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EXCLUSIVE- Nakuul-Surbhi is our imagination; seen Shivika come to life with them: Ishqbaaaz writer Harneet
Speaking EXCLUSIVELY to Pinkvilla, Ishqbaaaz writer Harneet Singh speaks about her current state of mind, plans for Shivika, the idea behind REDUX, why she thinks Shivika is invincible and much more.
"Ishqbaaaz is a piece of my heart and I hope its 'dhadak [heartbeat]' keeps going," says writer Harneet Singh.
Nakuul Mehta and Surbhi Chandna's Ishqbaaaz completes two years today. The show, which first aired in 2016, has gone on to establish itself as one of the most loved ones with Shivika being the heart and Harneet being the heartbeat. It is well known that Television and has always been a writer's medium and Harneet has faced both, the brickbats and the crazy love, showered to her by the ever-growing fandom.
After two years of Takkar Ki Ishqbaaazi, the show pulled off an overnight REDUX and how! Harneet calls it the "best gift to the fans" who have been waiting for a fresh love story of their favorite Shivika.
Speaking EXCLUSIVELY to Pinkvilla, Harneet emphasized that the flavour and spirit of the show, the characters are intact but the story is new. Without further ado, read on to know her current state of mind, plans for Shivika, the idea behind REDUX, why she thinks Shivika is invincible and much more.
On her current state of mind
My state of mind, right now, is a lot of gratitude and also a lot of stress. It is a mixture of elation because in today’s dynamic world when people don’t have the attention span over 140 characters, for people to stick with a show for two years is incredible. Our fans keep us on our toes. We are very lucky because, at the time when it is getting difficult to keep people engaged, 100 shows start but only 1-2 survive, IB has continued to entertain people for TWO years. 
This is also the show where we have genuinely taken a lot of risks. We have not played by the template since the beginning and have really tried to keep the flavour of a daily soap alive whilst giving it a slightly different treatment.
On the much-talked-about REDUX
Gul [Khan] and I wanted to do something new and that's the synergy with which we work. We keep on talking about what next to maintain the freshness and to surprise the audience. And we just thought of introducing another spark to the love story. The journey of Shivika had been so beautiful with the audience starting to own up the characters, Gul just came up with this idea of the redux and said what if, and then we started thinking on those lines. Firstly, we did not want to compromise on what we had done and nullify it. At the end of the day, Shivaay had become an Ishqbaaaz which was the story from the beginning. So it was a crazy thought that we came up with what if someone challenges their love and what if it is a test of love?
Rumi has very famously said, "Lovers don't finally meet somewhere. They're in each other all along."
But this redux also came with a lot of pressure because these are the characters which are established, and our main characters Shivaay and Annika have become massive in their own ways, so to take them out of their happy zone and to start a new love story within the current show was tough BUT hats off to my entire team of IB that pulled it off overnight. We have been working tirelessly. The response online has been very good with people liking the freshness. It is so interesting because Shivaay and Annika have had a journey which was so loved and we ended with them challenging, so to speak, the universe.
On the challenge of pulling off Ishqbaaaz 2.0 of sorts
The idea was that if we change the core story, will they [Shivika] still be attracted to each other? Will they still find each other? So, we changed little things. This Annika cooks and also believes in God, she has mommy issues while with Shivaay is still the protector because that is the character of Shivaay which has been loved. He is the great wall. He is still the eldest but is darker, he doesn't know how to express, how to hug, his sister is his lifeline. There is lack of love in his life. He is still that 3-year-old child who saw his parents fight followed by a gunshot. On the other hand, Annika is still that girl who is every day reminded that her mother left her father to be someone else's mistress but she is trying to protect her sister [played by Shrenu Parikh] from this truth. So, they are still protectors but yet different. The spirit of their original characters, their takkar and tadi are still there. Annika's spirit of being khikithod has not gone anywhere but it is just that her stakes are little higher in life this time, now she chooses when she has to give it back. Earlier, Annika got involved in Shivaay's life too much once they met but this is a story of a man and a woman, there is more pain in their lives. And that is what will attract them to each other.
