On Daily Soaps

I know a little bit about the famous Ekta Kapoor daily soap operas because my mum watches Bandini on NDTV Imagine. And I also remember K serials that housekeepers and grandparents in India would watch: Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki, Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, Kutumb, Kusum - I dunno if they're still on air...

What are your views on these shows?

Are they regressive?
Are they realistic?
Are they creative?
Are they entertaining?
Are they worth watching?

Is it a good or a bad thing that we have so many daily soaps in India?

hehehehehe...........im gud.......i luv serials......so they r also gud........heheh 😃😃

Some of the dramas are getting really annoying and I have started to be put off by watching so many because some of them have similar storylines, I only watch SGP, Geet, Bandini but I get bored and sometimes I wish they could make a serial about Tawaifs I love to watch one like that I loved the films that had actresses playing one such as Madhuri in Devdas etc.

Are they regressive? - YES, ABSOLUTELY! 🤢
Are they realistic? - NO!
Are they creative? - YES!
Are they entertaining? - DEPENDS ON THE AUDIENCE!
Are they worth watching? - DEPENDS ON THE AUDIENCE, AGAIN!

Is it a good or a bad thing that we have so many daily soaps in India? If you take it something that is entertaining you, it's fine but if you let those highly unrealistic things affect you, they definitely would prove to be things not good for you at all.

We've also had a few but worth watching Youth Shows however, aadat se majboor Indian soap people ended up destroying them as well. So basically, even if the show's different from the Kekta crap . . it will regress some day and turn into something highly crappy like Kekta soaps are since the very beginning! 😆

Hmm...

What makes these soaps 'regressive'? After all, they portray modern social phenomena such as extra-marital affairs and step-families...

Or is it the morality that they portray regressive? If so, what is regressive about this morality?

Originally posted by: xobile

I know a little bit about the famous Ekta Kapoor daily soap operas because my mum watches Bandini on NDTV Imagine. And I also remember K serials that housekeepers and grandparents in India would watch: Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki, Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, Kutumb, Kusum - I dunno if they're still on air...

What are your views on these shows? All of 'em are practically the same. The only change one can find is with the actors(obviously), homes, the place of origin of the characters, accent, and.. that's it.

Are they regressive? Yes.. 👎🏼
Are they realistic? LOL.. no! Generally it's a NO.. there are exceptions like Asthitva-Ek Prem Kahani, or even Pavitra Rishta these days(it's stretching like a bubblegum though 😆).. 😲 😲
Are they creative? Not really.. like I said, all of 'em are one and the same.. It's all about a lady who's all goody-goody, and the world revolves around her with some 'evil' characters trying to put her down all the time.. 😆 Oh oh.. she's generally in love with a guy, and there's always something or someone preventing them to hook up with each other.. 😛 😆
Are they entertaining? Entertaining as in watching how incrediblly pathetic a a producer of the serial could get.. 😛
Are they worth watching? NOT AT ALL.. 😳

Is it a good or a bad thing that we have so many daily soaps in India? I dunno.. This is the best part of yor post.. 👏

I think it is, as hundreds are getting employed just in the industry of soaps!! 😲 There are actors, crew of the soap(maybe like some 50), workers on the set which may be like another 50.. so, it actually is employing considerable number of people.. 🤔

And as long as there are viewers, it's definately benifit to the entire cast-crew of the soap plus people working on the sets.. 😳 And I don't think there will be an end to these soaps ever as some kids of my age watch the soaps even today.. -_-

And many are getting entertained too.. 😉 😕

I forgot to add.. the slow.. really SLOW/swift camera and the background music of a lady with a nasal issue are highlightingly annoying parts of a 'serial'.. 🤢

Originally posted by: Midnight_Shade

Here's my two bits on indian soaps ;)

I only see daily soaps as a way of entertaining yourself when you're bored. I mean, one doesn't always have to do things that are progressive, productive, informative, adventurous, and blah blah blah. It's okay to relax, kick up your heels and just sit in front of your TV and get a good dose of Kekta drama every once in a while. Provided you got time for that.

I don't think these soaps necessarily have to portray reality. That's why they always have that disclaimer thingy that goes something like ... "The name, place, and characters of these shows are purely fictitious and therefore, if you find any of the stuff in the show similar to the events of a person in real life, it's purely coincidental". There it goes. It sums up the whole point of having the shows. They're an art of fiction. Who cares about reality? I mean, if you go by that theory, how real is that movie 2012? Do you really think California is gonna submerge into Pacific Ocean on the last day of earth? Riiiiight. And how real is Spiderman? What are the chances of men flying like a superman or batman or spiderman in real? Slim to none. Yet you watch it and enjoy it. In fact, the budget of the last Spiderman movie was around 250 millions, I think. That's an awful lot of shekels they invested on developing a movie on some supernatural creature that don't have any chance in hell of taking form in real. Yet, it's got a huge audience. And there's that stupid show, Lost, that made some crazy fans cry buckets upon its ending. I don't condone excessive emotional attachment to the show but I guess some amount of attachment does develop when you watch the same show day after day. It's upon you to keep that in check or let that get to you. Same theory applies to these soaps. The point is to spark your creativity. You decide what shows are worth your time and what are not. Not others. If you like the show, go for it, if you don't, don't. To hell with the rest.
Although I won't deny that there are some peeps whose whole universe revolves around soaps, which ain't cool at all.

Hmm... So you're saying that realism is not something every work of art need aspire to. I agree. But when realism is suspended, shouldn't creativity take its place? Spider-man may not be realistic, but it sure is creative.

And what would you say are the effects of such shows? Don't they portray a rather skewed morality? I dunno because I don't watch them. You temme?

They are entertaining, but many viewers complain that the show is just being stretched like chewing gum and the only reason they watch is because they need something to do that time of the day, and they're sort of hooked. Is soap-watching an addiction that you enjoy in the beginning but that later is just a tiresome habit?

Originally posted by: Midnight_Shade

Well, as a matter of fact, the only show I watch at the moment is Rishta.com...and I doubt it meets the quota of a typical saas-bahu soap you're referring to. But I've watched a few soaps in the past...so I know where you're coming from.

See, what I'm saying is, these soaps already have the aforementioned disclaimer for us so that we don't mistake them for reality. If their point was to showcase reality, I'm sure they would have. Just take it the way they want us to take it. If you let them get to you in a wrong way, it's our fault, not the soap's.

Yeah, they stretch the plots like a chewing gum, there's no denying that. But they don't hold you at gunpoint to watch em, y'know. If your interest starts wearing thin, you're more than free to stop watching them and move on to the next interesting thing. It's as simple as that. As for skewed morality, forget it. Morality is a part of reality. When there's no reality to begin with, why waste time on morality? It's the entertainment value you're in for, if that makes sense to you.

So you're saying we shouldn't ask for morality lessons from these shows because they're not Aastha lectures or Amar Chitra Katha books. Fair enough.

What about the overall impact? Is it positive or negative? And why?