Break Toh Banta Hai

Born in a family that loves its television, I have grown up watching lots of it. To express their love for TV and my viewing habits, my kin nicknamed me after a character on TV. Honestly we are not very particular about watching TV, we do have favourites, but watch everything that is shown on TV. Perhaps, the TV ‘dominated’ as such in most of the families in India. And I say ‘dominated’, because it no longer does so in mine. It is no more the glue that would bring us together during after dinner and lunch-time hours. What worries me the most is that the Indian soaps are failing to attract, while the foreign ones are becoming increasingly attractive.

I have discussed this with some people and most of them had reasons not directly concerned with TV for its failure. ‘Social networking’, ‘You are maturing’, ‘There are too many shows to attract your attention’ are some of the reasons that people had for my loss of interest in TV. While these may be true, I primarily attribute 5 reasons for the downfall of Indian TV.

1. All good things come to an end

Perhaps the biggest possible reason that fails Indian TV is the absence of the concept of ‘seasons’. The most memorable shows whether soaps or sitcoms have a lifetime (for instance Zabaan Sambhaal ke, Dekh Bhai Dekh, Khichdi, Sarabhai etc.). However, TV channels now are missing the plot by running shows aimlessly for years. That is where they need to learn from their American counterparts. Most US TV series last for six months, take a break for the remaining six and come back again. This not only provides a ‘creative’ break but also builds anticipation and interest. With forever running shows, there is a lack of story and the episodes move slower than the traffic on the Eastern Express Highway in July.

2. Character Dheela hai

Characterisation is the most misused by TV writers who go by the rule, ‘When the story fails, characterise’. While the character of every actor on the show must be detailed, introducing a character every time to compensate for the lack of plots does not mean ‘characterising’. Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai, for me, has the best character detailing, with the minimum number of actors and not even one of them wasted on the show. Adhitya Iyer ,who introduced me to this concept, would be the best person to elaborate further.

3. X + Y + Z = Success

Formula based success was the disease of Hindi movies. In recent times the Indian film industry seems to be cured of it but the TV industry is now suffering from the same.Adhitya Iyer once famously said that the biggest problem with this country is the lack of innovation. And how true he is when you put TV into that quote. If something is successful on TV it is emulated and imitated to such an extent when it becomes extinct (which takes a very, very long time). Abolished traditions, for instance, which were known to prevail during the times of dinosaurs, child marriage, female infanticide, child labour, animal sacrifice blah blah blah have been conceived so many times and in so may ways recently that an entire channel thrives on such shows. What disappoints further is that after a few weeks, these soaps blithely subside the concept(which was supposed to be their USP) and boil down to the same commonplace fight between people who are more evil than the devil and those more innocuous than the angels. You can almost forecast the happenings of every episode from then on. When such predictability comes in through the door, credibility goes out of the window.

4. Put your act together

There was a time when it was a rule that the good looking actors do films and the not so good looking ones were on TV. The times have certainly changed. But TV actors were primarily supposed to be good at acting and that is why they were always referred to as TV ‘actors’ and not TV ‘stars’. There is no harm in looking good, but compromising acting skills for that is pretty much harmful. And what is all the dance and song about? Please leave that to the films. It makes them look like ‘wannabe film stars’.

5. Well sung is half done

The title song or music is more representative than any other part of a TV show. A successful show is more often remembered by its title score than its name or actors. But that too has long been compromised for more commercial air time. If you love your creation than you ought to love every part of it so why the step-motherly treatment of the title song is beyond comprehension.

There may be arguments against the above. But unless the TV producers address them, I have taken a break from TV. However, more importantly, it is the TV that needs to take a break and revamp itself.

P.S.: Lately I have been following ‘Community’, ‘Modern Family’ and ‘Dexter’ like many around. But my sole inspiration for watching ‘Community’ and ‘Modern Family’ is their resemblance to ‘Zabaan Sambhaal Ke’ and ‘Dekh Bhai Dekh’ respectively.

Phil Dunphy in Modern Family and Shekhar Suman in Dekh Bhai Dekh very effectively using the steps as an element throughout the series.

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