Rustic themes - the latest RAGE!

Rustic themes a rage on TV

The success of Balika Vadhu has prompted several serial producers to explore rustic themes. The focus

is on authentic rural ambience, attire, lingo and problems.

THE success of Balika Vadhu has given Indian

TV a new formula. More and more soap makers are heading remote villages and scouting for social issues in rural realm

for plots.

Overdressed richie- rich characters, loud dialogues, designer haveli s and petty kitchen politics — all

patented by years of saasbahu dominance — are on their way out. The thrust is drama created out of all that goes on in

grassroots India.

Characters of contemporary soaps reveal the change naturally, in the way they are presented

by way of attire and rustic as well as props and sets.

The trend is notable all the more if you consider that Indian

television has for long resisted change in formula. Till now, most channel heads were wary of experimenting with social

issues Balika Vadhu s consistently TRPs seem to have changed situation.

The truth is that even the urban

audience wants to explore villages. Every Indian is associated with rural India in some or the other and they appreciate

the depiction of real- life issues in villages," says Ramesh Singh, director of Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi ( Zee TV), among

serials signalling change.

Balika Vadhu raked it in with theme of child marriage Rajasthan village, Agle Janam...

depicts the plight the girl child a povertystricken village in Bihar, where young girls are sold money by their parents. Na

Aana Iss Desh Laado ( Colors) deals female infanticide and is based in the remote Veerpur district of Haryana. And

Sahara Ones Jo Ishq Ki Marzi Woh Rab Marzi deals with the ill- effects the Zamindari system, setting story in the

remote Phaltan village of Maharashtra, besides cast menace.

Whats interesting to note is that healthy TRPs of

these shows have prompted even soap czarina Ekta Kapoor, who ushered the saas- bahu trend with Kyunkii Saas Bhi

Kabhi Bahu Thi and Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki , to accept new trend. Her latest serial Bandini ( NDTV Imagine) depicts issue

of minor girls being married off to older men in rural Gujarat, besides commenting on cow slaughter and the caste

system.

The lead character of the serial, Santo ( Aasiya Kazi), is a young girl who is forced into a marriage of

convenience with an elderly man ( Ronit Roy). Unlike flashy dialogues of routine Ekta soaps of the past, characters

Bandini speak in pure Gujarati dialect. And Ektas trademark mansions have given way to huts lanterns.

Meanwhile, given the trend, Colors has already planned Bhagya Vidhata , a serial based on forced marriage. The show

will reveal how educated, well- employed boys are made to marry at gunpoint in Bihar villages. Even Star Plus, which so

far garnered maximum TRPs with saas- bahu soaps, has changed its programming pattern to be in sync with the

emerging trend. Says a spokesperson of the channel: " We have plans to come up with serials based on the plight of the

girl child in villages, and also highlighting honour killings in rural India keeping in mind current viewer preferences." Its

precisely keeping current viewer tastes in mind that Aana Iss Desh Laado focuses the evil practice of female infanticide

in many parts of rural India. The serial revolves around life of Ammaji ( Meghna Malik), who is the mukhiya of village

Veerpur, where the unwritten rule is that a girl child shouldnt be allowed to see light of the day. As soon as a girl is

born, she is drowned in a tub full of milk.

" We cannot ignore cases of female infanticide prevalent in our society.

Making serials with with rural themes is not just about following a trend but its also about stirring the conscience of

society. At the same time, the reality is served with enough intrigue to keep the audience guessing what will happen

next," says Arun Bali, director of Na Aana Iss Desh Laado . What one cannot miss is the fact that the rustic appeal

comes with refreshing authenticity. For instance, in Agle Janam… the heroine, 17- year- old girl Laali ( Ratan Rajput), is

shown donning orange vermillion, typical of Bihari culture.

Most of these serials in fact bank on realistic looks

for their characters as opposed to the TV trend of heavily pancaked characters of yore. Lali, for instance, is seen minus

make- up and is mostly clad in dowdy attire.

" The credit entirely goes to Balika Vadhu . Its success opened the

eyes of the channel heads. Its refreshing to see the myth that television viewers can be taken for granted has finally

been busted," says Ramesh Ram Singh of Agle Janam… Keeping in view the changing trend, almost every production

house is stressing on outdoor shooting stints. Television units are trekking to rural backwaters to locate the right

realistic ambience.

Others are spending huge amounts to create authentic sets.

For instance, the

realistic Koeyna village in Agle Janam... was actually created in Wai near Mumbai.

Notable features seen in a

typical village like broken cycles and rickshaws were placed all around in the sets for the right feel.

The Sahara

One serial Jo Ishq Ki Marzi... on the other hand has been shot entirely in Phaltan, thus retaining an old- village charm.

The village Phaltan in Maharashtra incidentally has historical relevance — it was the hometown of Shivajis wife.

