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Primetime television has a new winning plot -- social issues. However, the viewer is not impressed as the channels parade honour killings, widow remarriage, farmers suicides,child marriage with high melodrama.
A sense of outrage builds as the channel shows two corpses in its promotional clip for the new teleserial Rishton Se Badi Pratha,which is about honour killings.Recently, in the teleserial Pratigya, quite a few episodes were devoted to Pratigyas in-laws methodically planning to set her a blaze. The episodes left urban India agitated. Says 78-year-old cartoonist Sudhir Dar, I was disturbed after watching the show. They showed how her in-laws got ghee and kerosene. They were actually teaching Indians how to commit a murder on primetime TV.
Grab a social issue and get eyeballs. At least that's what TRPs on Indian television seem to be saying. Lets switch channels for a preview: 12/24 Karol Bagh showed date rape on Zee TV; Na Aana Is Desh Lado showed female infanticide on Colors; pre-marital pregnancy in Jyoti on NDTV Imagine, and Balika Vadhu dealt with child marriage, widow remarriage and an older man marrying a younger girl! Are we trying to whip up a social revolution on the telly According to Sukesh Motwani, fiction head, Zee TV, When women become agents of change they become iconic.
The overdose of social good has the plot a bit exaggerated. Isnt the over dramatisation of Pratigya more a turnoff Not really, says Shanti Bhusan,the writer of Pratigya, Were just trying to bring out some social truths. Ashvini Yardi, programming head of Colors says, A sense of fatigue had set in viewers due to kitchen politics kind of drama.
Yet,the emotional blows and punches that go into whipping social awareness leave the viewer almost nauseous, hardly helping the 'real issue. How does it help anyone to watch uneducated wives being dealt blows by equally illiterate husbands and taking it in their stride When Bairi Piya tried to highlight farmer suicides, vocal protests followed. Says Kishore Tiwari of Vidarbha Andolan Samiti, I was aghast how they portrayed farmers in our region in Bairi Piya.
Why is there no realism on television Says Sandip Sickand of Bairi Piya, We need emotional melodrama to make it more interesting.Even if the serials appear to be regressive, ultimately the woman emerges as the winner. According to a study by Dr Sandhya Verma, television can impact peoples minds hugely. Though the end result may be positive the conspiracy tempts the regular TV viewer to use such methods in real life.
No matter what the message, the packaging and delivery seem to be overdramatic for any meaningful impact. And the truth is that these social evils are beamed into our homes day in and day out with a nauseating regularity. Whether the woman triumphs or not is just a small part of a long stretched-out over-dramatised evil perpetuated on her daily! When highly impressionable sections of society watch wife-beating, bride-burning, child marriages or propagation of female illiteracy on prime time TV, they are bound to look at it as a validation of these negative practices.
Says Meghna Malik, Ammaji in Na Aana Iss Desh Lado, The content is not regressive, the execution becomes regressive. After all'we have to entertain too. Yes, but at what cost
Akhila Shivdas, centre for Media Advocacy believes, The social reality on Indian television can be disturbing. Todays shows, with their confused stereotypes,have a negative impact on urban and rural households by creating false expectations of daughters and bahus. Television is also romanticising child romance in serials like Balika Vadhu by showing young romance between Anandi and Jagiya. Says Purnendu Shekhar, writer of Balika Vadhu, "We're not trying to bring about a revolution, but just creating awareness."
The social impact of portrayal of women on television is disturbing the NGOs that are fighting for womens upliftment. Says Dr N Hamsa, executive director, When television shows women being beaten on TV, it takes us back several decades.
In fact, the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) is in favour of a self regulation code for content. Says Nandini Sardesai, member of Indian Censor Board, This won't be censorship but self-regulation for TV content.
The base of the television viewer has shifted to smaller towns, hence the protagonist in TV shows is also from there. Says Vivek Bahl, executive creative director, Star India Pvt Ltd, The core viewer is slowly moving to smaller-centre viewers.
Its a race for eyeballs and the hyperdramatised 30-minute show is intense enough to make you sit on the edge. Says media guru Dilip Cherian, For a medium which is largely ratings-driven, the search for the Next Big Thing obviously weighs heavy on the minds of producers. Self-regulation is the necessary antidote to all that currently ails Indian electronic media.
