Sea change in 'Rihhaee'from next week

Sony's Rihhaee will not be the same anymore. The serial that made its presence felt through gritty content, tight performances and sleek presentation, will now change its format to suit the needs of the channel. "There is no pressure from the channel, but it's a working understanding between us. Television is a dynamic medium, and one has to keep changing and be open to suggestions in order to sustain oneself," acknowledges BAG films MD Anurradha Prasad. Rihhaee, described by its makers as a 'socially aware high drama show', will now become a full fledged investigative show from next week. A little bird tells us that this was a move initiated by the channel in order to boost the TRPs of the show. The new format will see two new faces, and a change in the look of the NCCW, we hear. Manoj Bidvvai will play Raghav, a software engineer, who leaves his high profile job abroad and joins the organization as he sees his mother suffer due to his father. Tanvi, to be played by Kishwar, who is currently shown coordinating with NCCW, will now be seen as an active member of the organization. There are other innovations like peeks into the personal lives of the foursome. Talking about the changes in the show, Nakul Vaid, the male protagonist, tells us that now the roles of the viewers and the actors will be reversed. "Our roles will remain the same. But the interesting aspect is that relationships between the members of the squad will be now explored. I don't know much about it myself and it would be wrong of me to comment on it," says Nakul. We wonder how much of the social aspect will be sacrificed in the bargain! "The channel was of the view that since crime based shows are working well on Sony, it would be better if we too take on the genre, but focus on crimes against women," says Debjani Mitra, the creative head on the show. Each story in Rihhaee is carried over two episodes. In the first one, the background of the victim is established, and then the NCCW (the imaginary NGO organization) comes into focus. In the second episode, the focus shifts to the organisation and its process of providing justice. This perhaps was a problem, as, the second episode in each story has been receiving more viewership than the first one. Anuradha points out that this shift was a natural extension and was planned in advance, "My characters had to be something more than carriers of justice. Once they were accepted, they had to move on," says Anurradha, who admits that TRP wise, the show wasn't rocking, but its perception was being accepted. So how will the show be different from Sony's CID and Crime Patrol, both of which are crime based shows, we wonder --- "The victims are not dead in Rihhaee, there will always be a ray of hope in the end. Perhaps the victims will be in jail or in coma, but not dead. And it will still be dealing with dowry and domestic issues, the only difference is that it will be investigative in nature," affirms Debjani, who admits that this genre will be difficult to implement because it will be an amalgamation of two very different genres --- emotional drama and suspense thriller. Rihhaee has been till date, one of the few shows that had managed to hold its own ground in an arena where issue based shows are becoming a thing of the past. Will drastic changes like these harm the fundamental principles on which the show was initially created --- will a sleeker, trendier investigative team serve the purpose of dealing with sensitive issues that make this show so special? Only time will say!