Love is in the air! Article

Love seems to be the new mantra to success in the television industry With family sagas churning out dismal TVRs (television ratings point) in the

Dill Mil Gaye

past couple of months, and the iconic K-soaps (Kyunki Saas Bhi kabhi Bahu Thi and Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki) going off air, it was time for fresh formula.

Saas-bahu soaps are slowing vanishing away while the daughter oriented shows and family serials all have been taken over by love stories. Gone are the days when women characters on television had nothing to do but shed copious tears or fight within themselves. Now, they are busy falling in love.

On screen that is. So, go take a closer look at the soapbox and you'll see love stories on prime time — campus capers, star-crossed love, medical romances, historical romances — every gamut of love is reflected on television. The squabbling in-laws, or long suffering women have temporarily taken backseat, as even leading family soaps, have changed track and are talking love. The effort could perhaps be to ensure a younger viewership than the existing one.

Hemal Thakkar, producer of Jeevan Saathi says, "The focus is now on love stories as the world needs more love. Now even a lot of youngsters have started watching television and they believe in the power of love. Besides saas-bahu sagas are done to death, all the ideas are exhausted. Audience demands a change." Ravi Menon EVP of a leading channel feels that love story based shows are a universal trend. "The Indian television industry doesn't have too many genres to explore and the saas-bahu have reached a saturation point." Hemal claims that love isn't presented the same way as it was used to. "People are now exploring new angles and stories. The scale and the flavour of love stories is very different today." While Ravi feels, "TV shows are now influenced by Bollywood films. The way the story is narrated and shown is different today, it is more about situations and chemistry. There are full length songs in serials today, which wasn't a case before."

Neeraj Sachdev project head of Miley Jab Hum Tum says that while love stories are the flavour for the season, saas-bahu sagas are like dal chawal. They will never go out of flavour, no matter how many reality shows or theme based shows are introduced. What does he think is the new trend on television? "It is only the packaging of the show that matters the most, the genre doesn't. Love stories have always been there on television, our show also clicks as it has a very young flavour to it," says Neeraj.

Sanjay Upadhyay, head of a leading channel says, "Serials generally begin with a love angle and then develop and grow to a different storyline. It isn't possible to run a show for long if it is only based on love as one has to move to the next level — after love it's marriage and then the show becomes a family drama." So what is 'in' these days? "Today people want freshness, in a story. The show needs to be interesting and has to be delivered in a way that the audience has not seen before. Basically the presentation needs to be very different," says Sanjay.