Which channels do you generally surf on Indian Television? If you ask this to a Kid, you will get answers like Pogo, Disney, etc. If you ask the same to a teenager or working bachelors, they would say ESPN, STAR ONE, etc. A housewife will answer Star, Sony, Zee or NDTV Imagine. Retired people prefer watching Astha. But if you ask the same question to a married corporate person, he would answer NDTV profit in the morning. Then the natural question follows. What about the evening? Even though most will not say this, but the actual answer is – ‘Arre bhai, biwi TV dekhne kahan deti hai? Jab dekho Tulsi ki kahani leke baith jati hai’.
This is the kahani of all most all families in our country. Saas bahu dramas which have been running since the last 8 years are no where near their closure. Can you imagine daily soap running for 8 years? That accounts to 1600+ episodes, at 200+ per year. 1600+ episodes, i.e. story of 800+ hours. A sane person can never imagine how a story can be told for so long. I think there must be 50 such saas bahu serials being telecasted on various channels. All these serials have almost the same story. Even if the background is different, ultimately they show the same things. E.g. serials like Dil mil gaye, Jersey No 10, etc which are based on Doctors and cricket players respectively have turned into dumb love and hate stories after few episodes.
But the problem with these serials is they are not story based. They are TRP based. Even though the serial makers have nothing new to show, they would add some ridiculous twist to the story (hero dying, heroine marrying somebody else, hero returns and badla) to drag it for few more months. These kinds of twists have been happening in all the serials. Still the stupid viewers in India never stop watching them. This increases the TRP and such sick serials go on forever. Somebody should show Ekta kapoor (the lady who changed the face of Indian television, from good to bad) the serials being made in the west (LOST, Smallville, Prison Break, 24, etc) to make her realize what TV serials are actually capable of and what she is delivering.
15 years back, we were making serials like Stone boy, Indradhanush, Malgudi Days, Mahabharat, Jungle Book, Neenv, Mitti ke rang. Just have a look at the serials running now – Babool ka angan chute naa, Betayaan apni yaan paraya dhan, etc etc (all CRAP)
The only show which is watchable on Indian TV is Roadies, but that too runs just for few months. Sometimes I feel I should lift my TV and go and break it on Ekta Kapoor’s head. And I am sure many will help me in doing that.
This is the kahani of all most all families in our country. Saas bahu dramas which have been running since the last 8 years are no where near their closure. Can you imagine daily soap running for 8 years? That accounts to 1600+ episodes, at 200+ per year. 1600+ episodes, i.e. story of 800+ hours. A sane person can never imagine how a story can be told for so long. I think there must be 50 such saas bahu serials being telecasted on various channels. All these serials have almost the same story. Even if the background is different, ultimately they show the same things. E.g. serials like Dil mil gaye, Jersey No 10, etc which are based on Doctors and cricket players respectively have turned into dumb love and hate stories after few episodes.
But the problem with these serials is they are not story based. They are TRP based. Even though the serial makers have nothing new to show, they would add some ridiculous twist to the story (hero dying, heroine marrying somebody else, hero returns and badla) to drag it for few more months. These kinds of twists have been happening in all the serials. Still the stupid viewers in India never stop watching them. This increases the TRP and such sick serials go on forever. Somebody should show Ekta kapoor (the lady who changed the face of Indian television, from good to bad) the serials being made in the west (LOST, Smallville, Prison Break, 24, etc) to make her realize what TV serials are actually capable of and what she is delivering.
15 years back, we were making serials like Stone boy, Indradhanush, Malgudi Days, Mahabharat, Jungle Book, Neenv, Mitti ke rang. Just have a look at the serials running now – Babool ka angan chute naa, Betayaan apni yaan paraya dhan, etc etc (all CRAP)
The only show which is watchable on Indian TV is Roadies, but that too runs just for few months. Sometimes I feel I should lift my TV and go and break it on Ekta Kapoor’s head. And I am sure many will help me in doing that.
2 comments:
Afsos...yehi hai 'Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki'...Har ghar mein chale serials 'Saas Bahu ki'
Agree wid u on those oldies...really miss stoneboy and Indradhanush, kathasagar...wud love a rerun of those anyday!
BUt then commercialization and corporatization of the entertainment industry has brought in its cons as well. Actors earlier used to aspire to get into movies and now we see a reverse trend altogether. Wudn't be surprised to see more n more doobte sitare trying their hands at television and giving themselves a more than outside chance of a 2nd innings in their career (Not to speak abt the huge money involved as well!)
Not that I'm an Ekta Kapoor fan, but you can't fault the lady for knowing which side of the bread is buttered! We sit and crib while she mints money. Dont understand why this should be a deterrent to ppl who want to make serials of the Malgudi Days variety. Maybe none of the channels have the gall to take on the saas-bahu serials head on. So while I agree with the gist of ur post, I feel that ur ire is misplaced.
Btw, I dont find Roadies that great either- its dropped its standard to include "glamour" and made a mess.
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