Television aping Bollywood

Are original scriptwriters a thing of past?

Published: Thursday,May 17, 2007 09:21 AM GMT-06:00

minnie

Today, Bollywood is known for its great success in movie production. Many creative heads combine to form the plot of a movie, which is then brought onto screen by actors and actresses. Television is not too far behind with many of the serial breaking the TRP charts.

Sadly though, Indian entertainment industry lacks originality. Bollywood has been copying hollywood for ages, but now it's the television which is copying bollywood, ironically copying even it's landmark trait - being a copy cat!

Our teledom if full of creative heads, but where is the creativity? The same storylines are popping over and over again in our daily television. For example, in the movie Kuch Kuch Hota Hai SRK has kajol as his best friend only to realise that he loves her when he sees her getting married to someone else. The same story has been repeated in Kayamath. Neev and Prachi are best friends who turned lovers only when a third person comes in.

Yet the viewers are on a staple diet for serials, watching serials even though we know it is a form of plagiarism. By watching such serials are we not actually encouraging the industry to create such glamorous soaps for us which are not their ideas?

Take the example of Mujhse Dosti Karoge. Rani Mukherjee liked Hrithik Roshan but didn’t express her love because of Kareena Kapoor. Same storyline has been repeated in Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi with Krisna Tulsi (KT) and Lakshya. KT never expressed her feelings as she thought that Lakshya liked Saniya.

The latest addition to this trend is Kasauti Zindagi Ki which completely rips off the theme of Mohobatein by placing an anti-love Prerna styled on no less than Amitabh Bachchan himself, right at the helm of a loveless institution naming it Gurukul. How much more uncreative can you get!

Exceptions are there of course. Not all serials follow Bollywood movies all the time. Such as in Banoo Main Teri Dulhan, Vidya is illiterate but proves to be smart by her actions even though she does not know how to read and write. Serials like Aek Chabhi Hai Padoss Mein & Left Right Left too have explored new themes with success.

The exceptions are few and far between. Now a days, every track is being copied from another serial or a Bollywood movie. Repeating the themes of extramarital affairs, the same old misunderstandings, death by accident and then coming back with a plastic surgery, miscarriages....the list is endless.

So is this the departure of Creativity and arrival of copy cats?

However predictable these serials are, as long as the viewers are glued to them and have the same passion to watch them everyday/ same time / same channel /no matter how the storyline is going, creativity perhaps will have to take a back seat.

Contact author: pm: gk_09