Themes yet unexplored by Hindi Serials...

Till recently Hindi serials had been under the strangle hold of the formulaic “Saas-Bahu” serials with its high pitched drama, forever sacrificing heavily bejewelled women and settings that were far removed from reality. Just as viewers had had enough, a sort of coup happened that changed the face of Hindi serials. A few new channels, some bold production houses and producers and some very good writers ushered in the new phase of Hindi serials. As stories and content became more issue-based, there was virtual explosion of new themes that tried to capture a slice of the real life. Shows like Balika Vadhu, Na Ana Is Des Mere Laado, Uttaran, Bidaai, Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai slowly set the new grammar for Hindi serials.

Like all good things spark off a herd mentality, this trend too did the same across channels. Thus the new benchmarks of good television shows began to spawn off pale imitations that tried to imitate the success stories without quite getting the tone right. In fact it is time that some well meaning individual should take it upon herself/himself to point out the themes that have been unexplored by serials. Here are a few themes that come to mind immediately.

• Anandi-Jagiya but with a difference- The strong teen school going teenage population of India is yet to have a show that caters to them exclusively. The genre of teen-centered shows remains largely unexplored in films as well as television. Thus a serial that can speak their ‘lingo’, talk about the issues that bother them and that they have to face as part of everyday life (like exam related stress, competition, dating, drugs, consumerism) will surely be a hit with this segment. It will also appeal to the older audience as it can help them to understand their kids better.

• New-age families-Urban India has become a hotbed of relations that have so far been on the margin-the live in couple, the single parent, the step-parent, the single and not interested in dating individual, the single working woman unit-all of it will surely make for interesting themes.

• The Plain Jane/Average Joe Story- where the individual has nothing remarkable about himself/herself, not even a heart of gold. The journey that every common, regular human being undertakes without having to resort to a makeover or a miraculous turn of fortune can be an interesting story to narrate.

• The story of a neighborhood/mohalla/nukkad- where no one family gets to dominate proceedings and the story is populated with small families, individual characters and the interaction that they have with each other and the outer world.

• Karamchand Revisited- where the detective genre is treated with respect and dignity and not made out to be a farce. Stories can deal with crimes that are unique and common to modern India. And of course a very enigmatic detective figure has to be the lead.

Two for the price of one - New Trend developed in Television Industry !

Of late serials have developed the trend of either doing overlapping episodes where the story of two different serials are brought to a common point or where popular characters from one serial do special appearances. A few days back, Star Plus’s prime time serials, Bidaai and Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai had one such common journey where Naitik and Akshara (lead pair of Yeh Rishta…) and Alekh and Sadhna (Bidai) had an interesting run in. But why do channels and producers indulge in such gimmicks? Where is the need to bring two divergent story lines on to a similar track?

The obvious advantage is that of time. The extended time limit (normally daily serials run for half an hour) helps to heighten the drama and gives more freedom to the writers to play around with different ideas. It helps to build a buzz around both the serials and thus increase audience interest quotient. Then again it brings in combined viewership, meaning, that those who watch only Yeh Rishta…and those who watch only Bidaai will have to watch both for that special episode in order to stay abreast with developments. And one might never know a non-viewer might be tempted to follow the serial that he/she had not been following because of the parallel track. So it helps to increase or supplement TRPs. Thus it turns out to be a win-win situation for the makers of the respective shows- as it helps to add more drama and generate more eyeballs.

The other popular trend is to make stars of a popular show perform at a special occasion for another show. Very soon, we will get to see Manav and Archana (Pavitra Rishta) perform for Choti Bahu. In an earlier episode, Laali (Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Ki Jo) had performed for the same show. Choti Bahu’s lead actors Dev (Avinash Sachdev) and Radhika (Rubaina Dalaik) have a lot to celebrate. They will soon be going off for their long pending abroad after Radhika’s burn marks are completely cured. Manav and Archana will be seen performing at a family celebration.

Such special appearances and guest acts help to generate a certain amount of bonhomie after long days of misery in serials. Most of the time the guest actors dance to popular Hindi film songs and this helps to lighten the dramatic quotient. It also helps to strengthen the particular image of the guest actors. Thus Manav and Archana’s performance is meant as a signal for the audience that these two will remain a couple come what may. It helps to reaffirm popular conceptions about particular characters. But in both cases, audiences have no reason to complain as for them it is value for time and money as it two for the price (and time) of one.