Mumbai: Sony Entertainment Television was abruptly pulled its controversial prime time show PehredaarPiya Ki off air after attracting flak for being regressive that prompted I&B ministry to step in to the issue.
The show depicts the story of a 10-year-old boy married to an 18-year-old girl that irked a certain section of the audience as they felt the show is obnoxious and perverted and filed a petition against it demanding a ban from I&B MinisterSmritiIrani. Finally, Sony Entertainment Television had pulled off the show last Friday.
Producer Sumeet Mittal said, “From the time the show went on air, there has been a constant buzz about it. We were really hoping that our show would remain unaffected by all the petitions and go strong. After the BCCC issued a notice to move it to the post 10pm slot, we were heartbroken. This show was meant for a specific audience and it was best suited at the 8:30pm slot. We recently had a meeting with the channel where we put across our grievances and issues. We mutually concluded that it was best to pull the curtains down than air it at a wrong slot.”
“I cannot comment on the ministry part but I must first tell you that the channel offered us to get back with a new show in the same time slot. That’s commendable on their part. We had a wonderful team and we really hope we can get back with another project with them. It’s sad but we will take this on our stride and move ahead,” added Sumeet.
Sony has released an official statement on taking the show off-air: “Effective 28th August 2017, we are pulling off our programme, PehredaarPiye Ki, from television. While we understand that the decision to end this serial will be disappointing to those whose creative energies are vested in it, namely, its crew and cast, we (as a channel) are convinced that we will be better served by focusing instead on developing viewer interest in our upcoming, new shows. We are grateful to all the artists, producers and fans of our shows and request you to graciously support the viewership of our newer ventures.”
