Rohit Chandel and Madirakshi Mundle’s Star Plus show Sairaab uses a soul‑stirring soundtrack to elevate a forbidden romance beyond typical ITV drama.
ITV has a long history of playing the same tired tune when it comes to age‑gap romances. Older woman? She is either painted as the scheming vamp or written off as a tragic placeholder until the “younger, acceptable” heroine arrives. Basically, prime‑time scripts have been allergic to nuance.
This lazy approach reduces the female character to a plot device rather than exploring her emotional depth, desires, or agency. The reality is that age-gap dynamics can actually open up fascinating terrain in storytelling—power imbalances, societal judgment, the beauty of unconventional intimacy, and the resilience of mature love.
Enter Sairaab, Star Plus’ latter offering that refuses to hum the same old melody.
Here, we have Dr. Noyonika (Madirakshi Mundle), an ENT surgeon and single mom who collides with Ishaan (Rohit Chandel), a chaotic Gen‑Z rockstar.
Noyonika is basically the human definition of “functioning trauma.” Years of a fractured marriage and a bruising divorce have rewired her into permanent survival mode. She views romance as a potential earthquake that could topple the fragile stability she has built for her daughter Tinni. On the other hand, Ishaan is the chaos to her control. He is a rockstar drowning in stadium lights and fan hysteria, yet secretly running on empty.
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On paper, they’re oil and water. On screen, they’re poetry and rhythm.
One of the most beautiful aspects of the show is how these two characters converse in a secret, isolated language of poetry and melodies.
Before Ishaan and Noyonika even lock eyes, you have destiny sneaking in a prologue through the song ‘Missing You’-
“Teri baaton ki woh khushboo, ab rehti hai yahin… khidkiyon pe, bheegi shaam mein, tera naam likhe kahin…”
It’s as if rain itself scribbled their connection.
‘Intezaar Tha’ redefines Ishaan-Noyonika’s age gap not as a barrier, but as a destined path where their vastly different worlds were always bound to converge.
“Likhi thi jo kismat ne woh dastaan ho tum,Jaise meri raahon ka aakhri muqaam ho tum.”
In those lines, the track collapses the distance of years between them into a single moment of recognition.
Meanwhile, ‘Tum Aaoge’ frames their connection as a gentle, restorative patience that transforms their painful isolation into beautiful anticipation. It reveals that beneath Ishaan’s chaotic rockstar exterior and Noyonika’s rigid maternal armor, both have left a quiet door open in their hearts.
“Aage suniye raat jugnu gin rahi hai, Tum aaoge isliye raat jugnu gin rahi hai,
Chaand ki khaali hatheli pe roshniyan sil rahi hai, Tum aaoge isliye”
When Ishaan finally finds his anchor in Noyonika’s quiet resilience, and scars worn like battle medals, he slices through her social labels with these verses from his track ‘Tu Koi Aur Hai.’
“Tujko jaise maine dekha hai, pehle kisine na dekha hai, khone ke dena khud ko bheed mein, rakhna sambhale dil ko pyaar se.”
Of course, no romance is complete without conflict. Enter Tinni, Noyonika’s teenage daughter and Ishaan’s biggest fangirl. She worships the rockstar persona, clueless that his heartbreaking lyrics are inspired by her mother’s midnight tears.
When Sairaab first dropped its promo, the vibes screamed Anna Hatheway- Nicholas Galitzine’s The Idea of You— older woman, younger rockstar and forbidden sparks. But this one turned out to be a desi mix. Cue the inevitable toxic in‑laws! Let’s face it, ITV will never give up its favorite seasoning in the name of ‘drama’.
And yet, despite the masala baggage, Sairaab manages to tick most of the right boxes so far.
Like the refrain itself from its title track, “Sairaab hua, dilka jahaan Sairaab Hua”, this Rohit Chandel-Madirakshi show drenches a few clichés in fresh rain, and proves that love can bloom even in the cracks ITV usually leaves dry.
