Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai has yet again taken a leap to the next generation. This time the story revolves around the daughters of the insanely popular previous YRKKH pair Naira-Kartik/Sirat-Kartik. The sibling rivalry between Akshara & Aarohi Goenka is all set to explode as they find themselves entangled in a love triangle with the most eligible bachelor in town- the young handsome doctor Abhimanyu Birla, who has everything going for him except a sour relationship with his dad.

Abhimanyu is a typical romance hero prototype- Rich, handsome with some internal agony thrown in. Very close to his mother, he keeps his father in open contempt for not treating his mother right. Introverted, he treats his anger issues with music and meditation.

The female lead, Akshara is an amateur singer and her voice leads Abhimanyu to her. A series of quick encounters later, he realizes she is the breath of fresh air he needs. Brimming with innocence, kind to a fault, Akshara is also the typical heroine prototype with a tendency to put everyone above herself. As Aarohi has always been bitter about being sidelined, Akshara is always eager to please her sister in hopes of erasing the bitterness from her heart.

Surrounded by the regular stock of joint family paraphilia, the love story has just begun to take baby steps. Abhimanyu has fallen madly in love with Akshara and after a few attempts of pursuit which included awkward phone-flirting, he has landed straight at her house to announce his interest.

The coming twist in their story is to be brought by Aarohi’s attraction towards Abhimanyu and Akshara’s tendency to compensate her sister in any way she can. To make matters a little knottier, the families on both sides have also wrongly identified Aarohi as the object of Abhimanyu’s affections and all of this is heading towards a delicious denouement of sorts.

What works – The good-looking pairing has the potential to be another fan favorite with Harshad Chopda’s restrained portrayal and Pranali Rathod’s spontaneous-looking Akshara. The soundtracks, original as well as pre-used, have added the desired effect. The story has all the popular tropes that make this genre successful- a love triangle, misunderstandings, complicated family dynamics, conflicting interests, and a lead pair to transcend it all!

What does not work – Almost everyone is seen thinking aloud very frequently in very long sentences which may disturb some of the viewers because it seems like they have stepped out of the stories to explain what’s going on in their minds. A lot of these scenarios are self-explanatory and putting words to the thoughts seems redundant. Also, all the characters have started rather flatly but we do hope to see the layers fattening up as the story grows

Keep watching this space for more updates as the show progresses!