Indian television seems to be going from bad to worse. Reality shows centering around dance & music was one thing but then the progressive decline into finding the perfect (sic) bride is completely another matter. Do the majority of Indian audience really enjoy these kind of shows? Why isn't there a single Quiz show or a science program like Turning Point in any of the popular channels? Even a Travel Show taking the audience through lesser known places would do wonders than the steady junk serials they are being fed.
Star Plus one of the most popular TV channels seems to have mastered the game and comes up with one mind-numbing story after another. Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai tells the story of a marwari family who arranges the marriage of their daughter with the scion of another marwari family. The serial shows the girl sacrificing her dreams of furthering her education, giving up any ideas of a career for the role of a subserviant wife. In the name of tradition it portrays the girl playing a submissive coy daugher-in-law who needs to take permission for everything from visiting her parents to taking a tour along with her husband. Incidentally all her such requests are squished down.
And there is ofcourse another fantastic serial - Sajan Ghar Jaana Hai where a girl who gets married to a rich landlord is shunned when it is learnt that one of her forefathers had married out-of-caste (or whatever) and she is reduced to being a maid servant while her husband is forced to remarry another girl of unquestionable lineage. The list of such mindless serials is unending.
Now are they trying to kid themselves that they are altering mindsets by showing such serials? Do they feel justified in earning their TRP's through such mindless shows in the name of entertainment? To top it all they have an annual award function where they get together and distribute awards which go something like - "Best Bahu" and "Most Loved Devar".
The funniest response evinced was when my father-in-law saw an episode of "Yeh Rishta.." where the lead protagonist gets ticked off by her mother-in-law for wanting to go for a movie with her husband. Gravely my father-in-law said, "The period of 1920's & 30's was very tough on the Indian middle-class woman." I didnt feel like breaking his wrong assumption that the serial was trying to very much portray 21st century women.
On second thoughts, considering the unbelievable money involved and the sea of aimless, gullible public ready to devour anything showcased under the garb of tradition & moral values, I realize that these serials are here to stay and possibly will be coming in 1000's of different avtaars.
Maybe all we can do is tune into other channels. Maybe one can acquire a taste if forced into watching them. Maybe these serials are the reason for every household acquiring their second & third television sets. These serials might after all be good for our economy.
Star Plus one of the most popular TV channels seems to have mastered the game and comes up with one mind-numbing story after another. Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai tells the story of a marwari family who arranges the marriage of their daughter with the scion of another marwari family. The serial shows the girl sacrificing her dreams of furthering her education, giving up any ideas of a career for the role of a subserviant wife. In the name of tradition it portrays the girl playing a submissive coy daugher-in-law who needs to take permission for everything from visiting her parents to taking a tour along with her husband. Incidentally all her such requests are squished down.
And there is ofcourse another fantastic serial - Sajan Ghar Jaana Hai where a girl who gets married to a rich landlord is shunned when it is learnt that one of her forefathers had married out-of-caste (or whatever) and she is reduced to being a maid servant while her husband is forced to remarry another girl of unquestionable lineage. The list of such mindless serials is unending.
Now are they trying to kid themselves that they are altering mindsets by showing such serials? Do they feel justified in earning their TRP's through such mindless shows in the name of entertainment? To top it all they have an annual award function where they get together and distribute awards which go something like - "Best Bahu" and "Most Loved Devar".
The funniest response evinced was when my father-in-law saw an episode of "Yeh Rishta.." where the lead protagonist gets ticked off by her mother-in-law for wanting to go for a movie with her husband. Gravely my father-in-law said, "The period of 1920's & 30's was very tough on the Indian middle-class woman." I didnt feel like breaking his wrong assumption that the serial was trying to very much portray 21st century women.
On second thoughts, considering the unbelievable money involved and the sea of aimless, gullible public ready to devour anything showcased under the garb of tradition & moral values, I realize that these serials are here to stay and possibly will be coming in 1000's of different avtaars.
Maybe all we can do is tune into other channels. Maybe one can acquire a taste if forced into watching them. Maybe these serials are the reason for every household acquiring their second & third television sets. These serials might after all be good for our economy.
2 comments:
It looks like the TV series on your side of the pond are as bad as those on my side. I am bored with all the reality shows in the US that are anything but real. The only intelligent series shows over here tend to be ‘crime shows’, which though they can be interesting scenarios at times, seem to more and more rely on blood and gore to gain the attention of the viewers. I have to go back many years to pull up a series that for the first few years (before it too degenerated) held the attention of the people with intelligent if quirky story lines. That program is NORTHERN EXPOSURE. It was a series you had to see from the first to really follow. If they did not / do not have it in your neck of the woods, you might consider getting it on DVD. It was a delightful watch.
Hi,
You know what, this was an old post of mine - 2009 and it still holds good. I believe media and films, whether we like it or not, influences/shapes the general public's mindset. There have been changes but not as many as we would like to see. However glad change is on its way.
Thanks for the recco. Am going to lookup Northern Exposure and will sure try to get a dvd. :)
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