Gul and I have been meeting and have been discussing the love graph again. I am again getting those butterflies in the stomach, there is a smile on my face when I am thinking about their scenes. I am constantly thinking if I do a reboot of this scene, how the tone will be different because the characters are a little different this time. So it is fun (smiles).
On team's reaction to the idea
I have to give full credit to the channel who decided to go with Gul's conviction. When we narrated everything to the team, it took some time to sink in but hats off to them. Everything happened overnight. We wanted to do something keeping Shivika's journey in mind.. anything less than that would have been a compromise. We absolutely love our creation, we know that fans love them too.
On what according to her makes Shivika this invincible Jodi
Lots of hard work, they are not real (laughs). I think these are the characters which have found a home in everyone's heart and when people love something, they just love it. Today, as I always say, it is like they [audiences] own it. We are very very grateful that we got to create these two characters. It adds to our responsibility but also becomes challenging at times. You put so much of you and people around you in the characters that people think it is real and that's when you know you have done a good job. It is so sweet sometimes when I read Shivaay is husband goals and he is the best son, brother. The world is seriously lacking role models and if we can create somebody who gives hope to people, it is a nice feeling.
On if she can see anyone else apart from Nakuul Mehta and Surbhi Chandna playing Shivika
It is very difficult to imagine anyone at all because they have been doing it since day 1. It is a coming together of everything. 200-250 people put in their hard work for the show. And as for Nakuul and Surbhi, they own the characters. So, no, obviously not. Soch hi nahi sakte na. Pehle din se unko dekha hai.
They are our imagination and we have seen our imagination come to life with this two people for the last 2 years. So now they are Shivaay and Annika for us and this is it. The best is doing it. It is also amazing how brilliantly and beautifully Nakuul and Surbhi have gotten into the skin of the new characters as redux happened overnight. It is not easy yaar. They have been playing it for two years and were practically living that characters. Hats off to them and the entire team for pulling it off. I can't imagine anyone else. For me, Ishqbaaz is like this perfect painting right now. I can't imagine anyone doing anything else.
2 Years of Ishqbaaaz. Fans are expecting a surprise..
We have tried to give them a new love story. I think that is the best gift we could given them [on their 2 years anniversary]. There is going to be a lot of romance but this time the chemistry will be different. Because we don't want to repeat the same thing. This time, the attraction will be of a different kind followed by lots of drama and lots of surprises.
On inclination to retro music, IB theme song...
Gul and I love old songs. I think our films are relevant because of our music. So, I just need a reason to use them in the show. In fact, the theme song for this season is milke bhi hum na mile tumse na jaane kyun.. because the words themselves inspire us. And also that is something I love about Ishqbaaaz, everything just fits in so well. Sometimes when you write a song sequence and that song becomes the theme of the character. For this Annika, the song in my head is Abhi Mujh Mein Kahin from Agneepath and Shivaay's is Kyun Main Jaagoon from Patiala House. For me, when I am writing it, that music is playing in the back of my mind. Now, when I am writing their love scenes, the only song playing in my head is Tum Se Hi and Kaise Bataye.
But O Jaanaa is being missed...
Of course, it will come. Brace yourself for surprises. Every week is going to be a surprise. A big surprise is coming this week as well. The song will come but right now the phase they are in, this (Milke Bhi) song suits them well.
Message to fans on 2 Years of Ishqbaaaz
A big bunch of thank you for loving the show and being with us for so long. And we hope to entertain you.
We just want them (audiences) to be a little patient and this fan wars must not happen. Because we genuinely as a team love each other and everybody is enjoying what they are doing. This negativity is something which should be away. I feel Ishqbaaaz has given a lot of happiness to a lot of people and it will continue to do that.
"Humen milna hi tha humsafar kisi raah bhi nikalte," these lines from the song Ye Kahan Aa Gaye Hum sums up Shivika's new story well, Harneet ended.
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