One fine afternoon, in the midst of her kittie party, an enterprising young woman got a brilliant idea - ’’hey all these women do nothing but crib about their MILs, talk about their husbands and discuss the latest recipes and gossip....why not make a TV serial out of it??’’ and there you go ...the new generation ’soap’ was launched with a bang!!! and then another...and another...and another and another and another...ohhhh God!!!!! somehow the mass channels have forgotten the entire alphabet and just remember a single letter - K!!
There was this one bygone era when TV was a reprieve from the monotony and tension of everyday life. Now, its become a magnified version of, apparently, our own lives. How else can you explain the millions of viewers going ’Oh tulsi, I agree with you...this happened with me also..i know how it feels!!’...or ’no kkusum, you cant do this, my husband also left me, but we are indian women!!’ I said magnified cos and I quote my maid ’’ she is thousand times richer and faces thousand more problems, but at the core, her kind of problems are the same as mine’...HUH???
TV used to be called an idiot box around which you could just relax and not be forced to think - just watch. Now, its this emotional senti world around which is an atmosphere of tension, of tears, of silence anticipation from my mother, my grandmother, my bhabhi and my maid!!!
I detest these mon-thurs nights when I cant watch anything I want to, I detest these mon-thurs afternoons when I cant watch what I want to...come to think of it, the mornings are free..woow! lady..are u listening...Ha!!
I abhor:
1.KKusum: I really dont seem to understand why the female protagonist is supposed to be always the ’dutiful DIL and pure suhaagan’ no matter how many problems she faces.Why does she cry and cry in her room and put up this sickeningly brave smile in front of others?right, so this serial is about this woman whose husband loves some other babe, she puts up with this smilingly, hoping and wishing(cmon, she is our indian nari na)..he leaves her...and he then comes back to her...again he leaves her..and again he comes back...then u know what happens??? yup..he leaves her again!!! (currently at this stage) and our dear kkusum is so heartwrenchingly brave...she cries and cries and curses fate in her room but she isnt going to let this destroy her life - ofcourse not, her parents in law, her husband’s family will be shamed if she does anything!! wow, how much of a doormat can u get?? and the ’hero’ cant even pour his own tea, let alone make decisions bout his life!!
2: Heena: I hate and double hate the soppingly saccharine smile simone sports throughout the serial...and by that I mean since this serial started some 3 years back...she smiles through her tears...cries through her smile!!the story is the same, but in this case, she marries another one(no not cos she wants to live her life but cos her husband divorces her for the babe) and the new guy also divorces her and now the old guy wants her back but...no I wont reveal the story..i am sure u all are dying to go watch it...hoohum!!!
3:Amaanat: yes its finished...phewwww!! imagine the fertile imagination of the scriptwriter who couldnt think which ’problematic situation to put’ so he created 7..yes 7 characters ...7 daughters of this old man ...all 7 get married one by one..so you have courtship, problem in courtship, marriage, problem in marriage...for EVERY ONE OF THEM!! and ofcourse if that wasnt enuff, the servant and the 2 buas...awesome!!!
4: Boogie woogie: moving away from the ’dramas’, this is another one I cant stand. Cant understand why in the name of heaven would sane sensible parents send their darling child to dress up atrociously, at times vulgarly, put on loads of makeup and dance ..sorry gyrate to some hindi number in front of millions of viewers. Better still...why would someone watch them?? I can understand the kya masti program on star..atleast thats got some sense of decorum..in boogie woogie, u have middle aged housewives, u have barely out of toddlerhood kids - all answering inane questions by inane judges and then dancing, ok we have talent in terms of dancing potential and stuff...but why?? why?? whyyy do you want to see a 7 yr old wearing a halterneck and miniskirt with more makeup than I wear dancing to ’husn hai suhana’’...i mean..heights!!!!
5:Kahin na kahin koi na koi kabhi to kabhi or something on these lines. The sets team have it easy..either the ostentatious swing or the garish sofas...what I cant take is an actress of madhuri’s stature playing this giggly coy cupid!! I mean there was this episode in which I saw her dressed up as some queen and ordering the guy to leave the room. C’mon madhuri...dont spoil your image...you dont need this!!!
aha...TV...where are the ’ye jo hai zindagi’s’...the ’karamchands’...the ’dekh bhai dekh’...
but..the consumer is the king...the viewers decide the content...and the channels bow down to their choices...
the show will go on for us...someday!!!