Mar 25, 2006 05:16 PM
12684 Views
(Updated Mar 25, 2006 05:16 PM)
Alpha TV Marathi, whose name has now been changed to Zee Marathi, has begun to show characteristics of our prime time soap opera crazy Hindi channels.
It really used to be a Good Marathi channel a couple of years back. Full of good serials which were not just extended soaps , having a theme. Also to some extent exhibiting the good literary work in Marathi (e.g. Pimpal Paan). Not to mention the very loving trend started by Alpha Marathi of ‘Nakshatranche Dene’ series, which brought into focus the great poets, musicians and literature in Marathi once again.
In fact it was and is one of the top most TRP (& Advt. Revenue) earning program Marathi channels have ever witnessed.
Alas !!! so far so good…. But here comes ‘Avantika’… which started on a very good note, but couldn’t sustain it beyond a few months… and then began that torturous saga of an Avantika.. who lost and regained her memory like no bollywood movie has ever shown… and we hapless people were left with no option but to surf some other channels.
The serials that are playing today on Alpha are nothing but the replicas of our Hindi soaps .. although not an imitation as to challenge the originals… but weird enough to make any sensible person rethink of watching Alpha TV Marathi…
Isn’t there a solution…. Yes and No…
The serials like ‘Ankur’ & ‘405 Aanandvan’ directed by Pratima Kulkarni with her usual finesse, are really like a cool breeze in the hot and arid desert of the so called ‘Popular Soaps’. Some episodes of ‘Aamne Samne’ were really path breaking and enlightening. Serials like ‘Pimpal Paan’ did the best to bring Marathi literature to the small screen. ‘Nakshatranche Dene’ set a benchmark in terms of its viewership , ad revenues and also the classy touch with which it was prepared.
The ‘No s’ I really don’t believe are too much of a hurdle, but it seems that no one wants to try beyond the successful formula… especially the one designed by the ‘Ekta Kapur Genre’ serials…Those kind of serials are very easy to make, very flexible to change and hence can continue for decades together.. And that is why we people are made to suffer because the producers want to run the show to the maximum extent and squeeze out all the money out of that prime time slot and serial till the time it becomes totally juiceless.
I only hope that the good old Alpha TV Marathi which used to cater serials like ‘Prapanch’ and ‘Aabhal Maya’ takes the place of this nonsense ‘Zee Marathi’ and give us poor people a chance to enjoy some Marathi work which is original and not just a repetition of the Hindi formula serials and programmes which care more for their TRPs & Ad revenues than their audiences’ tastes.
