By
Randeep
Wadehra
Electronics media is the god of
21st century – omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent as far as dealing
with people’s mindscapes is concerned. Chronicling events was never a strong tradition
in India till the dawn of modern era. This becomes apparent from the way the itihasa
has been written, interpreted and presented over the millennia – an infirmity
that’s being turned into a commercial formula of sorts by assorted
entertainment TV channels.
Understandably, the makers of mythological
serials like Jai Jai Bajrang Bali! (Sahara One), Shree Krishna
and Jai Ma Vaishno Devi (Star Utsav), Dwarkadhish – Krishna (NDTV
Imagine) and Devon ke Dev – Mahadev (Life OK) are following the
lucrative trail blazed by Bollywood’s Chopras and Sagars who had raked in
moolah and fame through epic-based TV serials. One can also forgive them for
not showing interest in exploring the possibility of various epic characters being
historical and not mythical who had actually lived in Vedic and/or pre-Vedic
times. For this, intellectual rigour and desire for taking financial risks are
essential. With “safety first” as their credo the beaten path becomes alluring.
But, what one cannot understand
is the manner in which real historical persons and events are being depicted. Take
Veer Shivaji, currently on the Colours channel. Its dialogues, professed
philosophy and even battles – especially the armed combats between the protagonist
(invariably alone) and his enemy (invariably a dozen or more) – are suspiciously similar to those of Jhansi
Ki Rani that used to be telecast on Zee TV until 2011. The hero cart-wheeling,
somersaulting and back-flipping amidst swordfights, or leaping to heights that
would be the envy of any Olympic high-jumper/pole-vaulter, can be taken as a
part of creative license but surely not historical facts; the facts that have
been recorded by various authentic chroniclers – some of which have been burnt
or vandalized, if one goes by media reports. Reinventing Shivaji as the icon of
Swarajya concept is to do great injustice to its progenitor, Bal Gangadhar
Tilak. Similarly, Rani Lakshmi Bai was depicted as a patriot par excellence in
the Zee TV serial when, in reality, she was fighting to save her kingdom from
annexation by the British East India Company. Again, in Chandragupta Maurya
(NDTV Imagine) we see Chanakya talking of Akhand Bharat. Actually, patriotism
had never been such a strong sentiment among various royals. But then, in the
interest of promoting patriotism and a certain ideology, liberties have been
taken with historical facts quite often. For example, the much acclaimed Chanakya
serial on DD National was ideologically biased towards the rightist nationalist
sentiment. The protagonist’s frequent invocation of Ma Bharti and the profusion
of saffron shibboleths, more in tune with today’s Indian politics, left no one
in doubt about Prakash Dwivedi’s inclinations. Contrarily, slant towards leftist
ideology was much in evidence in history-inspired serials like Bhishm Sahni’s Tamas
(DD National) wherein the RSS bore the brunt of onus for the partition eve
violence. Unbiased historical TV serials have been rare. One can recall only
one, viz., Shyam Benegal’s Bharat Ek Khoj. Or, are there more?
Published in The Tribune on April
15, 2012
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