Step aside saas-bahus; snake women, dayans, houseflies and now apes are taking over as prime time protagonists. Why, is the question
A gorilla is smitten by a woman. The woman, a stammering bahu who has faced torturous times at the hands of her scheming mother-in-law faints, collapsing in the arms of the love-struck ape. Sounds bizarre But this is the latest twist to the plot brought in by the makers of Thapki Pyaar Ki on Colors. The same channel is also now airing a show called Kavach — Kaali Shaktiyon Se, a show where Mona Singh (lead) will go up against a dayan (played by Mahek Chahal), in order to protect her husband from the witch’s lovelorn clutches. Kavach replaced the fantasy-soap Naagin, based on the theme of ichchadhaari naagins on a spree of vengeance. Only a few weeks ago, Sasural Simar Ka inspired multiple memes on the Internet when its protagonist turned into a fly.
On paper, these are concepts that sound bizarre and may even evoke guffaws, but rising TRPs are testament to the fact that the audiences are lapping it up like never before. Ved Raj, the scriptwriter on Thapki cannot understand the fuss behind the track involving a King Kong-esque plot. “We needed a visually appealing way to pull in the audience. We brainstormed over what to do next and the gorilla came up,” shrugs Ved. “The family angle must remain constant though, so we showed the members of the family going to the zoo for a picnic, where they encounter the gorilla. We put a man in the gorilla suit, but we also had a motorised gorilla apart from VFX.” In an earlier interview, Ekta Kapoor had drawn parallels between the hugely popular HBO series Game of Thrones and Indian television shows, asking why we lap up Western supernatural concepts while dissing our own. A question Ved echoes. “Why do we expect realism from desi TV shows if you don’t expect them from movies or other shows Why must we comply ” Having said that, the saas-bahu template is here to stay for ever, he adds. “You have to understand, the saas-bahu, family values, remain our base, no matter what. Other experiments can go over it.”
It’s all about the TRPs ultimately. “If shows like these weren’t accepted, the TRPs wouldn’t be this high,” shrugs Santram Verma, director of Naagin and Kavach. In the last week of the show, Naagin scored a high rating of 4.6 points, trouncing its own record of 3.9 the week before. “People want to see new things,” he adds.
Scriptwriter Sharad Tripathi agrees too. “These are things that work with the audience. As far as the supernatural goes, we haven’t introduced something out of the ordinary. The same old kaala jaadoo or the baba bangali that you heard about as kids or read in Manohar Kahaniyaan are being brought back. We can’t add a UFO or an alien in our shows because those won’t work.” Sharad admits that Sasural Simar Ka, however treads into unknown territory. The lead character in the soap has turned into a housefly. “The format worked for them so that’s the format that’s being followed now. But none of these shows will do away with saas-bahu. It’s like potatoes; no matter what vegetable you’re making, the potatoes will always enhance the flavour of the veggies.” Santram attributes the shock value of the scripts to the audience’s growing appetite for the bizarre. “ If you don’t spell it out to your audience from the word go, they won’t come to see your show. They have the choice of watching a comedy show or a reality show and they will shift.” For those seeking more than entertainment in the shows, he adds, “These are only for entertainment! They serves no other purpose. You may look at it differently but channels sell these on the basis of pure entertainment. There’s no point trying to look at these serials as anything else.”
Adaa Khan, who played one of the leads in Naagin scoffs at the chatter around the twists. “You know things like these don’t exist, but you watch it and enjoy because it’s a break from the regular drama. In Naagin, I did crazy things with the nevla (mongoose) by my side. As an actor, I don’t refuse characters thinking they’re unrealistic.” Her co-star, Arjun Bijlani adds that he’s comfortable in the skin of characters in supernatural shows. “TV is changing and so are the audiences. None of us imagined that the show would be such a hit. As an actor I needed to be comfortable with what I’m doing and this show was fine.”
However, there’s one thing that the people behind the scenes are in consensus about — the supernatural and the weird are merely passing fads and in the ends, it’s all about the family. “This will die down in a few months,” asserts Sharad. “What will not go away, is the family angle to Indian serials. The point of this entire thing is that it doesn’t matter if you’re facing a dayan, chudail or any other supernatural element — your family will be around, no matter what!”
