Exclusive! Creative Director Of GHKKPM Siddhartha Vankar Opens Up On Bidding Adieu To The Show, TRUTH Behind Ayesha Singh-Neil Bhatt- Aishwarya Sharma's Cold War And More...

Siddhartha Vankar is a known personality in the television industry. He has been at the helm of creativity in TV shows Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon, Navya, Mahabharat, Ek Tha Raja Ek Thi Rani, Balika Vadhu, etc. He recently bid goodbye to one of the most popular shows ‘Ghum Hai Kisikey Pyaar Meiin’ (GHKKPM). Vankar has been a part of the ‘Ghum…’ team since the beginning. We at BollywoodMDB got in touch with him and asked him about his journey in the show, the difficult decision of taking a leap, alleged offscreen issues on the sets, dealing with trolls, and more.

1. How would you sum up your journey in ‘Ghum Hai Kisikey Pyaar Meiin’?

- Summing up Ghum Hai Kisikey Pyaar Meiin is very difficult. It has been an integral part of our lives. Its popularity has been credited to the writers, directors, and actors; everyone has contributed to its success. ‘Ghum..’ has not just been a show, it has been a phenomenon. Having been the custodian of the show for three years, I feel absolute pleasure and honor to be working with the extremely talented team from the production house to the channel. Ghum will always remain very close to my heart. It will be one show that I’ll always be very proud of.

2. Since ‘GHKKPM’ took a leap, do you think it’s a major risk to make the popular Jodi exit and start a fresh story altogether?

- I don’t think it’s a major risk on exiting the popular Jodi. Yes, there is a certain amount of risk involved but if you’re sure about what your story is, it doesn’t matter if the existing cast stays or not. That’s what has worked also for us. We were very sure of the story that we were telling altogether. Hence, I don’t think it was anything dangerous.

3. How did Neil Bhatt and Ayesha Singh react when the makers informed them about their exits?

- They were quite OK with it, I feel. Somewhere it was in their minds that this could happen. They took it very sportingly and were very forthcoming about it.

4. Do you think it will be a task for the new characters to make a place in the viewers’ hearts since they’re still in awe of SaiRat?

- Of course, I think, it will be a task for the new cast to make way because ‘Ghum’ season 1 was very popular; not only in terms of the ratings but also on social media and other places. It was a very popular entity. The characters were extremely popular. Sai, Virat, and Pakhi were the talk of the town. So, breaking these molds and making a place for them will be a little challenging.

5. A lot has been said about things not going well between Neil Bhatt, Ayesha Singh, and Aishwarya Sharma. Did the offscreen tension ever affect the output of the show?

- There was no offscreen tension as such. A lot of it was fabricated. Even if there was anything, it never affected the content of the show ever. They were all very professional actors and they made sure that the show was the priority. Having said that, I’d like to reinstate that there was no amount of offscreen tension at all between anyone. We were all very comfortable working with each other.

6. The show received a lot of love but a section of viewers was upset with various tracks. How do you look at it?

- Yes, of course! You can’t please everyone. There were certain times wherein we had to make certain track decisions which did not go down well with the major section of the audience. It happens with almost every show because you can’t please every section of the audience. We have such a diverse set of audiences that it’s not possible to keep everyone happy. I know, we have upset a lot of viewers with certain aspects of the show but it also depends on how you project it and some of it has actually benefited us in terms of ratings, and at times when it hasn’t, we’ve complied with what the audiences wanted us to do.