From just one channel in 1991 to over 300 channels (with more than one hundred 24X7 news channels) today television in India has come a long way from being a state instrument for forging a uniform thought process throughout the country to becoming a multi-dimensional platform for eclectic infotainment. Indeed, 2008 is remarkable in that, finally, DTH has replaced cable television as preferred means of access to television in most of the urban and semi-urban homes. This major shift is perceptible in such rural homes too as can afford TV sets.
In the initial years up-gradation in content quality matched technological improvements, but soon it began to lag behind. This is particularly true of soaps and reality shows. On the soap scene the ‘K’ serials on Star Plus became templates for saas-bahu dramas on other channels as well. Kitsch and melodrama mingled with most unimaginative storylines in order to not just sustain but reinforce mediocrity. So, along with the Kyonki Saas… type of serials such purported tearjerkers as Bidayee (Star Plus), Meet Mila De Rabba (Sony), Maayka & Betiyan (Zee) etc began to sprout all over the small screen. Saat Phere on Zee TV, and some others, did promise to be different initially, but soon fell into the rut of spousal suspicions and confounding confrontations coupled with the stereotypical daughter/mother-in-law intrigues. However, Baa, Bahu Aur Baby (Star Plus) remains a favorite family drama for its excellent script, direction and acting as well as the values it espouses.
However, 2008 saw the TV entertainment scenario getting over its self-imposed inertness. Advent of the Colors television channel has heralded the dawn of serials with original plots. Balika Vadhu, set in Rajasthan, depicts the plight of girl-child in the great sandy outback where child brides are a reality as are child-widows – damned to life-long vulnerability and loneliness – with no hope of remarriage or societal protection. It also highlights the need for proper education (not just literacy), especially of women. Another issue the serial raises is that of bride-purchase wherein overage rich men buy underage wives. But the serial is not a long, irksomely melodramatic and didactic lament; it is an absorbing social drama that pits retrogressive orthodoxy – represented by the matriarch, Kalyani, backed by her elder son, Basant, who spinelessly acquiesces in his mother’s desire for a male heir only to lose his wife and child both – and progressive forces comprising her younger son, Bhairon, the rebellious Gehna (purchased as Basant’s second wife) and the cherubic child-bride, Anandi, whose innocent but uncomfortable questions force one to think – something we had stopped doing during the reign of ‘K’ serials. Then there is Uttaran wherein the fatherless girl-child Ichcha – a housemaid’s daughter – wants all the good things a child of her age craves for but has to make do with rich kids’ cast-offs. Her wistfulness and innocence pull at our heartstrings even as her plight becomes a question mark on the society’s face. The channel’s other popular and substantive serial is Mohe Rang De – set in the Raj days with a female freedom fighter Kranti as its protagonist. She marries barrister Rajbir to promote freedom fighters’ cause and to avenge the hanging of her innocent uncle for which she holds Rajbir responsible. The unfolding drama has been riveting so far. But would the content quality remain consistent in 2009 too?
The various song and dance based ‘reality’ shows on different channels – Boogie Woogie (Sony), Sa Re Ga Ma Pa (Zee TV), Nach Balliye (Star Plus) etc – do not excite anymore. Even other shows like Bigg Boss (before it was wrapped up) only evoked ennui despite bringing in politicians – upstarts like Rahul Mahajan and the little known Shiv Sainik–turned–Congressman Sanjay Nirupam, and the hyped-up politico-parochial controversies. However such shows as Full On (Channel V) and Roadies (MTV) do command a loyal following among youngsters. It is, however, debatable whether expletives and street language used so freely, especially on Roadies, is really necessary. One can display macho/bindass attitude without mouthing all those gaalis.
There are some entertaining comedies too. Star One’s Miley Jab Hum Tum is certainly a good one as is SAB’s Tarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashma. Then there is the archetypal Sarabhai… which, despite several repeats on Star One, remains one’s favorite comedy serial. Yes Boss and FIR on SAB too raise a laugh or two but it is Office Office (repeats) that still retains its attraction as a classic satire. However, kids have their own favorites, viz., Ben10, Power Puff Girls (Cartoon Network), Raven, Hannah Montannah, Lizzie Mc Guire, Son Pari, Shararat (Disney), and Doraemon, Shinchan as well as Perman (Hungama).
Launched in September 2007 NDTV Good Times, which picked up its own specialized viewership in 2008, remains the only lifestyle channel on the Indian small screen. It offers shows on food, fashion, entertainment, automobiles and all those good things that add substance to your lifestyle. This is indicative of a trend that is only going to get stronger in the coming years, viz., emergence of dedicated, niche or specialized channels catering to a particular taste. So, apart from sports channels, we already have a comedy channel in SAB, youth and music oriented channels like MTV and Channel V etc, knowledge and documentary based ones like History, Discovery, and Animal Planet etc. Zoom is dedicated to Bollywood – no, not cinema but programs revolving around film stars etc. Would the coming years see the emergence of channels dedicated exclusively to horror shows, spy/suspense thrillers, or travel and adventure-sports?
Another noticeable trend is the emergence of children as increasingly more visible characters and artistes. Already, reality shows are full of them (Chotte Ustad, Little Champ etc); now they are emerging as main protagonists in regular serials (Balika Vadhu, Uttaran, Jai Shri Krishna etc) and as stand-up comedians in shows like Chchote Mian. If these productions click with the audiences (chances of which are bright, given that kids are natural actors and telegenic too) one might well see the women’s citadel (which TV soaps are at present) being stormed by the barely-out-of-diapers brigade.
Our news channels too have gone through a lot of twists, turns and, of course, terrors during the year. In February we saw MNS goons going after north Indians in Mumbai in Raj Thackeray’s version of ethnic cleansing. May heralded the summer of shame when our media (barring an exception or two) behaved like mohalla gossips rather than responsible disseminators of information while covering the Arushi case. Then followed the (inter)national mortification when the cash for votes scandal exploded on our TV screens. And just when one thought that our politicians can’t get greedier and stupider than that Mamta Bannerjee played out the tragic-comic Nano cantata with more than mere egg on her face while Ratan Tata and Narendra Modi had the last laugh. The happy images of Chandrayaan soaring moonward had just begun to kindle national euphoria when grim reality struck us like megaton explosions. Pakistani terrorists started a bloodbath in Mumbai, and we stayed glued to our television sets for spine-chilling sixty two hours.
So, the abovementioned events/incidents, gave our chattering classes enough opportunities to spew flowery/hyperbolic verbiage on-screen throughout the year. We watched familiar faces like Karan Thapar, Vinod Dua and others jaw-jawing with politicians, socialites and savants in their attempts to give us the clichéd ‘clear picture’. High decibel levels and histrionics kept the viewers in thrall as Rajdeep Sardesai and Sagarika Ghosh matched Vikram Chandra and Barkha Dutt punchline for punchline. In all the mayhem and noise the media ignored VP Singh’s death on 27th November; perhaps no one really cared for this accentuator of social stratification and antagonist of merit. However, there is general consensus that the Mumbai carnage’s live coverage helped unite the nation, banishing fissiparous tendencies.
Postscript: - TV screens lit up around the world when the Egypt based television channel Al Baghdadi’s reporter Mantadar-al-Zaidi threw shoes at President George Bush. On American television channels there were spoofs, good-natured ribbing, trenchant lampooning and even shoe-throwing competitions inspired by the incident. And what did we have? A far from spicy Gustaakhi Maaf!
THE TRIBUNE
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