Age control formula:Rusty

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Shruti

@shruti

Alumni

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Posted: 19 years ago

Age control formula

A spate of new shows says goodbye to the old, on with the young

Have you noticed what's happened to our prime-time dramas? They just got younger. And younger. What's more, the lead female characters are single, they are very eligible and they don't wear saris or a salwar kameez, if they can help it. They don't sit around at home worrying about what their husbands are doing in office, or trying to get the better of each other in the living room. Watch the Sahara One promos and you'll see what we mean. It has these fresh young things rather rudely telling the oldies to move over. With one dismissive shrug they bid goodbye to the K serials' favourite women. It's not just Sahara that has grown younger with shows such as Kittu Sab Janti Hai, it's every entertainment channel. Even the leader of the pack, Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thhi — which has stayed with 'Baa' and 'Tulsi' as its stars as they grow older — is now contemplating a shift to a much younger generation. Sony, too, has introduced our new type of heroine in its Aisa Desh Hai Mera. Zee has followed suit with Jabb Luv Hua which also began, recently, and then there is Kya Hoga Nimmo Ka on Star One. All the heroines in these serials display a youthful exuberance not seen before. They are smart and working their way up. Both Nimmo and Kitu... see lead female characters working in TV stations. India Calling (Star One) is as its name suggests, takes place in a call centre with the protagonist a bright young thing named Chandni who stands up to everyone in the office and more often than not, gets the better of them. In Aisa Des Hai Mera, the lead character — Rusty — works in a gas station in London before she travels back to Punjab to meet her family. In Jabb Luv Hua, Ananya does not work but she is as sassy as they come — wandering around her ancestral home (where she has returned from the big city due to her father's bankruptcy and possible arrest) in her tight trousers and revealing tops and fights with everyone in sight. Not at all your average village belle. Of course there have been earlier experiments with youth: Star One is a dedicated youth channel with shows like Remix; Milee on Star Plus also had a very young girl working in a rich house as the lead character and even MTV tried out a few 'young' soaps. What's different now is that all the channels have gone young. It's not just the characters who have grown younger — these are not family dramas but different kinds of stories. Will it work? That's still unclear. All the major soaps have seen a drop in viewership ratings. And the new ones have still to make an impact. The channels are taking their chances because daily dramas, the staple of all entertainment channels, have traditionally been watched by older viewers who like characters a little older than their own daughters. Will the younger viewers be wooed with these new shows. Wait and watch.