I remember a year ago when the saas bahu shows ended there were a lot of articles about what a great thing it was. but I don't think they have ended, they are going on and on. Most shows start with a message of some sort or the other, pick up a social issue and then 200 episodes into the show, the issue is sidetracked and its all the same manipulation and routine.
But who does one blame for this?
The channel or the production house? - they will say that this is what the audience wants, so we have to show it. This is what most people want to watch.
The people? - they will say we see whatever is shown, so how is it our fault?
But there is one thing that i do want to blame - and it is our practice of having a show on air 5 times a week. When it started, Balika Vadhu was an excellent show. It looked at situations in nuanced ways, it explored issues with sesitivity. Marital rape had been shown in a lot of shows, but never with the kind of sensitivity and condemnation that BV showed it with. I still remember that Gehna could not walk the next morning - a scene which made clear the physical trauma she had just lived through. And Basant did not think of it as rape, because she was his wife and this is what happened between husband and wife, right?
That kind of creativity is hard to sustain - especially if you have deadlines and are working 24 hours a day. After some time, you run out of ideas out of sheer tiredness and so use the old cliches.
Naagin 7
Health and Fitness
Anupamaa
