Old habits die hard especially if they are the USPs. Amidst Star Plus' new year show bouquet is 'Kabhi Aaye NA Judaai'. A daily soap that premiered on 27 January is yet again a family drama sans the great Indian joint family and scheming in-laws.
Back to square one. After what seemed like Star Plus' New Year resolution to keep off the weepy front, in comes Kabhi Aaye NA Judaai. On the brighter side, the storyline does not (as of now) include feuding-in-laws but it does aim to offer a refresher's course in moral science - love thy family, greed is a sin, et al.

Kabhi..., the first daily soap from Deepti Bhatnagar Productions, is the story of the Agnihotri household led by the patriarch Rajeshwar aka Ram Kapoor. The upright principal of a reputed college along with his wife of 25 years, Radhika, played by Indira Krishnan, has raised their four children to be god-fearing and principled. The four children Aditya, Shiv, Rahul and Kanya are played by Aamer Dalvi, Kapil Soni, Amit Verma and Pamela Mukherjee. The main hook of the story, unlike others of its kind is the maternal grandfather, a mean old guy who whilst on his deathbed brings riches with him, paving the way for temptation and disrupting the delicate balance of the family.

The first thing that strikes is the incongruity of ages between the screen parents and their offspring. Amid casual banter between the ladies of the house, you have the ma-in-law offering pearls of wisdom like, "the wife should always be well groomed and ready with a smile when her husband is to return from work...one smile on the wife's face and the husband will be relieved of his stress." As if on cue, the tired son pops in from office at 4.00 pm.

The producer makes a cameo appearance in the serial as Deepti Bhatnagar the model. All the kids in the serial have sweeter than sugar dispositions and their only fault seems to be reaching home later than 6.30 pm against the family deadline of 6 pm.

The sets appear realistic and well lit. The outfits though a wee bit dressy did not seem over-the-top. Director Deepak Bawaskar seems to be influenced by the current lot of daily dramas being aired. Every passing shot gives a sense of deja vu. The performance of the protagonists is contrived, although one should credit the leads, Ram and Indira, with some good dialogue delivery. The acting skills of the other actors are strictly okay.

The good news is that the audience can get to see some new faces putting in earnest performances, but the bad news is that viewers who would have preferred a refreshing change in the afternoon slots will have to wait... perhaps a little longer.

So far, the tried and tested soap formula is working quite well. The show has a slightly different story-line which should hopefully guarantee initial viewership. The show also offers a glimpse of a nuclear family as against the ubiquitous joint families.

This soap shouldn't do too bad if it sticks to the formula.

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