Sumeet and Rajeshwari

What’s your take on contemporary television content?

Rajeshwari Sachdev (Host of K For Kishore)

The competition is so stiff, everybody wants to succeed; so they all follow the beaten path. It’s like one Maine Pyar Kiya has spawned a thousand similar stories.

Sumeet Raghavan(Sahil of Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai)

At one point, you love a cult show like Sarabhai and at another you watch Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi. How can you take 20-year generation leaps with different people playing ‘a’ role? Baa from Kyunki… is around 450 years old. How can you tolerate that?

Ravi Rai(Director of Sailaab, Thoda Hai Thode Ki Zaroorat Hai)

You cannot see identical characters, sporting identical saris and bindis every half-an-hour. Every show cannot comprise a hateful saas, a pious Parvati as its protagonist, et al. I’m not kidding but if you put up a television set in the room of a hospital patient who has been in coma for the past 15 years, even that person will come to life because of the repetitive content!

Gajra Kottary (Scriptwriter of Astitva)

I’m very depressed. If you notice, there is a me-too syndrome. If Ramayan is being aired, a Mahabharat has to follow. There is no visible innovation.

Who is to blame for this?

Sumeet: The people who make such shows are to be blamed.

Ravi: If I give a programmer a salary of Rs 1 crore a year, and if he tries out a new thing that doesn’t work, he stands to lose the job. So the person adopts a ‘Save your ass’ approach. Nobody dares to swim against the tide.

Gajra: I do not think it is fair to lay the blame squarely on the producers or the channel because it is a vicious cycle where each one is terrorised by an external factor. The channels are pressured by TRPs and they pressurise the producers. So all shows are geared towards getting better TRPs.

Why do we no longer have serials like Astitva and such quality experimental content?

Ravi: There was a genre for entertainers to suit Shammi Kapoor, Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan and then Rishi Kapoor. The genres keep changing on TV too.

Gajra: Everyone I have met said that they loved Astitva. It was a very bold show. But today no channel is willing to back a show like Astitva.

Sanjay Upadhyay(Head of Fiction, Sony Entertainment Television)

Honestly, times have changed. It’s a far more competitive market. Television sets have a wider reach today. Pehle hum log sirf apne gut level aur conviction aur apni pasand napasad pe jaate the. But that is no longer the case. The taste of the masses plays a vital role.

So is the saas-bahu syndrome here to stay?

Sumeet: Yes, unless the audience stops being regressive.

Ravi: Maybe the saas-bahu saga does well with an audience in a similar predicament. They might not work with you and me but Ektaa Kapoor is here to sell it.

Gajra: Saas-bahu in all likelihood is on the way out but one cannot expect progressive programming to follow suit. You can get regressive even without a saas-bahu show.

Sanjay: You and I yearn for a change but the viewers who belong to varied socio-economic backgrounds and sensibilities, have a different take. And we are here to entertain them.

What are the possibilities on TV that remain unexplored?

Sumeet: Television has a lot of talent which has to be channelised. Every actor has multiple facets. Personally I feel that television has a lot of untapped potential.

Gajra: The success of reality shows underlines the fact that people want to connect with people like themselves. Why can’t we create close-to-life fictional characters? I am sure the shows will be as successful.

What is required to bring about a change on TV?

Sumeet: Exercising your choice. If you do not like a channel, switch to another one.

Rajeshwari: A bunch of more confident people; people who have the conviction to walk their own path. Last year, you had a new breed of film-makers creating a new path; television needs the same now. People who take chances. Laalach na ho toh insaan achha kaam kar sakta hai (laughs).

Ravi: I want the programmers to make at least two shows that are different. Aisa ho hi nahin sakta ki television mein jagah hi nahin hai creativity ki.

Gajra: A maker who is willing to stake it all even for a niche audience. Someone who is not watching the TRPs all the time.

Sanjay: Following the formula of success is easier than being different and yet successful. It requires immense amount of trial and error.

Finally, why are some of you no longer working on TV?

Rajeshwari: In a serial, the storyline changes every day and the characters change every day within their own parameters. If I need to shoot everyday for a show, I need a concrete offer.

Ravi: Maybe I had reached a saturation point with the channels and that is why I was bowled out and could not re-enter.