Article: Dying for TRPs!

We know that everyone in telly world is 'dying' for TRPs.

A still from Bandhan Saath Janmon Ka

A 'death' in a show can rake in a lot of points. Just recently, Balika Vadhu became the No. 1 show touching the 10-plus TRP. And this happened because of Pratap's death in the show! A few years ago, Mihir Virani's death in Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi caused a furore so much so that the character had to be brought back from the dead. In the serial Maa, again Amarr Upadhyay who played the father, just died. The makers tried to give this death sequence the Khoon Bhari Maang (Hindi film) effect.

'Death' is an important tool to help give the show the necessary twist. As Amarr says, "Indians are emotional people. When a character is popular, he becomes part of audiences' lives. As Mihir Virani my death brought about a revolution on TV and thanks to the love I received from viewers, I was brought back. My death in Maa too has boosted the TRPs."

The serial Jeevan Saathi too had a relevant death sequence, where the character Neil dies and another character enters the show. Recognising the potential of 'death' in tellyland today, producers do go all out to publicise their track. Like Kamya Punjabi's 'death' in Dulhann was preceded by marketing strategies to spread word that the popular vamp was meeting her end. So also, in Bandhan Saath Janmon Ka, the lead Janhavi died after which a look-like came in. This death took the cake! The actress' obituary was publicised making people wonder whether she'd really died.

A few years ago, in Kyunki... again, the scene where Tulsi kills her son Ansh was publicised a lot and it was a very expensive outdoor sequence. It's clearly all about emotions and considering women form an integral part of the TV serial viewership, it's not surprising that 'death' continues to live on in a big way on the small screen. But a track of this kind must flow naturally with the story or else it can't have the impact. As producer of Balika Vadhu, Sunjoy Waddhwa says, "Pratap's death was always part of our script. We had built up the love story and so when on the day of the gauna the character died, it became the highpoint. It's a relevant track because it's also the turning point of the show. We gauged audiences' reactions and did our best to highlight it."