India Masala
Bollywood and culture in an emerging India
India not shining — on prime-time TV
Film-maker Madhur Bhandarkar said during an interview that “Indian audiences don’t like to see reality on screen, they see enough of that in life”. Bhandarkar is known for making “real” films, but he might have hit the nail on the head. Perhaps that is why Indian TV doesn’t normally depict “reality” on screen — preferring instead to hide behind yards of brocade sarees and scheming mothers-in-law and coy brides.
On Sunday though, Bollywood actor Aamir Khan chose to tell the story of a different kind of Indian woman — one that doesn’t get to live. On the first episode of his new talk show “Satyamev Jayate”, Khan chose to talk about female foeticide, a rampant issue in India, where the sex ratio is currently at its lowest since independence.
The 47-year-old interviewed women who had been forced to abort their girl children, reporters who had conducted sting operations on the issue and researchers who had done considerable work in the field.
As Khan himself noted, countless people have worked to save these little girls. I wonder how they must feel when they see an issue so close to their hearts being discussed on prime-time television on a show that’s already being talked about.
Does the fact that Aamir Khan is talking about it make female foeticide a problem that will go away soon? Do Indians not know that their daughters are being killed every day? As Bhandarkar said, don’t they know enough of reality already? Do we need to put it on television as well?
Given the response to his show on social networking sites, the answer might be a yes. Ratings for the show are yet to come in, but “SatyamevJayate” was the top trending topic on Twitter all day, with many viewers crediting Khan for creating awareness about issues that need to be discussed.
This is a departure from the normal reality TV format that Indian networks follow — most of the shows are competitions or voyeuristic endeavours like “Bigg Boss”. A talk show format on prime-time television hasn’t been tried, but the Rupert Murdoch-owned Star TV has bet big on this show — investing heavily in promotions and Khan’s reported fee of 30 million rupees per show.
Who will be Bigg Boss?
Last night, between 9 pm and 11 30 pm, my phone was working over time. Calls were going back and forth, messages were being exchanged and opinions voiced – all of them discussing only one thing – the inmates of Bigg Boss, Tritiya (as host Amitabh Bachchan calls it.)
Why is Rakhi Sawant’s mother in? Why does Kamaal Khan call himself KRK? Sherlyn Chopra as a bai in the house? Not just me, but a lot of bloggers and netizens were updating Twitter and Facebook with every little detail of yesterday’s launch episode.
Shows like this, as Colors CEO, Rajesh Kamat told me last week, may not be in the league of a Balika Vadhu in terms of ratings, but they get talked about much more than the regular daily soaps, which builds the buzz around the channel.
Getting Amitabh Bachchan as host, he said, was enough to create all the buzz they needed, and Bachchan proved last night that he had lost none of his KBC charm, drawing in the audience as easily as he had done four years ago.
Like I have said before, I love watching Bigg Boss, voyeuristic though it may seem, and inmates like Rahul Mahajan, Rakhi Sawant and even Carol Gracias made the show even more interesting for me.
This time around though, I didn’t see anyone that would stir things up a little bit, but I do find myself rooting for Mrs Jaya Sawant – just by virtue of the fact that she is the most unusual choice for a Bigg Boss inmate; the rest seem like the usual suspects.
What about you? Who are you rooting for?
It is not important who will win the show but who gets the fame like Rakhi Sawant & Rahul Mahajan. Being not the winner of the show they were actually the winner. Poonam, Vindu,Kamaal & Raju are doing good. Raju’s comedy would be cheap for some but he has proved to be a winner and king of comedy. After Mehmood & Kishoreda, it was Johny Lever and after Johny it is Raju.
Old wine in a new bottle
One of my favourite childhood memories is watching the Sunday afternoon movie on television (on Doordarshan, of course) with friends and family.
And one of the films I always watched was “Seeta Aur Geeta” — no matter how many times they aired it.
Hema Malini perched atop a ceiling fan in a police station — now that’s a classic scene if there ever was one, and it remains one of my favourite movies on DVD.
Last week, I got an email informing me that “Seeta Aur Geeta” is going to be adapted for the small screen.
Did I really want to see this much loved film remade into some TV series that would be aired every day? Wasn’t it enough that Bollywood was making remakes of old classics without television having to get in on the act?
Give it deeper thought and you realise that films of the seventies and eighties form perfect material for the television serials of today — they had scheming mothers-in-law, dutiful daughters-in-law and unbelievable plot lines. It’s a wonder someone didn’t think of this earlier. Also, it ensures that the younger generation can watch these films all over again, through a medium that is much more their style.
I can think of a lot of other Hindi films that could be remade for television, but my old- fashioned, Doordarshan-watching self still rebels at the idea.
madam how u cold not believe in alligation of mr emran hashmi it could b becouse of his image but i want to inform u that i am a doctor and recently i purchase a clinic i gave total amount but they did not registerd clinic on my name and returned my money due to my religion madam please dont close your eyes its really happening in india.
‘Kyunki’: Death of an Indian TV soap
After reigning for more than eight years on television and pretty much dictating the way kitchen politics was played out in Indian homes, “Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi” is finally going off air.
One of India’s longest running soaps, which chronicled the lives of the Virani family, and made superstars out of Smriti Irani and the humble Gujarati snack of thepla (a flatbread made with fenugreek and chickpea flour), was also the harbinger of a whole new era in Indian television.
For one, it brought on a horde of imitators. Indian television was bombarded with daily soaps that chronicled the lives of unbelievably evil mothers-in-law and unbelievably saintly daughters-in-law, scheming against the other for endless episodes. But not all of them enjoyed the same success.
Though it was criticised by many women’s organisations for stereotyping the Indian woman, “Kyunki” ruled the ratings for a good part of its run on television.
It propelled Ekta Kapoor to unparalleled success and helped Irani get a BJP ticket for contesting the Lok Sabha elections.
As for me, I couldn’t even touch the television remote between 10:30 and 11 pm, because my mother claimed ownership of the television set.
“I don’t care what you think of the show,” she told me defiantly, “I like it. After all I don’t like so many of these English sitcoms you watch but that doesn’t mean they are bad, right?” Couldn’t argue with that logic.
sagar
the time of saas bahu serial has gone. it is now reality world which is all about lying. now television lies.
bpo solution
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The Wall
Why cant he donate a part of his 30 Million Rupees per episode to Snehalaya?