It all sound interesting. Its up

to the channel heads to keep it that way. Heres looking at four soaps that make

a difference:

AGLE JANAM MOHE BITIYA HI KIJO

The message: Set in the poverty-

stricken Koeyna village in Bihar, the serial deals with the plight of the girl child and untouchability, through the story of

17- year- old Laali who hails from a community of rat killers Masuhar). She is discriminated by rich landlords and is

constantly bullied and cheated. The girls from community are sold by their own parents to pimps. Laalis friend Sanichari

tries to commit suicide when she learns that she been sold under the pretext of being sent to a different village.

The rustic touch: The serial creates a realistic ambience of remote Bihar with its sets. To get the authentic feel, real

potters and labourers were invited on the sets.

Director Ramesh Ram Singh studied the peculiar lifestyle of the

Masuhar community. A local tailor was employed for the costumes.

Says heroine Ratan Rajput: " Weve been

asked to sit in sun in the same set of cloths for hours for a realistic, haggard look.

And we have to speak the

local dialect in the right tone."

BANDINI

The message: The plight of rural women is depicted through the story of 16- year- old Santo, who belongs to the weaver community in north Gujarat and who is married off to a powerful man much older than her. Issues such as cow slaughter and casteism are also addressed.

The rustic touch: The serial marks Ekta Kapoors crossover from lavish haveli s of the saas- bahu soaps to rural India. Partly shot in Gujarat, the Balaji serial is inspired by a south Indian film. " When I analysed the script I realised that it was more suited for a TV serial than a Hindi film, as it has various issues that can be explored only
through a long- running serial," says Ekta. Taking into account the popularity of Balika Vadhu , Ekta gave her creative team clear directives to tone down the entire look of the serial so that it does not carry the trademark K- soap loudness.

Ronit Roy, who plays a Sarpanch in the serial, was asked to work on the Gujarati dialect that typifies
the dialogues. Ektas creative team also did thorough research on the local attire. Ronit, for instance, gets an authentic Gujarati pagdi and moustache.

For the cow slaughter sequences, the creative team drew inspiration from real
cases carried out in the interiors of Gujarat every year.

Director Santram Verma added the realistic feeling to the serial after studying the lifestyle of the weaver community. Everything including the communitys eating habits, clothes and humble home dcor was taken into account.

NA AANA ISS DESH LAADO

The message: The serial is inspired by real- life female infanticide prevalent in Haryana. In the story, the remote district of Veerpur, which is governed by Ammaji, abides by the unwritten law that if a newborn is female, she should be killed
immediately because Ammaji feels girls bring disgrace to the village. The villagers, administration and the police are too scared to protest against Ammaji, who is particularly sweet to women who bear male children.

The rustic
touch: The hardhitting manner in which the show depicted female infants being drowned in a tub of milk, even as
men cry " Agle baras chhora ", prompted several anguished calls by viewers voicing concern and shock. In sync with the
brutal theme of the show, the decor and ambience is typically stark all along. The village shown in the serial is completely devoid of little girls.Everything from the colour schemes on the sets to the coarse rural lingo is in
tandem with the male chauvinistic mood. For authenticity, most of the outdoor shoot is done in rural
Haryana.

JO ISHQ KI MARZI WOH RAB KI MARZI

The message: The serial addresses the ills of the Zamindari system and the false ego tussles among feudal lords, which lead to problems among the common people too. The story also depicts the lives of snake charmers, who get affected by the ruthless approach of the rich landlords.The various social evils are blended with the backdrop love story of Sunaina ( Neha Marda)
nd Sumair ( Neil Bhatt). The story shows how all the social ills ultimately affect their love life.

The rustic touch: The story is set in 18th century and producers Sagar Art decided on the remote Maharashtrian village of Phaltan, where very little development has happened over the centuries. Lavish costumes and heavy jewellery complete the look of the rich landlords daughter Sunaina. Local goldsmiths of the area fashioned Sunainas jewellery.

"The emphasis of the show is on rural culture and tradition.Thus, we chose Phaltan," says Shakti Sagar, producer of the show. The villagers consist largely of people from the community of snake charmers, since the show is about social discrimination against people of the lower caste." The trend of modest backdrops and real looks

for the characters has come as relief even for us actors, who always wanted to play characters that are relevant to the audience," says Neha, who plays Sunaina. " The audience connects with such characters and their plight," she adds.

priyanka.srivastava@mailtoday.in

Sukhi,
I am not sure Bandini is about the issue of old men marrying young girls, like in other serials. In Bandini, we are clearly told that the marriage was a specific issue, more of an accident for both DM and Santo. Yes, it is true they are addressing issues of rich vs poor, and upper caste vs lower caste.

There are some places/groups in India where old men marry young women on purpose- to have male children, or for other reasons. Journalists should not confuse Bandini as talking aout that.

Here RR is aware of the age difference and did not want to marry such a young girl.

Anyway, it is good that rural India is getting some focus on the small screen. The big screen has almost forgtten rural India!

Yes Rasika,

The last time I saw a rural-based movie was years ago in Dor .. and Paheli .. and the latest was Welcome to Sajjanpur .. that's it !

Hmmm I dont think they are confusing it with the marrying younger woman on purpose wala issue though ...