The Evolution Of TV serials and their Portrayal of ‘Indian Values’

Fauji: Sharukh Khan

The question is whether watching Indian television changed the viewers psychologically, or whether the shows are only a mirror of the shifting Indian viewers' tastes? 

Is this a positive change, or are we drifting too far in the direction of negativity and violence? 

It has become a daily routine  in most homes, and so much so that families watching family-dramas have begun to imbibe what they see on television. Perhaps it works on a quid pro quo basis: serials show what the viewers want, and the viewers want what the serials show.

This small screen is also the platform which has given India many celebrities. 

Older shows not only had more logical shows but they also followed traditional values.

These days all shows follow one trend, and promote wrong social messages. They are trying to be modern but imo they have regressed more, for example women are killing their own self respect just to win their love. Men are mostly being shown as two timers

What happened to our good ole heroes who were in love with one woman only?!

It’s not a positive change. It’s like whenever we get a good tv show with a good social message other shows with negative content increase more of the negative content with extra melodrama then all the other shows with similar negative content follow their lead and the cycle continues.. worst part of this cycle is that the audience abandons the good show for the overdramatic melodramas! It’s a never ending disaster. I call it the perfect storm 

Excellent topic for discussion, @Viswasruti. 

Yes and No.

Yes serial does show what viewers want. Nowadays, we have serials which are closer to reality.. be it on Tv or OTT platform.  

Example: Sony Tv is a staunch supporter of unconventional shows in its channel like Patiyala Babes, Mere Dad Ki Dulhan, Dhadkan Zindagi Ki, Katha Ankahee.

No.. what viewers want what the serial doesn’t show. Most viewers tune in to get entertainment but the content that is dished out is just high pitched and elongated drama which is becoming stale and boring. Tracks are repetitive with generation leap, so on..

Example: Majority of the serials in Star Plus, Colors and Zee Tv thrive on bigamy involving two sisters  or separation of leads again and again, or glorifying females like Anupamaa, etc

sometimes the only entertaining bit about Indian TV serials are the staring contests. 

we are so good at it that we have exported that to other countries who have borrowed it and made their dramas fun too! 

Yes it is so disgusting like every other show is basically a weird nonexistent third angle love story with little to no romance in it. Lots of family drama and kitchen politics 

What I dislike the most is the glorification of various crimes: child abuse, child endangerment, and crime against women tops the list. 

Weirdly this doesn’t happen in reality lol at least never happened with me lol or maybe i’m just unlucky in love anyway this eye staring contest and catch and fall thing doesn’t really happen at all lol

Yes, the content of serials has changed significantly, becoming more regressive and destructive towards society standards. 

If we peep in to the 1970s, many television centers were opened, but Doordarshan being the biggest one. Indian small screen programs started off in the early 1980s. Earlier,there was only one national channel, that was owned by the government – Doordarshan. It aired shows like--- Ramayana and Mahabharat based on the epics and were the first major television series produced and appreciated by all age groups. Other shows like Hum Log aired in 1984 dealt with Indian middle class families and their daily struggles and aspirations, Buniyaad (1986-87) which dealt with the partition of India in 1947 and its aftermath, Fauji (1989) followed the training of the Indian army commandos, and comedy shows like Yeh Jo Zindagi Hai, stories for children like Vikram Betal and Malgudi days. 

We see a trend in the 80s shows as they deal with the issues like family, daily struggles of each and every individual, partition and its effects, motivation to the younger generation to join the army, message of patriotism and nationalism and also this was ‘the golden age’ of Indian television as it bound us together every evening: one family, one nation, one channel, one culture. 

Unfortunately, there has been a significant decline in quality when comparing those shows to current serials. However, the technological advancement of today's serials is noteworthy and well admirable.