From pati-patni ki nok jhok to saas-bahu ke jhagde, Indian marriages are no less than a roller coaster ride, and so is the journey to a happy marriage. With Gen-Z breaking age-old stereotypes each day, the concept of companionship and marriage has evolved, which has left the young audience with hundreds of questions about this institution. To answer some of these unanswered questions, ShareChat, India’s leading multilingual social media platform, collaborated with one of India’s most popular TV channels, Star Bharat. The collaboration involved four fun and insightful sessions in the months of December and January, led by seven well-known TV personalities including Ayushi Khurana, Shoaib Ibrahim, Reena Kapoor, Rachana Mistry, Iqbal Khan, Kaajal Chauhan, Susmita Mukherjee, from popular shows such as ‘Na Umra ki Seema ho,’ ‘Ajooni,’ ‘Dheere Dheere Se,’ and ‘Meri Saas Bhoot Hai’.
The Bharat audience responded phenomenally, with nearly 672k users engaging with these celebrities. The sessions covered all aspects of pre and post-marital life, such as dealing with in-laws, embracing an age difference with a partner, life as a widow, and one-sided love. As marriage is an integral part of Indian culture, it appeared to be on many people’s minds. All four sessions were filled with humor and loads of emotions, attracting over 100K users per session.
The session with Star Bharat’s heartthrobs Mohammed Iqbal Khan and Rachna Mistry from the show Na Umar Ki Seema Ho, drew the most attention, with approximately 273k users interacting with Dev and Vidhi and asking questions about ‘pyaar ki sahi umar’. On being asked about dealing with society’s criticism, Iqbal replied, “When both parties in a relationship are adults and mature enough to take a decision, society’s perceptions and their comments shouldn’t matter.” Reena Kapoor, aka Bhawna Shastri from the show Dheere Dheere Se, also captivated nearly 160k users in her session ‘Kesi Hogi Tere Bina Zindagi’ with anecdotes about her life as a widow. Sharing her opinion on societal pressures, she said, “Society sometimes puts unnecessary pressure on a person who has lost somebody close, they expect them to live in the sorrow and remain miserable. One must not surrender to these pressures, and lead their life with positivity.”
The popular saas-bahu duo from the show Meri Saas Bhoot hai, Gaura and Rekha (Kajal Chauhan-Sushmita Mukherjee) in their session ‘Kya Kare Jab Saas Bhoot Jaise Peecha Naa Chode’, managed to make the audience laugh-out-loud with their fun banter. While talking about her show’s concept, Sushmita said, “The entertainment industry is constantly evolving and the audience expects us to experiment and bring them unique content. The directors and producers in the industry are doing a great job in catering to the audience’s needs with newer and unconventional concepts with each show.” Ajooni and Rajveer (Ayushi Khurana-Shoaib Ibrahim) were no less in amusing their audience, their on-screen chemistry and witty chatter in the session ‘Kya Kya hota hai Shaadi ke baad?’ was also a huge success.
Star Bharat constantly reflects on the aspirations, needs, and tastes of the Indian heartland with their Desi TV shows. The collaboration with ShareChat allowed the stars to drive a deeper connection with the niche audience. It also allowed ShareChat users to interact with their favourite stars and put forward all their questions related to their shows, life, marriage and relationships, and societal norms and pressures.
