Daily Times

With the not-so-tragic death of the lead role in its last episode, the popular drama serial Mere Pass Tum Ho or ‘I have you’ has come to an end, giving a new lease of life to TV commercial drama. The show started off well, attracting viewers’ interest mainly because of a natural flow in the story. It was, however, never imagined that the show was on course to set new records by the time it aired its finale. As per reports, Mere Paas Tum Ho established many rating records. Its first episode got 10.9 TRP, while the third 15.5 TRPs. and 16th 23.9. The journey trended upward as episode 17 and 22 scored 24.9 and 26.2. Similarly, its 22 episodes have been watched 220 million times online. The success of the show leaves many lessons for the industry to follow. The drama made its place on viewers’ priority lists because of its marketing as well as popularity (or notoriety) on social networks sites. Every episode would leave a trail of questions, discussion and fun. No doubt some elements of social media were orchestrated, but the whole process left a trend that social media can effectively be used to boost electronic media. Secondly, controversial comments about men, women and feminism generated bad press for the show, but all of this eventually led to much improved ratings. Finally, the marketing team learned to create the new buzz of excitement when it first delayed the airing of the series finale for a week and decided to screen it in cinemas nationwide and abroad. According to estimates, it earned more than Rs10 million in cinema ticket sales. This is the rarest feast for both TV dramas and domestic cinema.

We find many points of disagreements in the drama, but the commercial aspect of the show is very promising. We need many more megahit shows and films. Similarly, the print media industry also needs to look for reader friendly content and creative marketing ways. *