A sense of outrage builds as the channel shows two corpses in its promotional clip for the new teleserial Rishton Se Badi Pratha,which is about honour killings.Recently, in the teleserial Pratigya, quite a few episodes were devoted to Pratigyas in-laws methodically planning to set her a blaze. The episodes left urban India agitated. Says 78-year-old cartoonist Sudhir Dar, I was disturbed after watching the show. They showed how her in-laws got ghee and kerosene. They were actually teaching Indians how to commit a murder on primetime TV.
Grab a social issue and get eyeballs. At least that's what TRPs on Indian television seem to be saying. Lets switch channels for a preview: 12/24 Karol Bagh showed date rape on Zee TV; Na Aana Is Desh Lado showed female infanticide on Colors; pre-marital pregnancy in Jyoti on NDTV Imagine, and Balika Vadhu dealt with child marriage, widow remarriage and an older man marrying a younger girl! Are we trying to whip up a social revolution on the telly According to Sukesh Motwani, fiction head, Zee TV, When women become agents of change they become iconic.
The overdose of social good has the plot a bit exaggerated. Isnt the over dramatisation of Pratigya more a turnoff Not really, says Shanti Bhusan,the writer of Pratigya, Were just trying to bring out some social truths. Ashvini Yardi, programming head of Colors says, A sense of fatigue had set in viewers due to kitchen politics kind of drama.
Yet,the emotional blows and punches that go into whipping social awareness leave the viewer almost nauseous, hardly helping the 'real issue. How does it help anyone to watch uneducated wives being dealt blows by equally illiterate husbands and taking it in their stride When Bairi Piya tried to highlight farmer suicides, vocal protests followed. Says Kishore Tiwari of Vidarbha Andolan Samiti, I was aghast how they portrayed farmers in our region in Bairi Piya.
Why is there no realism on television Says Sandip Sickand of Bairi Piya, We need emotional melodrama to make it more interesting.Even if the serials appear to be regressive, ultimately the woman emerges as the winner. According to a study by Dr Sandhya Verma, television can impact peoples minds hugely. Though the end result may be positive the conspiracy tempts the regular TV viewer to use such methods in real life.
No matter what the message, the packaging and delivery seem to be overdramatic for any meaningful impact. And the truth is that these social evils are beamed into our homes day in and day out with a nauseating regularity. Whether the woman triumphs or not is just a small part of a long stretched-out over-dramatised evil perpetuated on her daily! When highly impressionable sections of society watch wife-beating, bride-burning, child marriages or propagation of female illiteracy on prime time TV, they are bound to look at it as a validation of these negative practices.
Says Meghna Malik, Ammaji in Na Aana Iss Desh Lado, The content is not regressive, the execution becomes regressive. After all'we have to entertain too. Yes, but at what cost
Akhila Shivdas, centre for Media Advocacy believes, The social reality on Indian television can be disturbing. Todays shows, with their confused stereotypes,have a negative impact on urban and rural households by creating false expectations of daughters and bahus. Television is also romanticising child romance in serials like Balika Vadhu by showing young romance between Anandi and Jagiya. Says Purnendu Shekhar, writer of Balika Vadhu, "We're not trying to bring about a revolution, but just creating awareness."
The social impact of portrayal of women on television is disturbing the NGOs that are fighting for womens upliftment. Says Dr N Hamsa, executive director, When television shows women being beaten on TV, it takes us back several decades.
In fact, the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) is in favour of a self regulation code for content. Says Nandini Sardesai, member of Indian Censor Board, This won't be censorship but self-regulation for TV content.
The base of the television viewer has shifted to smaller towns, hence the protagonist in TV shows is also from there. Says Vivek Bahl, executive creative director, Star India Pvt Ltd, The core viewer is slowly moving to smaller-centre viewers.
Its a race for eyeballs and the hyperdramatised 30-minute show is intense enough to make you sit on the edge. Says media guru Dilip Cherian, For a medium which is largely ratings-driven, the search for the Next Big Thing obviously weighs heavy on the minds of producers. Self-regulation is the necessary antidote to all that currently ails Indian electronic media.
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