Bidaai Articles Archive - No Comments - Page 55

There were no ominous predictions at the dawn of 2008. All was well with the parivaars of Viranis, Aggarwals and Walias. Though Shanti Niketan and other gilded bungalows were at the centre of many intrigues, Baa, bahus and their betis were drawing a decent audience.
The quintessential saas-bahu 'K' serials — their TVR down to 4 in January 2008 from the envious and legendary 12 in January 2005 — still occupied top slots in the 10-most watched entertainment shows on Indian television. But six months into 2008, the iconic saas-bahu serials were squatting at the bottom of the 'Top 10' pile. By October they disappeared entirely and haven't made a comeback since. With the top slots reserved either for reality shows or soaps with a dash of reality, the contest was now between Khatron Ke Khiladi, Nach Baliye, Indian Idol, Balika Vadhu and Bidaai...

Bipasha Basu says, "Reality shows are here to stay. I have nothing against soaps, they obviously worked. But maybe that phase is over and people are looking for something they can relate to and identify with. In reality shows like music talent hunts, or Roadies, contestants are one of the masses and thus identification is higher. Also there is the thrill of the unknown. With soaps, things were quite predictable."

But predictability was not the only reported cause of death when, in October 2008, the obituaries of saas-bahu serials were being written in the offices of channel creative heads. Boredom with their hackneyed stories, concerns and conflicts of saas-bahus was what led the audiences to finally tune off from the cycle of petty kitchen politics and start surfing for a bit of reality.

And it didn't help, of course, that new-kid-on-the block Colors was upping the game. While Star Plus' sindoor-mangalsutra women were in the kitchen rolling theplas or spying on their bahus, a click away, Akshay Kumar's 13 real women were jumping from planes, crashing into glass and fishing out snakes. And after they were done, Rahul Mahajan arrived to romance a real-life don's moll.

Ashvini Yardi, head of programming, Colors, says, "Reality shows were big this year. Bigg Boss, in fact, got TVR of 5. Though the reality genre has been overdone, in 2009, we will have Khatron Ke Khiladi and Bigg Boss again but with differentiated content."

So will TV get even more voyeuristic? Yardi laughs and says, "We'll also be looking at family-drama soaps. Our serials, which are doing well deal with real issues like child marriage in Balika Vadhu and a marriage-gone-stale in Jaane Kya Baat Hui. Audiences want soaps with a difference, so we have to cater to that and entertain, without being preachy." But is Bidaai, the No. 1 serial for a while now, really different? Well, yes and no. The show's main premise is Indian society's attitude toward beauty and the (perceived) lack of it. But, of course, there are the staple twists, turns, traumas and tensions involving saas and bahus.

Anil Wanwari, Indiantelevision.com, said, "I don't agree that soaps will be less popular than reality shows because women are the prime audience for any soap, so they will remain popular." Kunal Kohli, film critic and director, feels that soaps will get a facelift. "I do think saas-bahu shows have had their run time, and a successful one at that. Soaps will still continue to run and make merry with TVRs, but the content of the shows will change. I see shows being more realistic and true to time. Reality shows though have caught on in a big way, given all the elements of thrill they involve."

However, Dheeraj Kumar, producer of Maayka and Ghar Ki Lakshmi Betiyaan, is certain that audiences' tastes are changing "Television programming is moving towards socially-relevant and issue-based stories that are easy to identify with. As for reality TV, people are bored with singing and dancing talent hunt shows. Viewers want change in the reality TV space and channels will have to explore new concepts."

Sooraj Rao, creative head, Balaji Telefilms, agrees that the days of selling dreams are over. "In reality TV, it is thumbs down for most of the clones of original formats. A novel concept has to come in to take reality TV into a different zone." How about a second season of Biggest Loser Jeetega with Ekta Kapoor, Tulsi and Jay Walia fighting the battle of the bulge? Now that would be real and entertaining.