My letter to Star Plus

Hi, Star Plus,

Yet again, I am required to write to you to reconsider your decision of ending your show 'Navya'. I last sent you a letter on the same issue in the last week of January/first week of February of this year. I have attached that letter for your reference.

In that letter, I had explained to you why the show 'Navya' was so special, not just for me but for many many young Indians living in different parts of the world, who on an everyday basis balance the demands of tradition with the needs of modernity. I have no desire to repeat myself here and will consider it sufficient to say that 'Navya' is the only show on your channel that upholds the modern values of democracy and equality which are enshrined in our constitution and form the basis for our shared vision of Indian society. A society that shapes and is in turn shaped by the individual and therefore begins in our homes. So unless Indian families practice the values of democracy and equality, Indian society cannot become democratic and cannot provide equal opportunities to all to dream and to realise these dreams. And that's where 'Navya' is so so special - it problematises the blind pursuit of tradition without promoting an overthrow or a coup. According to 'Navya', an ideal family is one which provides for the needs of each of its members as per their requirements and helps them to become the person they wish to be.In such a family, elders are respected for their wisdom and experience and younger members are cherished for their creativity, originality and energy. There is no autocrat running everyone's life as per his understanding but instead each person is valued for their special abilities.

The current track of 'Navya' particularly highlights this - whether it is Anant's passionate plea to not sacrifice his mother's health for a mechanical obeisance to religious ritual or encouraging Sanjay Chacha to develop his interests and skills. In particular, I want to appreciate the whole focus on presenting women's work in the household as a crucial but largely invisible and non-monetised contribution to society and economy which demands respect. When women step out of their homes to work, their contributions are widely respected and valued but their work in the home - managing food and nutrition, caring for the old and the young, maintaining a clean and hygienic living environment, using monetary resources to provide food, water, shelter, education, health and all the needs of various members - is largely ignored whether in estimating labour in the economy or in understanding contribution to the family. But this labour is specially crucial in enabling a family as well as a nation to progress. The recent episodes of 'Navya' have very sensitively highlighted this issue.

For a channel who wants to promote 'Nayi Soch' and present shows like Satyamev Jayate as a part of General Entertainment, shutting down a show like 'Navya' doesnt make sense and frankly speaking is entirely contradictory and even slightly hypocritical.

Your argument for closing down this show is its low TRPs - implying that there are probably not a lot of people who are interested in such a story. Let us examine this proposition. For the past six days #savenavya has been amongst the top 5 trending hashtags in the country. Clearly, there are a lot of people out there who LOVE this show. Because to trend a hashtag requires constant tweeting. A huge number of people have set aside their studies, jobs and family to constantly tweet #savenavya, trend it and try to convince you that there is an audience out there. Doesn't this tell you that they LOVE 'Navya'. You may further argue that this audience does not translate into TRPs. Why? Let us see a few reasons

1. Timing: 'Navya' is currently shown at 6pm. This is a show that caters to an age group from 15-40 yrs living in metros and larger cities of the country. At 6pm, this age group is BUSY. These people have not yet returned home from academic pursuits, jobs or are supervising playtime of young children. I LOVE NAVYA but many a times, if I have a meeting or need to go to the market, I miss the show at 6pm. You do not upload the recent episode on your website or on Star Player soon after it airs, so I have to catch it at around 7 -7:30 pm on the internet.

The show was earlier aired at 10 pm in which time slot it was garnering TRPs between 2-3. The show that you replaced 'Navya' with does not even fetch TRPs of 2. So 6pm didnt work and replacing Navya at 10 didnt work either. You should just reinstate Navya at 10pm, your TRP problem will be solved. But instead of that, you are axing the show!! Why are you punishing 'Navya' and its loyal audience for your incorrect decisions. That's just egoistic and really not the way to run a business, may I humbly submit.

2. Promotion: After changing the time slot of 'Navya' with a brief promotion, you have ignored the show and its leads for 3 months!!! How do you expect a show to do well without any promotion? Please explain. I really wish to understand your logic here.

- Anant and Navya are a very famous jodi of your channel but they were not nominated for any of the popular choice awards in Star Parivaar Awards. Navya's nominations were known at the last minute. None of the cast had any performance, nor were they part of any of the promotion.

- The Lucknow visit was dominated by the cast of Mann ki Awaz Partigya and Anant and Navya's participation seemed very last minute.

- Anant and Navya's participation in Star Parivaar ka Tyohaar was barely promoted and they both had a very limited role.

- None of the tracks of the show received any promos. Not a single promo.

You say that you only promote sponsored shows but isnt this a vicious circle? No promos + 6 pm timing = low TRPs = no sponsor = no promos = no sponsor= no promos = low TRPs. If you wanted to give 'Navya' a fair chance, you would have provided some promos to break this circle. Look at your reality show Survivor India, it had such low TRPs but you promoted it incessantly.

