Saat Phere 'trendsetter' - Article

While IPL and the elections dominate the headlines, new things are happening in television fiction. Increasingly, social realities are being allowed to creep into prime time dramas which are still dominated by domestic politics. And in the case of a serial which opened late night on Colors last fortnight, more than just creep in. The daily soap, "Na Aana Hai Is Des Mein Laado", actually opens each night with a statement of purpose, the way development soaps used to on Doordarshan in the 1980s. It harks back to the 2001 census which showed an adverse child sex ratio for States like Haryana and Punjab. "This is our small effort to mitigate the crime of female foeticide", it says.

Since commercial television is unlikely to be seized with so much social purpose that it will risk losing prime time audiences, what we actually have here is a gamble that this channel has tried before, and is willing to try again. Because it worked spectacularly the first time around with "Balika Vadhu". Entertainment industry executives are sensing that Indian audiences for serials are now willing to try stories that deal with some of the grimmer stuff that exists in Indian society. Ashwini Yardi, programming head for the Viacom-TV18 venture Colors, says "We believe soaps are a reflection of society. What we reflect are commonly talked about social issues existing in society."

Last year the channel took a chance with "Balika Vadhu", a saas-bahu serial with a child marriage twist. It was set in Rajasthan, had loads of regional authenticity in terms of dialect and costume, and told the story of one particularly winning child bride, with all the small heartbreaks the situation brings for her. It did well. "Taking a cue from that we decided to try more," says Yardi.

Late last year the channel introduced "Uttaran", where the protagonist is the toothsome daughter of a household maid. "It's about haves and have nots," says Yardi. And now with "Na Aana Hai Is Des Mein Laado", it is gambling on a story about a village whose matriarch decrees that no girl child must be born there. ("Laado" is the local term of endearment for a daughter.) Since they continue to be born, they must be killed at birth. The opening montage has a babe being drowned in a tub of milk. Strong stuff from the usually cloying universe of TV soaps.

While Colors' premise is that in 7 to 11 p.m. prime time band it caters to small towns from 7 to 10 p.m. and then to metros, it introduced "Laado" at 10.30 pm, presumably expecting it to have a greater resonance with metropolitan audiences who are more outraged by foeticide.

Last fortnight also saw the advent of two other soaps which go to the other extreme. Since nobody on Indian TV does anything by halves, you had the spectacle of two large Punjabi families, one on Star Plus and one on Colors, pining for a girl child. In "Sabki Ladli Bebo" on Star Plus, the birth of a son is greeted with very glum faces, and the wife apologises to the husband for not being able to give him a daughter. "Meri Ghar Aayi ek Nanhi Pari" (A little fairy has come to my home) on Colors also began with the same over-the-top pining for a daughter. Feminists may sniff at such fatuous notions in patriarchal set-ups, but when the two channels at the top of the ratings charts vie with each other to do a pro-girl child spin, may be there is hope yet.

This trend of sprinkling entertainment with home truths began a few years ago with Zee TV's "Saat Phere" which decided to tackle the misfortunes of a girl born with a dark complexion. It worked, and is still going strong. If you tune in, you get to see a conspicuously brown Saloni with her conspicuously brown son. Vivek Bahl, who was then at Zee TV is today the creative head of Star Plus. "Research is telling us that for small towns Hindi TV entertainment is much more a staple than for metros. We have to look at social issues connected more to small towns." He adds that Star's research shows that while a lot of India is changing, a lot of it is also not changing. But they are open to small messages. "Sabki Ladli Bebo" is not just about wanting a girl child, it is also about adoption, says Bahl. "I just think people are a little tired of over-the-top drama and the machinations [of female viragos]. The writing has also evolved." He also gives credit to the competition: "Colors has opened a lot of eyes in the market."

You try faintly radical ideas in Indian entertainment when you want to do something different. Bahl says of his days in Zee, "there was one leader, Star Plus, and whatever it did worked. The rest of us had to think, how do we do something? 'Saat Phere' started the change. It took up a social issue about a dark girl. Writing it right and getting the characters right is important."

Of course, the industry deals with authenticity on its own terms. Even a more intelligent soap must offer enough eye candy for viewers to feel they are getting their money's worth. Improbable mansions form the backdrops for every story. And whether they belong to a halwai's family in Delhi or a landowning family in Haryana or Rajasthan, the women drip jewellery. What is making the difference is the quality of acting. We have to see if Meghna Malik, who plays Ammaji in "Laado", will be as nuanced as Surekha Sikri in "Balika Vadhu". But one thing is for sure, when the defining role in a serial belongs to a grandmother, she has to depend on her acting abilities to hold viewers.