The plot of Ekta Kapoor’s Naagin 6 made headlines for a plot centred around a virus that the show’s central character, a Naagin obviously, saves the nation from. Ekta has now spoken up about the reaction to this season of Naagin.
Image credit: Balaji Telefilms
Speaking to TOI, she talked about how the idea of basing the new season of Naagin around the pandemic came about.
“When my friend narrated me this concept and she told me you should do this and corona is not just about the disease, it is a mind changing thing. She told me I am no longer dealing with relatable topics in the country. I am not calling it corona. I want to show what people went through in the last two years," she said.
Image credit: BCCL
This begs the question: If we are going to discuss the realities of living in the times of COVID-19, is a story about a shapeshifting snakewoman the best way to execute such a subject?
Image credit: Balaji Telefilms
Yes, Ekta knew she would get criticised for this
Ekta knew her choice of plot would get flak, but not for the reasons one would think: “I actually knew at that point ke mujhe gaaliyaan padne waali hai.” She alleged that she was short-changed because, “agar yehi kaam koi really celebrated maker karta, things would have been different.”
Image credit: BCCL
In fact, Ekta went so far as to admit that a lot of people found the idea ridiculous: “Naagin is out and out mass, commercial pulp show and there will be criticism and I am fine with it… I still remember everyone's face when I read it and they said it is terribly ridiculous but everyone felt it can either really work or can be really bad.”
The best part, though, is drawing a parallel with ‘Titanic’ because both of them are based on “real incidents”
Image credit: BCCL
Ekta justified her choice saying that this season of Naagin is inspired by real incidents, drawing a parallel with James Cameron’s Oscar-winning Titanic: “In west if you see they make shows out of real incidents and they work well. Like Titanic came out of a real incident. The pandemic is something that the US based OTT channel will do it.”
While the fact that pandemic-inspired stories might be made in the West is probably true, we’re sure no one would think of creating a show involving as much of a stretch of imagination as Naagin. We are also wondering if Naagin and Titanic are components of a fair equivalence.
Now, Ekta's Balaji Motion Pictures has helped a lot of edgier cinema come to fruition, be it The Dirty Picture, Lootera, Udta Punjab, or Judgementall Hai Kya. But if we had to look at the projects she heads as a television producer, Naagin isn’t necessarily the one we'd compare to Titanic in any context.
In any case, Ekta’s views on people’s views about Naagin 6 are enough to leave us scratching our heads.
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