Far from promising

Monday to Thursday, 10 pm, Sony

Cast: Mona Singh, Pavan Shankar

Rating: **

Unlike the promos, the show seems to be less about the two trying to rekindle the romance in their lives and more about the drudgery of a 9-5 job

Does love go out of the window when two people are married for long? Does the presence of children dull the glow of romance? The promos of Kya Hua Tera Vaada promised a good show with a relatable premise. Alas, while it started off on a good note, by the third episode itself, I could see the show falling prey to hackneyed situations and cliched dialogues. Sample this: When Mona (Mona Singh) finds out that her husband, Pradeep (Pavan Shankar) has lost out on his promotion once again, she assures him all’s well. Nothing wrong with that, except the way she chooses to tell him. She says melodramatically, “Mujhe koi farak nahin padta ki mere pati ki salary slip pe ek extra zero lagta hai ki nahin.” I do know of women who don’t mind spending the rest of their lives on love and fresh air but I certainly mind watching an urban, educated middle-class woman mouthing archaic lines like ‘Mujhe aur kuch nahin tumhara pyaar aur saath chahiye’!

Mona and Pradeep are married with three children. While Mona looks after home and hearth, Pradeep is toiling hard for a promotion that’s been eluding him for a few years now. Reason: he’s the shy, sincere types, who does the presentations but his smart colleague walks away with all the credit. Pradeep is unable to impress his boss and Mona doesn’t know how to score brownie points with the boss’ wife. For instance, she will wear the same ‘designer’ sari but not spend extra money on a new sari to impress anyone, she would much rather spend that money on her daughter’s badminton racket and sports shoes and the couple would then say dramatic lines like ‘Shaadi ke gyaarah saal baad ek biwi ek maa bhi hoti hai aur uska pyaar bachchon ke liye badh jaata hai’ etc… The gyaraah saal line is used once too often!

Unlike the promos, the show seems to be less about the two trying to rekindle the romance in their lives and more about the drudgery of a 9-5 job.

So what saves the show? Mona Singh. I hadn’t watched much of Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin, the actress’ first shot at success and popularity. I have mostly watched her giggling incessantly and living it up as the girl-next-door in assorted non-fiction shows, so it’s a pleasure to watch her as Mona who is good hearted, doesn’t mind taking the jibes of nosey relatives, has a smile permanently plastered on her face and says all those dramatic lines with a straight face. Pavan is convincing too as the shy reticent husband who is a big fan of Katrina Kaif! We wish the writers go easy on the melodrama and make the show more real and crisp! Then Kya Hua Tera Vaada will be worth a watch, otherwise it will just be another soap high on melodrama!

Verdict: Mona fans would love this.

By: Kshama Rao