Many years ago there was Doordarshan (there still is Doordarshan but that wouldnt have sounded nice as an opening line).
Doordarshan was the place where one would go to relate to the people of Nukkad, to get some Manoranjan(entertainment) by watching a Circus and to see a Fauji (soldier) called Shah Rukh Khan in action.
On the Buniyaad (foundations) of these serials, Doordarshan gave the Indian Public some clean entertainment that made Hum Log(we people) say to ourselves Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi.
The Doordarshan Serial Fundas were pretty clear - Keep it simple and accessible to everyone. Simple settings, decent storylines, characters you could associate with and a timeline that didnt last 20 years (except Hum Log which I think went on for a while).
trouble came to paradise...
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Cable Guy Attacketh
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Doordarshan took a backseat when Indians got access to Cable TV and a whole lot of programs. Lots of local channels sprouted and along with the foreign ones, gave the Indian peeps access to a whole new world of television. Krishi Darshan - the Doordarshan agriculture program was soon forgotten....
time to go off on a tangent....
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Star, Sony and a lot of baloney
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Back in the 80s, almost everything was taboo. The 90s was a lot more bolder. And the couch potatoes were a hungrier lot. They craved for more. From aunties in Aurangabad, to Teachers in Trichi, Milkmen in Mandya to Professors in Patna, the audience size had also increased drastically. The public wanted more, TV channels wanted more...
To keep ’abreast’ (no pun intended) of the times, production houses were born to mass produce serials that would grab a prime time slot as well as a captive audience (no wonder its called a captive audience... try escaping the clutches of these serials). One such house is the legendary Balaji Telefilms run by the smart, attractive, shrewd, cute, lovely, homely, sweet, intelligent (and many more adjectives later...) Ekta Kapoor.
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Classifications of Serials
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Although there are many kinds of serials, in India one can safely classify them as the class O and the class K serials. Class O stands for others. Class K is the ones that the lovely lass eKta maKes.
Combined they make OK. Sure, its OK for the producers and the actors.
Now to compile a list of random thoughts...
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Serial Fundas
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Have a 1 page story that can easily be stretched to 20 years of programming. That way you dont have to pay the writers and you get assured income for 20 years. Also, you can write the story yourself in the loo or dining room or you can just steal it from somewhere.
Have consistency over characters. Every serial needs the following -
---- A victim who’s a goody two shoes willing to sacrifice her kidneys if need be
---- The victim’s lover who is always in a perpetual state of confusion
---- A vile woman who does a lot of harm to everyone but gets away with it all the time
---- The hapless helpless mother and mother-in-law (this is flexible... you can have a vile one too)
---- Disposable characters who can be killed at any time for added sympathies
---- A victim of unwanted pregnancies or two (after 5 years maybe a rape or two would be acceptable)
---- Some CID dolts who can pop up in any serial at any time (they wear gloves even while taking a leak)
---- Finally, some anti-social and social elements who can be used and reused.
A soppy soundtrack that keeps playing all the time... like the Kkusum song...
Sound effects are the same in every serial... there will be a REVERSE CYMBAL sound and a WHOOSH sound whenever they want to emphasize on something mundane (think of all the savings in sound production).
Wedding scenes (now you got the movies to blame for that). Remember that sometimes the central character can get married but remain a virgin for ages (Yeh Meri Life Hai)
Be environment friendly. Reuse plots and actors. Also make sure that the actors are your pals, its cheaper.
To stretch a one page plot to years, add lots of mundane conversations, mindless arguments, silly court room scenes, a dozen accidents, some soppy sob scenes and a whole lot of flashbacks.
10 minutes of Serial + 15 minutes of adverts + 5 minutes of the Channels shameless plugs = One Prime Time Serial Slot.
Thats all...
Got more fundas? Reveal them in the comments section
~finis~
PS: I’ve only focused on the Sony and Star serials in Hindi. Also, I’ve given my take on what I understood by the topic of this review... any flaws (which there will be) can be pointed out and you’re free to ban me from television serials for a month.
Also, I based this on a random glimpse or two of these serials. I dont watch them on a regular basis or anything and its all part of the channel hopping experience. Therefore, your comments are going to be real cool and valuable.
cheers.