Bade Achhe Lagte Hain has done for the small screen what Cheeni Kum may have done for the big screen: pushed middle-aged mushiness into prime space in the public psyche. It has made rotund-bellied romancing the new benchmark of sizzle in a soap space swamped by the oomph of the trim twenties.
By becoming the new face of mature romance on the telly in the age of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, the Bade Achhe lead pair of Sakshi Tanwar and Ram Kapoor has ensured that they have become not only a household name but also a household tweet. And with the erotic video of their screen lip lock going viral on YouTube recently, garnering 4,67,640 hits in the span of the first 48 hours, they have become a household video clip and a mobile clip, too.
With the screen popularity of this couple being leveraged on to the social media in this age of YouTube-enabled TRPs, with Bade Achhe boasting of a Facebook fan page, among other things, the pair has virtually scripted a new writing on the 'wall' — 30-plus chemistry is the new history of the small-screen serial space and social media.
Though Sakshi and Ram have not been the pioneers of middle-aged love stories on the tube, merely consolidating on a trend signalled by earlier soaps such as Saans, Astitva and the like, they have now become the flag-bearers and frontrunners of the trend of small-screen jodis endorsing the social activism template in the
commercial-scape.
By having a public role built into their portfolio, literally, as the face of the Indian infrastructure boom, the Bade Achhe pair has taken the legacy of mature mushiness — symbolised earlier by the Saans jodi of Neena Gupta and Kanwaljeet, Astitva pair Niki Aneja Walia and Varun Badola and others — beyond the boundaries of screen roles into the domain of social roles.
By becoming brand ambassadors for the Suhana Safar ads for the Yamuna Expressway, formerly known as the Taj expressway that connects Noida to Agra, a city that epitomises ageless romance, not only has the romantic "reel" image of this cosy couple been reinforced but it has also been reinvented in the role of real responsibility.
The Suhana Safar ads espouse the cause of road etiquette as well as safe driving, by promoting the cause of seat belts, and raising a sane voice against speeding, rashness, drunken driving and littering.
There have, of course, been a bevy of big-screen real jodis endorsing brands on the small screen. From Bollywood actors Kajol and Ajay Devgn, who have been paired as the face of brands like Whirlpool, Alpenliebe et al, to superstar Shah Rukh and his non-actor wife Gauri, who have been endorsing home design labels like D'decor, couple commercials have been a staple of the Indian small-screen advertising space, though they may have been few and far between.
But it is rare to find a small-screen reel jodi making it to the endorsement space as a couple. Though Ram and Sakshi have been individually endorsing an array of products, the Suhana Safar series brings them together as a brand building couple.
In playing a pair in a role beyond their screen space, they have proven that their reel role has made a real connect and that they have crossed a new milestone in reel popularity, which now translates into an endorsement role as a 'couple',more so in a social messaging role.
That the Suhana Safar commercial encashes upon their mature screen presence is evident from the fact that they become the voice of middle-aged India in their social responsibility role, their voice of caution contrasting with the rashness and recklessness of Young India, symbolised in the ad by speeding youngsters who're shown commuting on the expressway sans seat belts.
The middle-aged small screen love story is thus travelling into the public psyche, and maybe even the TRPs, as a symbol of sense and sensibility for the social responsibility template on television.
By becoming the new face of mature romance on the telly in the age of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, the Bade Achhe lead pair of Sakshi Tanwar and Ram Kapoor has ensured that they have become not only a household name but also a household tweet. And with the erotic video of their screen lip lock going viral on YouTube recently, garnering 4,67,640 hits in the span of the first 48 hours, they have become a household video clip and a mobile clip, too.
With the screen popularity of this couple being leveraged on to the social media in this age of YouTube-enabled TRPs, with Bade Achhe boasting of a Facebook fan page, among other things, the pair has virtually scripted a new writing on the 'wall' — 30-plus chemistry is the new history of the small-screen serial space and social media.
Though Sakshi and Ram have not been the pioneers of middle-aged love stories on the tube, merely consolidating on a trend signalled by earlier soaps such as Saans, Astitva and the like, they have now become the flag-bearers and frontrunners of the trend of small-screen jodis endorsing the social activism template in the
commercial-scape.
By having a public role built into their portfolio, literally, as the face of the Indian infrastructure boom, the Bade Achhe pair has taken the legacy of mature mushiness — symbolised earlier by the Saans jodi of Neena Gupta and Kanwaljeet, Astitva pair Niki Aneja Walia and Varun Badola and others — beyond the boundaries of screen roles into the domain of social roles.
By becoming brand ambassadors for the Suhana Safar ads for the Yamuna Expressway, formerly known as the Taj expressway that connects Noida to Agra, a city that epitomises ageless romance, not only has the romantic "reel" image of this cosy couple been reinforced but it has also been reinvented in the role of real responsibility.
The Suhana Safar ads espouse the cause of road etiquette as well as safe driving, by promoting the cause of seat belts, and raising a sane voice against speeding, rashness, drunken driving and littering.
There have, of course, been a bevy of big-screen real jodis endorsing brands on the small screen. From Bollywood actors Kajol and Ajay Devgn, who have been paired as the face of brands like Whirlpool, Alpenliebe et al, to superstar Shah Rukh and his non-actor wife Gauri, who have been endorsing home design labels like D'decor, couple commercials have been a staple of the Indian small-screen advertising space, though they may have been few and far between.
But it is rare to find a small-screen reel jodi making it to the endorsement space as a couple. Though Ram and Sakshi have been individually endorsing an array of products, the Suhana Safar series brings them together as a brand building couple.
In playing a pair in a role beyond their screen space, they have proven that their reel role has made a real connect and that they have crossed a new milestone in reel popularity, which now translates into an endorsement role as a 'couple',more so in a social messaging role.
That the Suhana Safar commercial encashes upon their mature screen presence is evident from the fact that they become the voice of middle-aged India in their social responsibility role, their voice of caution contrasting with the rashness and recklessness of Young India, symbolised in the ad by speeding youngsters who're shown commuting on the expressway sans seat belts.
The middle-aged small screen love story is thus travelling into the public psyche, and maybe even the TRPs, as a symbol of sense and sensibility for the social responsibility template on television.