Feb 15, 2004 01:59 PM
2118 Views
(Updated Feb 15, 2004 01:59 PM)
Enough has been written on the serials en masse being produced by Balaji Telefilms and probably people have also got nauseated reading critiques on the sacrificing Tulsis, scheming Pallavis and straying husbands (forget the men, they are all supporting character casts). But as an avid television soap watcher, I feel obligated to write this piece. The writers and ?concept creators? of these soaps think that we belong to the lowest common denominator of the human species by dishing out such tripe.
For instance, there is an important information that a wife has to give to her husband (which will solve a host of issues plaguing the ?khandaan?) but she keeps on getting interrupted with calls on the mobile phone, children walking in etc (so that the same predicament can be repeated in future episodes). I too have lived in a joint family and there were never such instances when issues that needed to be discussed got postponed due to silly interruptions. I feel like jumping into my 21 inch television set and shaking the bejewelled woman into some action.
The good bahu cooks wonderful food for the entire family (a la carte) and is almost revered because she knows everything happening in the family (babuji ki dawaiyan, mummyji ki moje, daddyji ki dentures?.). I, for once, try to change channels when such instances are shown (who knows what ideas the elders in my family could get watching these miraculous acts). The bad bahu during this time is either dawdling in her bedroom or is scheming in the boardroom (a much more fulfilling calling in life).
A generous helping of accidents (where cast members conveniently lose their memories), business deals gone sour (so that new villains can creep in through the boardroom woodwork) and joint family dances (comic relief moments) help the scriptwriters from being kicked out of the Balaji fiefdom. A point in case is the Virani Khandaan, where both Tulsi and Mihir have had 2 accidents, 2 memory lapses and numerous murder attempts between them. (And I am sure I have missed more than 60% of the episodes). Maybe they should get a vastu consultant for ?Shanti Bhavan?.
Another grouse is that emotions of individual cast members being shown one after the other with accompanying ?crash bang? music. As a viewer, I could do without seeing how ram, shyam, ghanshyam make up their faces in different shots.
And now the question is why are people (like me) still glued to their histrionics? I can answer for myself; I am not interested in educational, religious, sports, fashion channels. I want to watch Hindi soaps where people are allowed to overact and celebrate ?Indianness?. Maybe, I could watch a ?KSKBT? but when it is immediately followed by ?KGGK? then that is double dressing the salad with unfortunate results. Could we have some variety here?
Unfortunately, all the other production houses too have started emulating and the result is that sometimes, it gets confusing whether Kumkum belongs to the Agarwals or the Wadhwas? So would I like to see the forthcoming episodes where ?Ansh? of KSKBT comes to know about his parentage, the answer is ?Yes? (even though he would terribly older than bade bhaiya ?Gautam?) but I am also praying hard to ?Thakurji? that the Agarwals do not have to face the same fate.
