Rajma idli daily rantings - Page 7

What according to you is the reason that 'Astitva' is working so well?
Realism... people can relate to the situation. Never have we incorporated situations that seem too hard to digest. Take for instance, the scene where Niki's character Simran finds that her husband has been cheating on her. Instead of hitting the temple bells or beating her chest, she shuts herself in her room and thinks what to do next. That's exactly what anybody from that stratum of the society would do.

While television is making more and more opulent shows, bigger in budget, they are not necessarily innovating.

What do you think is the real issue here?
The ultimate goal of television should be to inform, to uplift society and not to indulge in a money making racket. Just because something has worked for you, it doesn't make any sense in trying to cash on it by churning out clones. If you are in a position where you can experiment and probably bring about some change in society, then why not.

While trying to make the television viewing possible for the lowest strata of the society, it is not necessary to stoop to that level. Instead of upping the thinking of the domestic workers, the channels are glamorising the 'bai culture'. Tell me do people from the affluent classes have time to do elaborate pooja, prepare different sets of breakfasts, attend to chores and then by the end of it all still manage to scheme and shed copious tears? How ridiculous can you get!

Wake up! You have a responsibility here. It is because of this 'baniya' (shopkeeper) mentality that our country has not progressed...

What about the TRP ratings?
People who have good taste will watch good programmes.Take for instance the report filed by a columnist in a leading daily a couple of weeks ago (Shailaja Bajpai's column in Indian Express). She is not related to me. Yet she made it a point to recommend Astitva to her readers. It is to such kinds of audiences that I am primarily catering.

Television should be a reflection of reality; it should innovate, reinvent and not continue to piggyback ride on something that has worked. Look at the fate of movies, barring one or two movies others miserable flopped last year. Thankfully filmmakers have now understood that they need to come up with something different to sustain. Television should take a cue from the movies.