TV REVIEW
Channel surfer
By
Randeep
Wadehra
Chills and thrills are becoming
as ubiquitous on the entertainment channels as social and political violence is
on the news television.
Sony TV’s CID has become
a template for crime thrillers on Hindi television, mixing quirky humor and
platonic relationships/understated romance with crime, thrills and convincing
investigative skills, which include the time-tested third degree – a mere
suggestion though, in terms of a punch/slap and black-eyed suspects. No wonder,
CID is today the longest running thriller on Indian television. Crime
Patrol is another serial on Sony, based on real crime stories, taken from
police records and, seemingly, from court cases. Although both the serials tend
to be a bit preachy, they touch a chord among the viewers, thus keeping them
riveted to the small screen. Seeing their eyeball grabbing potential, other TV
channels like Colors, which telecasts Shaitaan – a jazzed up version of Crime
Patrol, too have been experimenting with this genre. Life OK’s Shapath
is a thriller involving crime and crime fighters. Then there is 2013
(earlier 2012) on the same channel where protagonists fight
international terrorists.
If crime sells, so do
supernatural stories. This genre was popularized by Zee TV with the Zee
Horror Show (a rather amateurish attempt); way back in 1995, Balaji Films’ Mano
Ya Na Mano had created waves; and later on Aahat (better production
values, but with scope for more chill quotient) attracted good viewership. Presently,
Life OK has come up with a hybrid genre narrative in Savitri – a love
story that transcends time and space. It has some thrilling and chilling
supernatural elements and draws its plot from mythology, pitting Satya and Savitri
against deadly evil forces led by Rahukaal. The latter pursue the couple across
several millennia. On the same channel, we have Ek Thi Nayika, which
features eight different stories spread over sixteen episodes, involving tough
battles against dayans and demons, leaving hardly any scope for the
tender, or even steamy, stuff although the film Ek Thi Dayan’s Emraan
Hashmi makes an appearance. Some of the best-known names from the TV
entertainment world have been lined up, viz., Sakshi Tanwar, Shweta Tiwari,
Ankita Lokhande, Aamna Sharif and Smriti Irani, who play the roles of Good Gals
(Mahanayika) out to banish evil from this world. This serial is proving
to be a quality bone-chiller.
Talking of Smriti Irani – from
being a Bharatiya Naari on the entertainment TV (right from her Saas
Bhi… days), she has evolved into a tough, combative debater on news TV talk
shows. Watching her go ballistic on the News Hour (Times Now), much to
Sankarshan Thakur’s discomfort, one wonders whether the womanpower has come to
impact even the news TV discourses, after having conquered the entertainment
TV. Look how women debaters are invariably besting their male opponents with
the ease of champion pugilists, viz., Nirmala Sitaraman, Meenakshi Lekhi and
Shaina, not to mention the redoubtable Sushma Swaraj – all of them are erudite
and eloquent, and incidentally, all of them represent the BJP, and they neither
ask for, nor give, any quarter to their opponents. Of course, the Congress
Party’s Renuka Chowdhary, Ambika Soni and, long back, Jayanti Natarajan are
excellent debaters – but they are no spitfires. Barring Chowdhary, others have
been rather placid.
Talking of spitfires, Mamata Banerjee
really exploded onscreen when SFI demonstrators in New Delhi crossed all norms
of peaceful demonstration. All hell broke loose in West Bengal, especially
Kolkata, when TMC toughs went on an anti-CPM rampage. Consequently, violence –
physical as well as verbal – dominated the small screen last week.
However, a hope for closure to
another kind of violence was rekindled when the court ordered reopening of the
1984 anti-Sikh riots case against Jagdish Tytler, and the Supreme Court
rejected Bhullar’s mercy petition. It was a tough call for TV anchors to
balance the horrendous 1984 killings and the comeuppance visiting the
terrorist. Both Rahul Kanwal (Headlines Today) and Arnab Goswami (Times Now)
led their counterparts on other channels in empathizing with the riot victims,
while allowing a multidimensional debate on the Bhullar issue in an emotionally
charged atmosphere. Just a throwback to those ghastly days sends chills up
one’s spine. Hope the nightmare ends soon.
Published in the Financial World
dated 15 April 2013
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