Posted:
Consider this: Saas-bahu conflict. Scheming vamps. Suffering heroine. That's what we saw on our TV sets for many years, from 2000 onwards. (Does anyone remember Star Plus' Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi or Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki? Or have the serials been forgotten ' deservedly ' like bad
Now consider this: Village settings. 'Burning' social issues such as female foeticide. General gloom and doom. That's what we've been seeing on our TV sets for the past three years, ever since Balika Vadhu (Colors) became a runaway hit.
And finally consider this: Our very short letter to Hindi TV channels. Dear Star Plus, Sony, Colors etc. Can we please see something different? Thank you. Yours sadly, viewers.
To be fair, when it comes to serials and soaps, it isn't as if there's nothing else on TV. There are a few crime shows on Sony which get good ratings. There are a few other serials (such as Saas Bina Sasural ' doesn't the name say it all?) which are different and which do decently in terms of popularity. But in the world of Hindi general entertainment channels (GECs), where nothing matters except ratings, to be different is akin to tempting fate. A 'different' serial will usually not hit the really high spots in the ratings chart. Or so many nervous channel executives believe.
Now consider this: Village settings. 'Burning' social issues such as female foeticide. General gloom and doom. That's what we've been seeing on our TV sets for the past three years, ever since Balika Vadhu (Colors) became a runaway hit.
And finally consider this: Our very short letter to Hindi TV channels. Dear Star Plus, Sony, Colors etc. Can we please see something different? Thank you. Yours sadly, viewers.
To be fair, when it comes to serials and soaps, it isn't as if there's nothing else on TV. There are a few crime shows on Sony which get good ratings. There are a few other serials (such as Saas Bina Sasural ' doesn't the name say it all?) which are different and which do decently in terms of popularity. But in the world of Hindi general entertainment channels (GECs), where nothing matters except ratings, to be different is akin to tempting fate. A 'different' serial will usually not hit the really high spots in the ratings chart. Or so many nervous channel executives believe.
Audiences seem fixated on regressive, traditional (as in resistant to change), clichd serials, they claim. Case in point: at the time of going to press, the country's No. 1 show is the singularly depressing Sathiya Saath Nibhana (Star Plus) about a simple bahu having a really hard time in her sasural, which is peopled by at least two very scary women and one very uncaring husband.
The rest of the articles goes on about Iss Pyaar
The rest of the articles goes on about Iss Pyaar
