Why Star Plus shows were so much popular back in 2000?

I remember back in days the characters from those shows were household names when i was in school perhaps in 5th class, today when i look back at those days i feel how stupid the people of that time were they used to watch those duzz duzzz dhooom tananana and all those rebirth and pastic surgery with such passion kids like us had no choice but to watch due to remote control power were with the mothers lol although when i come across certain video of those shows it does makes me nostalgic as it was school years which i miss now most probably with hatim and shararat

I also like shararat

Not all shows were bad some were watched due to the couple or timepass

Also an older demographic used to watch indian tv shows then

I also did not like the weird noises and freeze frame effects

As far fetched as those shows were , they reflected the reality of many housewives to some extent. The never ending drama, the intrigue. The put-downs. The rivalry. So they found it cathartic to see the saas vs bahu thing play out . After a long day of backbreaking work ( tht went unappreciated) many women looked forward to watching these because somebody was winning now and then even if tht was on TV.

I used to watch some of these as a teen and my mother mocked me. Lol. She d say " Stop watching this crap , whats wrong with you ?" I watched them for those deafening beats. I'd have loved to be a drummer for them . And those close ups of people being shocked by the incident of the day. . Also because as an only child I was always lonely and the drama of a joint family with tons of cousins and in laws and stepmothers and great grandmothers was pretty interesting.

So Tulsi pulls the plug on her mother in law. When her husband asks her "Did you kill my mother ?" she says "Me? Wuutt ? Oh. No I was just liberating her . Main toh bas unko mukti de rahi thi baba. Why do you ask ?" 🤣🤣🤣.

People did not have any choices back then and watched whatever that was shown on TV. No internet, web series or any other option. Even DVD players were not at every home nor did everyone have cell phones with internet, pics, videos or various apps then.

So you can see reason why people watched just about anything that was on TV. Old timers still watch anything on T.V. till date and are not used to using smartphones or apps or checking web series etc.

Today we can revisit 80s or 90s shows on YouTube, DVD or Rajshri dot com but earlier that option was also not there, nor were there so many repeat telecasts.

People had to watch whatever that was there no matter how ridiculous it was.

Even cable TV and daily soaps were new then. So excitement to check out any content other than Doordarshan was also there. First time viewers began getting cable TV, satellite TV at homes en masse. The curiosity to check out Star, Sony, Zee etc was lot more and so was willingness to watch different content.

These serials had better budgets, sets and production values than DD serials, the tantalising background music fancy sarees, suits, jewellery, camera angles, masala scenes such as devrani slapping jethani or DIL stopping MIL's hand when MIL tried to slap her or wife vs other woman fights kept audience hooked even if some older people found it vulgar or inappropriate. Ekta took it further with physical romance and love making or kissing or atleast suggestive suhaag raat/consummation scenes in these daily soaps. Something that was unheard of earlier except perhaps 90s shows like Tara which is first Indian serial to show a kissing scene between 2 actors.

These serials became a habit especially because the twists or suspense would keep audience waiting by end of the week. Mystery, murder, saas bahu, conspiracy and usual tiffs between MIL/DIL, brothers, sisters, generation gap issues, affairs, devrani jethani nanad conflicts also made it relatable.

Some serials had cast which gelled well and actually looked like friends, couples or families. I guess that also kept audience hooked and those serials suffered when their cast was changed with leaps etc.

As for kids, we had NOTHING to watch for kids or teens back then except maybe Shaktimaan, Shakalaka Boom Boom or Sonpari or Haatim. Those were weekly shows anyway. So rest of the days we just watched what our elders watched and kids have tendency to be curious or excited about things their elders do so we ended up watching those serials whether we understood them or not or those shows made sense or not. I remember I began watching Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki, Kyunki saas bhi Kabhi Bahu thi, Kusum due to my dadi, chacha, chachi, mami, mama watching those serials. I never watched Kasauti Zindagi ki because no one among my elders was hooked to it. I watched whatever elders did. And when I had remote control to myself I usually preferred to watch films or Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Pogo or MTV and Channel V and sometimes watched Discovery Kids and Nat Geo for knowledge.

The only serials I really liked were Mahabharat, Chandrakanta, Hip Hip Hurray, Remix, Banegi Apni Baat, Devo ke dev Mahadev, Balika Vadhu or short story based serials in 90s such as Akbar Birbal, Mulla Naseeruddin, Karamati, Potli baba ki kahaniyan and historicals like Noorjehan, Sword of Tipu Sultan and Great Maratha or comedies like Tu Tu Main Main, Zabaan Sambhal ke, Sarabhai vs Sarabhai, Khichdi, Dekh Bhai Dekh etc. Or foreign dubbed childfriendly shows like Small wonder, I Dream of Jeannie, Bewitched, Kenan and Kel, Dennis the Menace, Silver Spoons shown on Sony, Star, Nick.

All the serials I have seen as a kid are ones my elders watched. Be it Hasratein, Shanti, Swabhimaan or K serials. I only remember them for nostalgia. Shanti, Junoon were good shows ahead of their times. Rest of the stuff was not something I would have liked as a kid.

80s and 90s shows were better than post 2000 ones though. Post 2009 ones like that Gopi vau serial are even worse than K serials of Ekta. Sometimes I find it hard to believe how much we are regressing and worsening when it comes to content on TV.

K serials worked more due to introduction of satellite TV, better sets, fitter/younger looking cast, make up, costumes, song/dance, BGM.and first time introduction of daily soap format which made them addictive. Not necessarily due to their quality.

I also feel audience likes OTT drama and would perhaps not like subtle acting of old shows like Udaan, Aarohan today in comparison to screeching and howling in K dramas.