| Soap operas, especially the saas-bahu variety are huge hits. No matter how unrealistic they are, people still love to tune in and see what the next bizarre twist is. Unfortunately this current trend is making channels ignore sagas, which want to be more realistic. Story lines dealing with real people and their problems aren't being viewed as entertainment. As a result, veteran producer-directors like Ajai Sinha, Ravi Rai, Neena Gupta and Lekh Tandon are no longer getting their due. Neena Gupta who won accolades for her serial Saans says, "I have left production three years ago and have no plans of getting into it again." Neena appears to be satisfied with acting only, but Ajai Sinha isn't happy. He says, "Why and for how long should I go on making shows like Astitva when the TRPs it gets are as low as 2? The movie industry has moved forward, while the world of television has moved backward." Ravi Ria too is very vocal about his feelings. He says, "I have to move along with the trends and run a company for survival as there are lots of technicians dependent on it." Lekh Tandon did try to change with the changing times by directing Aisa Des Hai Mera but the show is hardly doing well. Moving on with the current trends is the only way to survive because as Tarun Mehra, vice president marketing, Zee TV says, "Trends definitely go on changing. In the 80's, films were made on the subject of the angry young man, whereas now the hero is being accepted by the audiences as a comedian too. Likewise in serials too the trend keeps changing. By the way, I can pay a million bucks to anyone who could predict the next trend that would work." Sony's creative chief Sandeep Sickand too holds the same view. "It's good that the channels are making the kind of stuff that is in demand. Otherwise people would have shut down their television sets," he says. So if you don't have a saas-bahu drama on hand at least try and come up with a reality program if you want the channels to take you seriously. |
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