Waaris, the mega budgeted show of Zee TV coming from Smriti Irani's Ugraya Productions started last week amidst high expectation from audiences. With a very interesting star cast starting from Ashish Vidyarthi to Iqbal Khan, the actors have really kept the viewers glued for more! Even the new kids on the block, Yuvraj Malhotra, Manish Raisinghsnia and Akshay Sethi  are doing their bit brilliantly. As far as Ladies are concerned, they are supporting their better halves as well.

Main characters and Actors :

The show started with a Rugby match where Shaurya (Yuvraj Malhotra) the second in-line heir of Ashish Vidyarthi made his appearance in the show, along with his "inspiration" Simran (Rucha Gujrathi). The dance on the final goal of Shaurya, a rip-off from the Famous Cadbury ad of last nineties started the euphoria!  The two parallel tracks in the show, one depicting college life and the other, the hardcore dark Underworld were depicted very well. With this, makers are playing safe giving audience of every age group something to look forward to in the show!

Shankar (Iqbal Khan) the older son, is marvelous. He glares with an intensity putting the rest of the cast to shame. Every scene he is in sizzles with maniac energy, and his screen presence is spectacular, though the entry of Shankar (Iqbal Khan) in the show was a big let down for those who expected a Grand entry of a star of Iqbal's stature. Even Ashish Vidyarthi's entry was shot in a much larger scale then Iqbal's! Is it a strategic move to underplay his role or something else, only time will tell!!!

Rudra Pratap Singh (Ashish Vidyarthi)  is a mafiosi leader with a strong NGO streak in him; he's effectively playing a grizzled, Marathi shahenshah, a man who essentially sits and listens to unjust tales, sending out a righteous army of goons to take charge. No immoralities for this soft dictator though! He bears a resemblance to Amitabh Bachchan's character of Sarkaar, including the rudraksh and the red tika!

Indira Krishnan is perfect as Ashish Vidyarthi's submissive wife and Iqbal's helpless mother, who has compromised with the situation and advises her daughter-in-law Shilpa Shinde (wife of Shankar) to follow suit. Sister of Shankar  is cute and most probably will be killed in months to come or might elope with Bheema who follows her everywhere she goes!

Story and Inspiration:

If you have seen or even heard about Godfather and the movie Sarkar, then this show is like an open book for you; from characters to their dialogues, everything is "inspired" from the same. The way Shankar comforts the waiting crowd, to Baba's greeting word "Hari Om" is a replacement of "Govinda Govinda" from the movie. Waaris is the same as Sarkar where Amitabh Bachchan's role is like Ashish Vidyarthi's, Yuvraj is playing Abhishek Bachchan and Iqbal plays Kay Kay. It's the same plot, and guess it is even shot in same way too. Whether they can keep the production value and quality of direction high, will be a thing to watch out for, as shooting a daily soap keeping quality and money in mind is a difficult thing to achieve if not impossible!

Sets and Ambience:

Even their Sets are inspired from the movie Sarkar, with old interiors and beds and the lighting everything is taken from the movie. Creatives of the show must have worked really hard while watching the movie. The outdoor of the house looks little shabby and undone though, and seems as though it is made up of "Cardboard" instead of concrete and bricks! This is a big let down as Smriti Irani has set high standards for herself! The boards at Dronacharya Academy, College of Shaurya also lacks the money, may be they over spent on the two Mercedes of the show.

Verdict:

Because we got what we expected from Iqbal khan and Ashish Vidyarthi, who are the back-bones of Waaris, everbody will watch this show. It's nicely shot, and has a few moments in the first week itself that are applause-worthy. The biggest demerit of this show is, its refusal to remain an adaptation! Why can't a Television show add a new dimension and follow the big screen blindly, leaves you pondering upon! This show, as the opening week reveal, had the potential to be Great but turns out to be passable by the end of it.

They should add a line before the title track of the show : Special thanks to Sarkaar and Godfather without your support and direction we could not have made this show! Regards : Smriti Irani Production!