When the bizarre prevails : The Tribune India

Join Whatsapp Channel

When the bizarre prevails

Five killers prowling around two sexy ichchhadhari naagins in an interplay of treachery, seduction and betrayal kept TV watchers glued to their screens for a season that ended recently.

When the bizarre prevails

In Kawach, a daayan enters the body of the bride



Vandana Shukla

Five killers prowling around two sexy ichchhadhari naagins in an interplay of treachery, seduction and betrayal kept TV watchers glued to their screens for a season that ended recently. The highest TRP soap Naagin on Colors happened to weave a web of intrigues between the paranormal and the normal; blurring the line between reason and superstition.

A reflection of the uncertain times in which polar opposites are competing for supremacy — past and present, tradition and modernity, local and foreign, ethical and moral; Naagin surprised with its crass devotion to the retrogressive, leaving the highly competitive private channels perplexed. Each of them is now trying to copy the formula; the battle between the progressive and the regressive is lost in favour of the latter on the small screen.

Naagin is not the only one in the bouquet of the bizarre, the same channel is going to air Kavach, where a daayan (witch) enters the body of a bride, then both the women fight over the same man. In Sasural Simar Ka, the heroine is troubled by a daayan, if that is not weird enough, the protagonist turns into a makkhi (housefly), in all seriousness. Then there are Nag Panchami and Vishkanya to copy the success formula by other channels.

Fantasy could be produced with élan, but the soaps amplify the trivial to amputate reasoning. Experts in the field are trying to decipher the magic of shows like Naagin. Film director Vivek Agnihotri, who produced several TV programmes for private channels before moving to the big screen, attributes a ‘scientific’ reason.

“TV viewership is increasing in rural and semi-urban India, while it is decreasing in urban areas, where better choices are available on the web.”

Programme chiefs of many private channels admit that they don’t want to produce regressive content, but they are helpless. Channels behave like politicians; in their need to appease their constituency for high TRP. Revenue is all that matters. But I ask, “If a particular area is communal, will you start showing content to flare up communalism?”

Producers of soaps like Naagin, in a majority of the cases, are suave, urban, English-speaking women. It is assumed the semi-urban, Hindi-speaking audience deserve no better than the vacuous content of Naagin, Balika Vadhu, Kumkum Bhagya, etc. Few channels even justify wife-bashing and adultery in the soaps they air.

Half of India’s households own a TV set. Surveys reflect that the target audience of the soaps is women, housewives, to be precise. “Most housewives keep the television on. It provides background noise. In a way, the TV is a person doing the talking in an empty house with woman alone. This also explains the loud background music. It is dramatically amplified to invite the viewer to the screen, to watch,” says Pallavi Joshi, the veteran actor, who started her journey as TV actor and anchor. She has worked with directors like Shyam Benegal, Govind Nihalani and Ramesh Sippy.

Scoffing off the soaps by progressive minds notwithstanding, die-hard fans like Indore-based Nirupama take care to record their favourite shows on the auto-serial recorder before embarking on a vacation. Nirupama ensured that the episodes of Naagin were recorded in her absence!

According to Agnihotri, soaps are designed to be addictive. What makes Naagin addictive is the plot of two ichchhadari naagins (mythical shape-shifting cobra in Indian folklore) — Shivanya and Sesha, whose parents were killed by five men and women because they were taking care of a naagmani (a mythical gem).

One of the killer’s son falls in love with Shivanya, who takes the form of a house maid. He enters a haveli, where, in search of mobile network he reaches the site where Shivanya’s parents were murdered. Then he sees Sesha, follows her and falls from a cliff. His kundali (horoscope) also has Markesh dosh — whatever it means. There is also an ichchhadhari mongoose, for some strange reason, he is named Kabir. The naagins use mobile phones, the family network of their enemies is global, few live in Canada, the pack is replete with a guruma and yogiraj. This is just the beginning!

From naagins to daayans to makkhis and mortal women, treachery and deceit is orchestrated around the sole contested possession — a man. The only justification for the success of such shows seems to be that women with low self-esteem in a caged existence, where even marriages are arranged, find an ichchhdhari naagin empowered enough to take revenge from the mighty, killing with just a bite. This is similar to the way the ‘angry young man’ image created by Bollywood had impacted the defeated, disenchanted man in the 1970s and 1980s, when he saw the hero bash up a dozen goons.

Ichchhadhari naagin may appear to be the superwoman for a large audience, disempowered with unfulfilled ichchha (desires); she is conceived in poor taste. Unlike the feisty, gutsy Charlie’s Angels, destroying evil elements, here the plot is not broadened to take into account happenings of the fast-changing world around, the characters woven around naagins are suffocating and domesticated. Because they are not independent and forthright, they scheme and connive, they are not even catty. Everything about them is blasé, even their overdone appearance.

Before 1991, till broadcasting opened up to private and foreign channels, Doordarshan was the sole channel that produced some of the most memorable serials in the 1980s. Such shows fail to find a match in spite of the proliferation of channels. Pallavi Joshi contends that the dilution of content came with competition, blaming paid channels for the decay. On the contrary, shouldn’t people demand quality for paid services?

“The inmates of a jail develop hunger for rotten food because this is all they get — you tend to like what you are given,” she adds, blaming the blind copying of success formula in the television industry behind its mediocrity. Ekta Kapoor tried to break the then existing mould with hugely successful Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, the same model was replicated under different titles. Then the poor girl child became the focus, repeated ad nauseam, now the trend has moved towards the paranormal. “Nothing wrong with using fantasy, but vulgarising folklore kills even the fantastic,” comments a veteran TV actor.

A production executive from a private channel, who didn’t wish to be named, blames it on ‘living room’ viewing. “TV watching is a family affair in India, content has to be designed around family values.” Doordarshan also produced content for families to watch, but it was not annoyingly mindless. When asked about this, he turns to ‘revenue generation’ as an excuse.

It gets more perplexing.

Nivedita Basu, creative director of Balaji Telefilms, produced Meri Awaaz hi Pehchaan Hai, a serial designed to revive the good-old quality production. After a few episodes, the channel insisted that the sombre plot needed some moronic masala. Characters were introduced with intrigues and plotting, copying other ‘successful’ serials to kill content.

Do people develop bad taste if fed on putrid quality for long? Going by the quality of our soaps, it seems plausible.

Top News

Arvind Kejriwal to be produced before Delhi court today as 6-day ED custody ends

Excise policy case: Delhi court extends ED custody of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal till April 1

In his submissions, Kejriwal said, ‘I am named by 4 witnesse...

Delhi High Court dismisses PIL to remove Arvind Kejriwal from CM post after arrest

Delhi High Court dismisses PIL to remove Arvind Kejriwal from CM post after arrest

The bench refuses to comment on merits of the issue, saying ...

US makes another remark on Kejriwal's arrest, reacts to freezing of Congress bank accounts

US makes another remark on Arvind Kejriwal's arrest, reacts to freezing of Congress bank accounts

We encourage fair, transparent and timely legal processes, s...

Explainer: Why BJP is flying solo in Punjab and Odisha

Explainer: Why BJP is flying solo in Punjab and Odisha

A multi-cornered contest is always advantageous for BJP; it ...


Cities

View All