And I do mean anyone - anyone with access to a sizable amount of resources, essentially monetary. Or/And basic knowledge of the chemicals and processes involved. I say this because there is no dearth of Indian serials. I distinctly remember the time when there was a greater variety of shows that were aired on channels like Star Plus and Sony. A time when the viewership of these channels didn't comprise majorly of aunties.
Side note- I shouldn't comment on the viewership given as a lot of kids watch these channels too, these days. Sad times. *Sigh*
The recipe of a typical Indian serial comprises of the following main ingredients( with a few spices added here and there - slight modifications - according to demand):
1. People - Young, old and a couple of 100 year olds
2. Clothes and Jewellery
3. Huge mansion(s)
4. Joint family - A huge one
5. A hyperactive/slightly crazy/excessively serious protagonist and
6. A commonplace plot
The variety of the shows currently being aired is negligible and I am sure the Indian market demands more diversity and longs for better quality television than what is currently available. 10 years ago Indian soaps were all about marriages and the issues revolving around joint families. Now, the shows are all about love, marriages and the social evils.
I guess some would argue that these serials are a desperate attempt to ensure the continuance of Indian morals and values amongst the youngsters of today. Hey, I have no problem with that. I just dislike the over-dramatization and overly prolonging a scene that could be finished in one-tenth of the time it is allocated. Mainly these serials serve the need to portray life from the perspective of an average Indian and the extreme emphasis on the complicated status of each and every relationship cannot to be missed. The naivete of the protagonist and his/her coterie makes you want to pull your hair out. Not to mention the holier-than-thou family members, most of whom have a dichotomous emotional scale - sad/perplexed/angry v/s happy/ecstatic. I do not know whether it is an indication of producers/writers' perception of the viewership or the lack of ideas on the part of the writers- but nobody seems to have heard of the word 'subtlety' for every thought that passes the character's mind must be voiced out loud for the sake of clarity for the viewers. It seems like a huge insult to the common intellect when these people manage to achieve reasonably good TRP for really poor standard shows. Besides wanting to be entertained, most people look for some amount of intellectual stimulation by not wanting to see shows that make them feel brain-dead. Importance of content can hardly be overstated.
The people on the story board(or the creative team) are as endowed with the power of imagination and creativity as the Tin Man is with a heart( that is, before he visits the Wizard of Oz).
For all those who think light fiction is all that these show are about, do pause and reconsider before lashing out at me - Do these shows truly promote healthy behavior? All that I gathered from a few minutes of watching a particular soap was that people in the serial world have nothing better to do and each and every member of the house must rush to the family meeting that takes place at the slightest of issues.
Example 1
Girl: Oh! I cannot find abc object!
Rest: *Gasp*<Something sinister must have happened, that requires the attention of the entire family( A HUGE joint family, mind you)>
And all the members drop whatever they were doing and start searching for a blessed <insert an object of your choice>. A family of jobless idle souls is what the house is made up of.
People who would accuse me of being anti-nationalist (or something along the same line), to them I will say this- all English soaps aren't too great either. A similar article can be written about them too. The bias that exists towards the English TV shows is probably because they are considered to be lesser of the two evils. The bottom line being that excessive unrealistic drama is the staple of all TV shows irrespective of the language with the sole exception being the ones that teach maths, science and other subjects' course to secondary school students. Even the short attention spans of the viewers do not justify the extremely crappy soap opera productions being aired these days.
Side note- I shouldn't comment on the viewership given as a lot of kids watch these channels too, these days. Sad times. *Sigh*
The recipe of a typical Indian serial comprises of the following main ingredients( with a few spices added here and there - slight modifications - according to demand):
1. People - Young, old and a couple of 100 year olds
2. Clothes and Jewellery
3. Huge mansion(s)
4. Joint family - A huge one
5. A hyperactive/slightly crazy/excessively serious protagonist and
6. A commonplace plot
The variety of the shows currently being aired is negligible and I am sure the Indian market demands more diversity and longs for better quality television than what is currently available. 10 years ago Indian soaps were all about marriages and the issues revolving around joint families. Now, the shows are all about love, marriages and the social evils.
I guess some would argue that these serials are a desperate attempt to ensure the continuance of Indian morals and values amongst the youngsters of today. Hey, I have no problem with that. I just dislike the over-dramatization and overly prolonging a scene that could be finished in one-tenth of the time it is allocated. Mainly these serials serve the need to portray life from the perspective of an average Indian and the extreme emphasis on the complicated status of each and every relationship cannot to be missed. The naivete of the protagonist and his/her coterie makes you want to pull your hair out. Not to mention the holier-than-thou family members, most of whom have a dichotomous emotional scale - sad/perplexed/angry v/s happy/ecstatic. I do not know whether it is an indication of producers/writers' perception of the viewership or the lack of ideas on the part of the writers- but nobody seems to have heard of the word 'subtlety' for every thought that passes the character's mind must be voiced out loud for the sake of clarity for the viewers. It seems like a huge insult to the common intellect when these people manage to achieve reasonably good TRP for really poor standard shows. Besides wanting to be entertained, most people look for some amount of intellectual stimulation by not wanting to see shows that make them feel brain-dead. Importance of content can hardly be overstated.
The people on the story board(or the creative team) are as endowed with the power of imagination and creativity as the Tin Man is with a heart( that is, before he visits the Wizard of Oz).
For all those who think light fiction is all that these show are about, do pause and reconsider before lashing out at me - Do these shows truly promote healthy behavior? All that I gathered from a few minutes of watching a particular soap was that people in the serial world have nothing better to do and each and every member of the house must rush to the family meeting that takes place at the slightest of issues.
Example 1
Girl: Oh! I cannot find abc object!
Rest: *Gasp*<Something sinister must have happened, that requires the attention of the entire family( A HUGE joint family, mind you)>
And all the members drop whatever they were doing and start searching for a blessed <insert an object of your choice>. A family of jobless idle souls is what the house is made up of.
People who would accuse me of being anti-nationalist (or something along the same line), to them I will say this- all English soaps aren't too great either. A similar article can be written about them too. The bias that exists towards the English TV shows is probably because they are considered to be lesser of the two evils. The bottom line being that excessive unrealistic drama is the staple of all TV shows irrespective of the language with the sole exception being the ones that teach maths, science and other subjects' course to secondary school students. Even the short attention spans of the viewers do not justify the extremely crappy soap opera productions being aired these days.
