Pehredaar Piya Ki brings to the audience a never-seen-before story of a nine-year-old boy getting married to an 18-year-old girl.
Pehredaar Piya Ki is back in news. The show brings to the audience a never-seen-before story of a nine-year-old boy getting married to an 18-year-old girl. The marriage is not for love nor any compromise, but only because the girl has promised the boy’s dying father to be his lifelong pehredaar (protector). The recent episodes that highlighted the suhaag raat and how the young kid enjoys filling his wife’s forehead with sindoor has raised many eyebrows. The cringe-worthy scenes have caused a public outcry and recently a petition has been filed against Pehredaar Kiya Ki demanding a ban on the show. Unmoved by the developments, the team of the show still believes that the show
The petition that describes the show as obnoxious and perverted has been filed by a woman named Mansi Jain. Addressed to the I & B Minister Smriti Irani, it states, “Pehredar piya ki. A 10-year-old impressionable little kid(“piyaa”) caressing and stalking a lady who’s more than double his age and filling sindoor in her “maang” is being telecasted at prime time 8:30pm on Sony. (Family time) It is to be devoured by the entire Nation. Imagine the kind of influence it will steadily and perpetually infuse in the viewers mindset. We want a ban on the serial. We do not want our kids to be influenced by such TV serials. Join us in signing the petition to ban this serial (sic).” It has already received 48,465 supporters and is just short of a thousand before it reaches Smriti’s office.
The show has been facing backlash ever since the promo hit the tube. And now with the two embarking on a new journey, things seemed to have gone overboard. The team of Pehredaar Piya Ki though is unmoved by the act as they believe that their show is not what people are assuming it to be.
A source close to the show told indianexpress.com, “It is such a futile attempt by people. The show is nowhere promoting child marriage nor it’s showing anything objectionable. The suhaag raat sequence that people have been bashing had the lead Diya (Tejasswi) actually standing up against the ritual. She also mentioned that the marriage is for a cause and not to enjoy the marital pleasures. When we are giving out such strong messages why do people need to file petitions? It’s an unnecessary criticism and completely unjustified.”
When we reached out to the lead actor Tejasswi Prakash, who plays Diya, she refused to talk about it stating, “I have no clue about the petition and can’t comment on it.”
The young lead Afaan Khan’s dad Jameel also tried to evade our queries stating, “I am in a meeting now. Let me call you soon.”
Suyyash Rai, another actor from Pehredaar Piya Ki, has always been vocal about his support for the show. He told us, “How much time these people have to start such petition. Tell me did we show them having sex that there’s such a hullabaloo over the suhaag raat sequence. And there is no honeymoon sequence. It’s all imagined by these critics to pull our show down. The producers have been in the industry for a long time and do know their job well. It is not just an entertaining show but it is also helping so many people earn their living. People are only targeting us because it’s a different show. I can only say that don’t watch the show if you don’t like it, but don’t put so many people’s hard work down. We are not here to preach but only present a fictitious entertaining story.”
As of now, the production house and the channel are refraining from talking about the developments stating that they don’t want to give it undue importance.
Sumeet Mittal, the producer of the show, in an earlier interview with indianexpress.com had mentioned about the criticism that followed post the promos of the show. “I completely enjoyed and cherished the backlash. This has never happened with us and it was a first-time experience. The audience is yet to know the real concept and storyline and they are bound to judge you,” said Sumeet. He had also assured that the show is not promoting any social evils. “First and foremost, it is a fiction show. It is a story of a girl, who has been given the job to protect this royal prince from the impending threat. To be with him 24X7, she decides to marry her. She is a pehredar (protector) and the bond that they share is a very pure one.”
Apart from the aam janta, popular actor Karan Wahi had also shared his disgust regarding the show through a Facebook post. Telling the makers to not sell stupidity in the name of content he had written, “Dear producer and channel .. i understand we cant make shows like how i met ur mother and friends, and honestly i dont expect us to also ,but for the love of god and for the reason we all got in this industry plz dont sell me stupidity in the name of content whch gives trp because honestly noone is watching this.”
Pehredaar Piya Ki stars Tejasswi Prakash and Afaan Khan as Diya and Ratan. The show airs on Sony Entertainment Television.