Rishton... is next to get the axe

Sony appears to be on an axing spree. The next serial to get the chop is Rishton Ki Dor. The final episode will be aired on March 29. Poor Anuj Saxena must really be wondering what is it that brings him such bad luck because this is his second show to be axed this month. But the losses here must be considerably less since he just acts in the serial, unlike Kulvadhu, which he produced.

Apparently Sony wants to get rid of all the serials, which haven't been getting any great audience reaction because apart from Star and Zee, Sahara One too is giving it strict competition and the channel doesn't want Sahara to take over its number three position.

Be it the film or the television industry, producers always try to play safe by trying out tried and tested formulae. Every hit show is followed by a spate of similar shows. Both Zee and Sony tried to cash in on the success of KBC by presenting Sawaal Dus Crore Ka and Jeeto Chappar Phad Ke. The fact that the two flopped didn't seem to bother anyone, as Zee and Sony tried to compete again with the second season of KBC with Kam Ya Zyada and Deal Ya No Deal respectively. Laughter Challenge's success, lured Zee to make Johnny Aala Re, Sahara to produce Comedy Champions while Sony launched Comedy Ka Baadsah. But have they been able to live up to the popularity of the original? The answer is a big no, which again emphasises on the current trend on TV that only leaders succeed, the followers don't.

Ashwini Yardi, Programming Head, Zee TV, whose Antakshari is doing much better in comparison to Star One's Antakshari, says, "In a way it is true, but it needn't be the case always. At the end of the day it's not the big budget or the lavish sets that matter, viewers just want to see good content, no matter which channel gives them that."

Balaji Telefilms, the pioneers of the Indian soap operas have had countless pretenders to the throne, trying to emulate their hit soaps with little success. Many a producers have tried copying the Ekta Kapoor format, but Kyunki Saans Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi still rules the TRP charts with these copycat shows being nowhere close to it.

Sandiip Sickand, Chief Creative Director, Sony TV points out, "Actually this has been a problem with entertainment since long. we have seen before that when a movie called Nagin became a hit, many movies were based on the same concept and none of them did well. In this field, maybe one should always try something new." Agreed Mr Sickand, but what about Sony trying to (unsuccessfully) make Balaji imitations like Kaajjal and Kulvaadhu?

Nivedita Basu, Creative Director of Star explains, "No, one cannot simply copy a show. You should be different in your own way. Saat Phere is a good example. They definitely have a theme adapted from Balaji but their presentation with the cast and other things is new. There is nothing wrong in getting inspired with something but you should have your own identity too."

So, does the loyalty of the audiences also matter? "I don't think so. Viewers are very smart these days. They will only see what they like. You cannot fool them," says Nivedita.

Sandiip Sickand on the other hand believes viewer loyalty does count to an extent. "Yes and it's very difficult to make viewers switch their loyalty but if you have novelty value you are going to win the game," he says.

Defending the trend of copying popular shows, Ashwini Yardi says, "You cannot force a viewer to sit and spend his/her time watching your show," So was this the reason why Zee's Sawaal Dus Crore Ka didn't fare well in comparison to KBC? "Yes, but there can be other reasons as well. Like the wrong timing and presentation," she admits.

Whatever be the arguments, it's sure for now that the followers have a long long way to go .