TV's Cry bab(i)es--Article

Wonder what makes Indian soaps and reality shows tick? No, it's not just the storyline or stellar star-cast. It's the ability to shed precious

TV's cry bab(i)es

tears.

Producers of daily soaps on Indian television are milking the genre dry, for what's its worth. And it is indeed paying rich benefits. For those who breathed a sigh of relief when new channels were launched with 'meaningful shows', it's back to square one. A look at the TAM rating will show that the serials occupying number one slot in the past month have gone the glycerin way.

Pavitra Rishta, Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Ki Jo and Chhoti Bahu, the big winners for the channel it's aired on, have turned tearjerkers with a vengeance. "The western audience gets it's fill from legal and crime dramas on TV. But for the Indian audience, its family dramas high on emotions that work," says Rekkha Modi, writer, Pavitra Rishta. The writer goes on to point out that in India even a crime-based show is incomplete without melodrama. Case in point, CID. Tulsi, Parvati and co have successfully become trendsetters for the tear-jerker genre, which refuses to leave the idiot box.

Sunjoy Waddhwa, producer of shows like Balika Vadhu and Jyoti believes that it's necessary to go the emotional way to strike a chord with the audience. "While portraying relationships, it's difficult for one to escape that route," explains Waddhwa. Balika Vadhu, Na Aana Iss Des... Laado and Uttaran are currently the leading shows for the channel that is heavily banking on the audience's empathy. "With the expanding reach of satellite TV to small towns, a huge audience which was earlier being catered to by Hindi films has entered the satellite TV catchment, and their tastes in viewing are influencing channel programming," says actor Archana Taide from the show Mata Pita ke Charno Mein...Swarg, which is currently banking heavily on melodrama.

But while glycerine-induced shows are ruling the charts, there are producers who believe that forcibly pushing a show that way could not necessary guarantee TRPs. ". "One doesn't go on crying all the time in real life, why show unrealistic stuff?' asks producer Rajan Shahi. "It is storytelling which counts the most. Audiences relate to closer-to-life-characters and they are intelligent enough to realise if the tears are exaggerated. Emotions need to be handled with care on TV," he adds.

While 'melodrama', 'family soap' and 'realistic portrayal' are pretty flexible commodities on Indian TV, so far, no one is complaining. Take your pick.


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tv-/TVs-Cry-babies/articleshow/5146006.cms