Amnesia and TV's other fave sicknesses [ARTICLE]

Dr Armaan is back to pursue his love interest Dr Riddhima on Dill Mill Gaye post a memory loss followed by a mental illness.

Alekh of Sapna Babul Ka Bidaai is on a job hunt. He was mentally challenged and his wife's love and care helped him recover. Nihal's Ayesha masi in Jaane Pehchane Se Yeh Ajnabbi is back, post a plastic surgery, and has gained a few inches of height in the process too. Sudha in Jyoti is suffering from a multiple personality disorder. No, this isn't a list from a medical journal – this is how the scripts of some of our soaps read. Medical contingencies have always been TV's staple twists and turns, right?

Each time the TRPs fell or an actor's contract expired, these ailments bailed the viewer and the producers out of the situation. But with Bollywood taking up the subject of medicine seriously and coming up with flicks like Taare Zameen Par, Paa, My Name Is Khan and Karthik Calling Karthik, will our boo-hoo soaps graduate in medicine too?

Logic mangta "The times when you could fool the viewers with twists like plastic surgeries, memory loss, etc, are over now," says Zama Habib, storywriter, Sapna Babul Ka Bidaai. He adds, "The audience wants realistic situations. In Bidaai... too, we had to logically explain the trauma responsible for Alekh's mental condition." Ravi Dubey, who plays Omi in 12/24 Karol Bagh, a character that's mentally slow but has a good heart, agrees. "An unrealistic approach doesn't work with the audience anymore, their sensibilities are changing rapidly," he says.

Does that mean that the telly world will soon do away with situations like prolonged brain-related illness getting corrected in a second? "Perhaps not, but things are getting more logical," says Kapil Pandey, screenplay writer, Dill Mill Gaye. And is the change likely to reflect in Dill Mill Gaye, considering that it revolves around the lives of medical interns? "Yes and no. There are times when one does want to incorporate medical realities and terms in the script, but suffers at the hands of deadlines, for these are daily soaps," says Kapil, adding, "In the end, we have to deliver a script that works with the viewer and meets deadlines. So TRPs and deadlines govern it all." And in some cases, a tiff between actors or the expiry of a contract also leaves one with no option, as was apparent when Aditi Tailang giving way to Sanjeeda in Jaane Pehchane Se Yeh Ajnabbi. Such compulsions do exist, agree the makers. Ravi says, "It is business, at the end of the day, but now one's got to do it intelligently. But really mangta kya?

While it is business for the makers, it is mindless entertainment for the viewers. "One doesn't expect soaps to be real. Forget 'yaddasht khona', none of us sleep with our faces caked with cosmetics and wearing silk sarees, do we?" asks Monica, a homemaker. Agrees Neha, another viewer, "It should be close to believable." "TV viewing comes easy, unlike a movie experience, where you spend money and step out of your homes, so the expectations from both the mediums vary," says Anshuman Sinha, story and screenplay writer, Jaane Pehchane Se Yeh Ajnabbi.

Are we then talking about zero expectation and only entertainment? "Emotions help us connect with the audience and such situations provide ample emotions," says Zama. "Soaps cater to a primarily female audience and the drama revolving around relationships work with them," says Anshuman. So anything that gets the lachrymal glands going works, be it cancer, surgery, etc, or memory loss. Adds Anshuman, "It's the character that's the king, not the situation. A show differs from another only in the first one month, after which it is the characters – caught up in similar situations – that take a show forward." So it seems that our obsession with 'main kahan hoon' and 'main kaun hoon' isn't dying out that soon, otherwise TRPs kahan jayenge?

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tv-/Amnesia-and-TVs-other-fave-sicknesses/articleshow/5876816.cms