While writers in Bollywood and digital entertainment struggle to navigate the spectrum, the television industry tells a different tale. Writer-producer Sonali Jaffar, who has previously penned shows like Bade Acche Lagte Hain, Pyaar Ka Dard Hai Meetha Meetha Pyaara Pyaara, Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya, and Bahu Hamari Rajni Kant, says she has “no complaints”. Now, Jaffar returns with a new show, Uff... Yeh Love Hai Mushkil, starring Shabir Ahluwalia and Ashi Singh, which hit the small screen yesterday. In conversation with mid-day, she discusses shifting trends on TV, how the show’s messaging aligns with the channel’s vision, and why the team avoided melodrama.

Excerpts from the interview.

What prompted you to come up with this concept?
When we approached Sony SAB, we knew their messaging was all about family entertainment. We wanted to make sure we didn’t deviate from that. One thing we felt was lacking on the channel was romance, so we wanted to incorporate that with a twist. It couldn’t be the typical boy-meets-girl story. We wanted romance within a family setup. So we added the tadka of family to the romantic element.