First review: Life Ok's Savitri

[To set reminder and check TV schedule of Savitri click here...]

On February 18, 2013 when the clock stuck 20:30, it was time for the audiences to witness a new genre of experimental daily soaps. Modern day fiction thriller named Savitrihit the air on the channel Life OK.

A story of the era when earth is supposed to be ruled by the bad guy Rahu Kaal (Krip Suri) is described. He falls in love with princess Damayanti (Ridhi Dogra) who in turn is in love with Veer (Yash Pandit) – the senapati of her kingdom. In order to win Damayanti, Rahu challenges Veer to a battle, but tricks him and kills the love of Damayanti's life.

Before dying, Veer and Damayanti promise each other that they will take a hundred more births, if necessary, to be with each other. With this promise the show takes a leap and enters year 1990 (guess the biggest leap for any Indian Television show).

Damayanti and Veer are reincarnated as Savitri and Satya. Rahu Kaal's sister, who transforms shapes, keeps an eye on Satya and Savitri to ensure their love story begins. Why?? Don't get any wrong ideas. It is to being back her brother, Rahu Kaal from the dead.

Well, it was smart thinking on the part of the channel Life OK and the production house to air a "One Hour" launch episode. After all, they had to narrate a love story that happened at least 1000 years ago and then the stage for the modern day love story had to be set-up. The audiences were served complete platter in one go rather than in bits and pieces.
The multiple transitions from Damayanti-Veer era to Satya-Savitri during the episode was a good piece of work. Good enough to ensure the suspense element of the show is exhibited to the audiences.

It was an absolute delight watching the extensive use of high-end technology and computer generated special effects. Some of the shots were actually a treat to watch. Like the fight sequence between Rahu Kaal and Veer, shot in pitch dark, was a spine-chilling one.

The audiences, who are an ardent fan of fiction, would however have felt disappointed with certain shots. But overall, it was a great attempt and thumbs up to the production for pulling such stuff together.

Overall, the first episode of this show was more of a story-telling type where focus was on introducing the characters and set a pace for the story. Guess this was a reason for a slow start of the show on the channel (in terms of TRP) in-spite of all the publicity. With strong performances by all the actors, we expect the show should rise in ratings over a few days, as by then the characters will be established and the storyline will get evolved.

One thing for sure is that, with the introduction of 'Savitri', the channel Life OK has now created a new benchmark in the fiction category. This indeed is a brave attempt by the channel. Let's hope that the show stands up to the expectations and the channel Life OKis able to live up to its promise of delivering disruptive content. And don't miss to tell us your views, reviews and suggestions us onTwitter-iDubba and set reminders about your favorite shows on our iDubba app.