Pehredaar Piya Ki Producers Say They Will 'Respect And Obey' Government's Decision

New Delhi: Television show Pehredaar Piya Ki has been infamous for its plotline from the beginning as it shows how a 10-year-old Ratan Singh (played by Afaan Khan) gets married to 18-year-old Diya (played by Tejaswi Prakash). The show, which began airing on Sony channel since last month, has been slammed on social media for propagating child marriage and a petition was filed on change.org which was addressed to Smriti Zubin Irani, Union Cabinet Minister of Textiles and Information and Broadcasting (Additional Charge), calling for a ban on the show. The case has now reached the desk of Broadcasting Content Complaints Council and decision is awaited. Today, the makers of the show told news agency PTI that they would 'respect and obey' government's decision regarding their show.

"We have not received anything yet. As and when we receive it (instructions from the ministry), we will reply to it. We will explain our point of view. We know what we have made and we are confident about our show. Anything that will come to us we will respect and obey it. If they want to monitor the show or watch it, it is okay," PTI quoted show's producer Sumeet Mittal as saying.

Writer Shashi Mittal told PTI that there is nothing 'objectionable' about the show and that they are 'not promoting child marriage.'

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"The show is nowhere promoting child marriage; it is not showing anything objectionable. It is not about child marriage, we are not promoting it. It is about forced marriage. The girl is just fulfilling the last wish of a dying a man. She is there to protect the child. She also mentioned that their marriage is for a cause and not to enjoy marital bliss," PTI quoted Shashi Mittal as saying.

"If people are objecting after watching the show, then it's fine. There are people who have not seen the show and are talking against it. We are not going to change the plot line at all. I don't think we are showing anything negative," she added.

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The petitioner has received over one lakh signatures in support. His petition reads, "A 10-year-old impressionable little kid ("piyaa)caressing and stalking a lady who's more than double his age and filling sindoor in her "maang" is being telecasted at prime time, family time. Imagine the kind of influence it will steadily and perpetually infuse in the viewers' mindset. We want a ban on the serial. We do not want our kids to be influenced by such TV serials."

Actors Tejaswi Prakash and Suyyash Rai spoke in defence of their show.

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In an earlier interview with news agency IANS, the 25-year-old actress said that Pehredaar Piya Ki is in fact a 'progressive' show. "I think it's really progressive. But again, a lot of people believe in judging a book by its cover. They love being judgmental and people have nothing better to do than judging somebody else's work. Then okay, what can I do?," IANS quoted Tejaswi as saying.

In his Instagram post, Suyyash Rai wrote, "But this doesn't change the fact that we, the whole team of Pehredaar Piya Ki love this show and we all have worked really hard for it."

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Pehredaar Piya Ki premiered on television July 17 and has been a topic of discussion over its relevance and theme.

(With PTI and IANS inputs)