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It is no longer a woman's world in daily soaps and reality shows. Male protagonists and anchors are emerging stronger with more screen time
Soapy trails The men on Indian television are on a comeback mode finally. After spending years in the sidelines letting the female counterpart mouth the paisa-vasool dialogues and grab more screen space, men are calling the shots on prime time TV soaps.
Karanvir Bohra as Aahil in Qubool Hai, Vivian Dsena as Raja in Madhubala...Ek Ishq Ek Junoon, Siddharth Shukla and Shashank Vyas as Shiv and Jagdish in Balika Vadhu, Mohit Mallik as Samrat in Doli Armaanon Ki or Vikas Manaktala in Main Naa Bhoolungi, Ashish Sharma as Rudra in Rang Rasiya and Rajat Tokas as Akbar in Jodha Akbar, these leading men are not only emerging as strong characters in their respective shows but are also reason for the impressive TRPs their shows are raking in.
Producer Rajan Shahi shares, "Seven years ago only female protagonists were considered important by broadcasters. But the perception has changed. Now, male protagonists are no more seen as passive participants in a show, and are being given more importance. Even for promotions male actors hardly got a chance to interact with the audience as only the actresses were seen as the face of the show. But now, both male and female protagonists are taken into consideration for promoting a show. This change is because audience want to see both male and female characters in strong roles." Saurabh Tewari agrees, "Male protagonists are emerging stronger because there is a boom of love stories which have become more popular on Hindi GECs."
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And what do actors feel the increased screen space? Shashank Vyas shares, "Even in real life it's not as if women can solve all critical issues, this is simply being reflected in soaps too. As an artist I'm making good use of my art rather than just sharing a frame with the female lead without doing anything." Karanvir Bohra agrees, "These days even men are watching TV soaps, which is why male characters need to be stronger. So now, makers are giving equal importance to stronger maklemale and female characters."
In the game of numbers, an actor's screen time depends entirely on his ability to draw in the audiences and garner the right kind of TRPs.
Realty check When it comes to reality shows, most producers are focussing on taking male anchors/hosts. Even when the shows are women-centric, male anchors are getting an edge over them. Reality relationship shows like Halla Bol, Yeh Hai Aashiqui, upcoming show Love By Chance have male anchors acting as 'sutradhars' introducing the story format to the audience Karan Tacker who's currently hosting one such show says, "I feel good to be part of a show which is socially relevant. It feels great to stand for a cause where I am talking about problems of women."
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Actor Manoj Bajpayee is the host for a reality crime show, Encounter and filmmaker Rohit Shetty is the host of Khatron Ke Khiladi, Darr Ka Blockbuster. Even laughter shows like Comedy Nights With Kapil and Gangs of Haseepur that are creating buzz on small screen have a slew of male actors running the shows, including actors dressing in drag!
Considering the majority chunk of viewership of reality TV shows are mostly families, having a male host/anchor in the spotlight seems to be bringing in the requisite eyeballs.
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Male order on TV
CID has been one of the shows going strong for over 15 years with four male leads " ACP Pradyuman, Abhijeet, Freddy and Daya.
Adaalat, a courtroom thriller has been banking on Ronit Roy's powerpacked presence since 2010.
Ram Kapoor single handedly took Bade Achche Laggte Hain forward in Sakshi Tanwar's three-month long absence on the show.
Dilip Joshi as Jethalal has been one of the important reasons that have made Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah a viewer's delight.
Last season of Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa had two male anchors Manish Paul and Kapil Sharma and their fab screen vibes and banter were much talked about!
Anoop Soni has been anchoring the crime show Crime Patrol since 2010.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/tv/news-interviews/Men-grab-more-screen-space-on-prime-time/articleshow/35021840.cms
Kumkum Bhagya
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