in Star Plus TV show Mariam Khan – Reporting Live (Somersault Productions) admits that the show’s numbers have not been much to write home so far.
Says the senior actress, “TV serial business is extremely unpredictable; one does not know what really works and what does not. But based on my personal experience, I can suggest a few reasons which might have contributed to the current scenario.”
Lubna who first came on the scene with Baa Bahoo Aur Baby as Anjali\ Leela back in 2005 states, “Firstly we launched bang in the IPL and Roza days. And our 7.30 pm telecast time was when the faithful viewers were breaking their fast. This is not to say that we are targeting only Muslim audiences; our story and language if you have seen is quite secular ie, the Urdu used is not classical. But yes we did not reach who all we wanted to address to.”
Lubna who was last seen in Rishton Ka Chakravyuh further adds, “One more reason for the low rating in my view is our different theme. We are trying to show a world as seen from the eyes of an 8 year old Mariam, played by Deshna Dugad. Hence we can’t have the regular black or white portrayal, but a much more mixed and matched and rather quirky world. Also we are telling tales of four generations simultaneously; hence there could be kind of a lag before audience starts lapping it up . And last but not the least, we did not speak enough to the mass audience which, let’s face it is our core TG (Target Audience).”
“The early TRP was indeed a dampener. But in a way it is good that we suffered this set back at the outset, for it gave us time and space to bounce back. Have we not seen shows beginning with a bang but soon petering out? It is very difficult to sustain today,” she adds.
“We quickly identified the problem areas and have started working on them; the numbers have already gone up a tad this week; so can say we are on the right path,” quips the actress.
In closing Lubna says, “Mariam is a very sweet show; I will not go to the extent of claiming that it is different, but yes our way of approach is unique and does deserves much better viewership. We are working very hard and the younger lots of actors are doing a good job.”
Best of luck, Lubna!!
