In a class of her own

Wired teeth and all, she warms the cockles of your heart with her good-natured simplicity and girl-next-door charm. The bespectacled princess of prime time, Jassi now graces a Special Cover issued in her honour by the postal department, writes Aditi Tandon

Jasmeet Walia, aka Jassi, is entering the second year of her screen existence with renewed confidence. A year ago she was still a dream protagonist for the creative heads at Sony who wanted to digress from the traditional route of old-fashioned love stories and nonsensical family dramas.

The year gone by has, however, been worthwhile for Mona Singh who plays the bespectacled Jassi in the super hit Sony soap Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin. The success of the soap has been resounding, thanks to our plain Jane who continues to warm the cockles of everyone’s hearts with her simple, straight and heart-warming ways. Within a year of her presence on the small screen, she stands in contrast to glamour-obsessed heroines on TV.

Jassi gone from being a confused character to being a national icon. What better anniversary gift for Jassi than the Indian Postal Service Department’s gesture of honouring her with the Special Cover with Special Cancellation and Meghdoot Postcards, an honour bestowed upon eminent people who have contributed to the society in a big way.

Jassi has, thus, created history by becoming the first TV star to have been felicitated in this manner. The Jassi anniversary Special Cover was unveiled in Mumbai on September 1 by K. Noorjehan, Chief Postmaster General, Maharashtra Circle, along with Kunal Dasgupta, CEO, Sony Entertainment Network. About 12,500 of these covers with a value of Rs 5 each will be available to people at the Mumbai GPO Philatelic Bureau. The Meghdoot Postcards which number one lakh will be available in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, and Chandigarh and across towns in Maharashtra, Punjab, West Bengal, Gujarat, UP, Rajasthan and Orissa.

The honour is, indeed, a recognition of Jassi’s amiable ways which have significantly impacted the attitudes of many others. It is the strength of Jassi’s character that endears her to one and all. Her queer, yet intelligent ways bring home her genius. In no time she could shed that ‘object of ridicule’ image to evolve into an official troubleshooter for her boss Armaan Suri (played by Apurva Agnihotri) at Gulmohar fashion house.

For Mona Singh, the transformation from a ‘nobody’ to a ‘celebrity’ has been unimaginably fast but she quite enjoys the pace. Recently in Chandigarh to promote other Sony events, Mona spoke to The Tribune about the appeal of her character and how nice it felt to be identified with. Instantly getting into Jassi’s mould, Mona began by justifying her role and her consistent but gradual
evolution, "There is a little bit of Jassi in each one of us. Perfection is boring no matter in what realm it is. I love to present myself as I am – vulnerable, ugly, insecure, but resolute. It is this element which people find easy to identify with and which sells. Jassi simply embodies this element."

Goodness of the character apart, Jassi owes a great deal of her success to the innovative marketing campaigns Sony designed to ensure the soap clicks. The unique and powerful phrase Jassi Jaissi Koi sparked off the idea of designing the campaign around the character. No wonder Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin became the baseline line for the campaign.

Half of the battle was won in the pre-launch stage of the serial which was designed to create hype. According to Sony officials, "The objective was to create the right appeal and drive eyeballs. So the campaign was structured to create curiosity around Jassi, create a buzz around the serial’s name and finally build Jassi’s personality and create endearment towards her."

In the pre-event stage itself, Sony focused on driving empathy for Jassi by building her character without revealing her identity, an approach that built the much-needed curiosity around Jassi. An adaptation of the world-famous series Yo Soy Betty la Fea aired across 25 countries, Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin had to be different. The creators ensured that the Indian version depicted real-life conflicts faced by a middle-class protagonist who was in close proximity with high-society characters like Mallika and Pari.

The campaign, thus, hardly left anything to be desired. The serial was marketed by integrating into the campaign elements as novel as flash mobs. Mona Singh says, "The concept worked wonders. The channel identified high-density footfall locations like shopping malls, local trains and multiplexes where people would gather and create a war cry for Jassi, thus creating curiosity." Celebrity endorsements also helped immensely, as did the concept of introducing Jassi Pal Club. Within a month of the serial’s launch, the club already had 6000 registered members.

Jassi still makes time for interactions with her fans. At home in Mumbai, she loves to help people come to terms with their fears in her presence. "It makes me feel worthwhile. We are all weak inside and there is no harm in accepting that. No amount of physical beauty can win emotional or moral battles for you. You have a chance to win only if you have a beautiful heart."

And Jassi sure has that.

— Photo: Manoj Mahajan

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