3. Mahaepisodes: For 3 months, there have been no Mahaepisodes (MEs) for Navya, why? Dont you think that this has added to the low TRPs and if they are the reason for no MEs, then again we come back to that same vicious circle : No promos + 6 pm timing= low TRPs = no sponsor = no promos = no sponsor = no MEs = low TRPs. Do you wish to break this or did you just extend the show for a few months because of the #savenavya campaign in January to allow it to die a natural death? Either way, you have hardly provided the show a real and fair opportunity to garner any TRPs.

So to conclude, all I would like to submit is that it appears that you have willfully allowed a wonderful show to lose TRPs and then are using the same as a reason to axe it.

Are you then surprised that, 'Navya' fans are upset, angry and are spamming you on email, twitter and phone?

'Navya' is without doubt one of the very BEST shows on television currently. If it were not, it would not have fans like me. So do reconsider, if you value my viewership. Because, and please dont have any doubt about this, without Navya, I will not watch StarPlus irrespective of Satyamev Jayate - I can watch discussions on such topics on one of the better news channels.

Shilpa D

Hi, Star Plus,

My name is Shilpa and I am a married professional, in my 30s, living in an Indian metro. I am an ardent viewer and fan of your serial Navya. I have seen every episode and some episodes several times. 10 o'clock at night, in my house, is reserved for Navya and my family has learnt the hard way that whether there is a cricket match, an election or an absorbing political debate, at ten on weekdays, the television belongs to me.

You might think that this is usual for me. I must have loved and watched several serials. Actually that is not true. I last watched a hindi TV serial when I was in school and that was a really long time ago! I am a scathing critic of almost all hindi language content currently served on television. I imagine that the reasons for that should be easy to discern. You see injustice and inequality really bother me and my working life is all about trying to address these lacunae in our society. I believe that all men and women are born equal, have equal rights irrespective of caste, class, religion and region and our society should be structured to provide space and opportunities to all and most especially the poor and marginalised, to grow, develop, participate and make a place for themselves in the world. Clearly, Indian society is not there as yet but hopefully, one day we will. At least, that is the path I would like to be on, the direction I would like to move in.

Unfortunately, most hindi TV serials, and especially the ones on your channel are not part of this journey. In the name of tradition, they present and eulogize values that represent the old India - feudal, hierarchical, patriarchal, autocratic, communal. In this cesspool, Navya was like a breath of fresh air. Here were characters, situations, struggles and a milieu that I could relate to! Just like Navya, I grew up in a conservative environment and was then exposed to postmodern Mumbai and Delhi. Just like her, my family was strict but loving, approachable and understanding. Just like her, having a boy friend and a love marriage was unusual for them. Nobody else in the family had done anything like it! Girls were provided equal opportunities to learn and earn but marriage was still a family decision! It took them some time to accept it and support me, but they did, just like the Mishras finally supported Navya.

I was so surprised to find a serial that was willing to accept that 'tradition' was not a holy cow - it could be problematised, to present the Mishras and their everyday parenting struggles as the 'norm' and the Bajpayees with their autocratic and hierarchical ways as a 'problem'. I was surprised to find a hero who questioned his family on early marriage for his sister, defended Renuka's right to go for a divorce and his own right to love based on his belief in an individual's right to pursue happiness in their life above structure and tradition. This was the only serial that presented the sensibility that a pomp and grand marriage could be an unnecessary burden on the girl's side - that such marriages have huge financial implications even without dowry. That had the protagonists trying to influence this aspect. Because of this serial, I began to revise my opinion of you and other hindi language TV content.

However, it was not to be...

Your decision to discontinue this serial in this way, without any clear reason or rationale, is shocking and a reassertion of your disregard for the millions of Indians, especially the young, who are on this progressive journey towards change - their struggles and their everyday reality.

Also as a professional, I particularly feel that, not only your decision, but your entire handling of this situation has been extremely unprofessional, disrespectful, high handed and arrogant!! You advertised a new show at the 10pm time slot without any clarity on what will happen to the existing show. You first shared your decision to discontinue the show in tweets and emails in response to agitated fans and viewers and only yesterday did you put up this news on your facebook wall. Even now your website has no clear information about this change. Fans and viewers who have called in have been dealt with rudely and provided no clear information about what is happening. Most importantly you have completely disregarded the people who have put aside their work and all other occupation to convince you that the show has a huge fanbase - #savenavya was trending on twitter over the weekend!!

I sincerely wish that you reconsider your decision and reinstate this serial which is very well made, has a wonderfully talented cast that delivers superb and realistic performances, in which the UP milieu is beautifully created and the situations are not unrealistic and overly dramatic and is a balanced mix of romance and drama.

I as a viewer would very much like to see how Anant and Navya continue to balance tradition and modernity, how Mohan and Renuka manage their marital problems, how the Bajpayees learn to adjust to modern values of democracy and valuing the individual.

I also wish that you improve your ability to respect and interact with your audience.

regards

Shilpa D