One of the oft argued topics between me and my mother is India is about the programming content in the satellite channels in India. Note that I mention satellite since mainstream Doordarshan and its offsprings have long lost significance in the Indian household. When I was in India until 2000, I used to laugh at my mother and every other middle aged lady that I knew of, sitting and watching weeper after weeper being shown on Sun TV and JJ and what not. Then, I found it amusing to watch completely unbelievable stories being acted out by the worst actors acting can ever produce. The scripts were hackeneyed and so maudlin that it was as if the handkerchief makers had stuck a big time deal with all channels to ensure that the content would produce tears aplenty. Now, if only these tears are the ones you get seeing a Swades or a Braveheart or a Black(I still havent seen this one yet). Unfortunately, no. These tears and all other negative emotions arise from a torturing mother in law, poor daughter in law, philandering husband, drunk husband/father/brother/son, and all permutations and combinations of "bitch" and "a#$%&*e" that a writer with total lack of ideas can conjure.
I moved to the US and got exposed to a *LOT* of sitcoms. Fresh episodes aplenty of Friends and Everybody loves Raymond and Frasier and King of Queens and South Park coupled with reruns of Fresh Prince of BelAir and Cosby Show and the Holy Grail of comedy, Seinfeld have made me realise the joy one gets out of having a laugh, sometimes non stop for 22 minutes. I worship humor at the altar of Seinfeld which I have watched so many times, I have lost count. The subtle humor of Frasier and the utter crassness of South Park and Family Guy, make you wonder, why is there no such programme in India. I remember those days when I was young and Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi and Nukkad and Ghar Jamai used to make me laugh. I ever remember watching reruns of Dekh Bhai Dekh that elicited laughs aplenty. Where are those truly funny serials. Sun TV for its part has singularly associated serials with absurdity and crap. Their comedies are so pathetic, Ill refrain from commenting on them. The few minutes I spent watching TV in India during my last November trip are best forgotten.
This brings me to ask, are Indians people who want to cry and nothing else ?. If thats so, why do so many of us lap up the sitcoms in the US so much. Does that mean that the satellite channels are to be blamed for streaming crap after crap to homes all over the country ?. Or is it really the fault of housewives and old people who sit and watch the load of bullshit being thrown at them morning, noon and night ?
Will we Indians, in India, ever watch an Indian program and laugh out loud with gay abandon at the genuine humor of good writing, ever again ?
22 comments:
Thanks for coming by. In response to your blog, it is VERY hard being funny consistently and the Tamil serial budget does not allow for a pool of writers to come up with funny gags. Also, the channels are easily satisfied and therefore there is little effort put into a 'funny' serial.
I remember attending a conference on advertising many years ago where we compared Indian ads with American ones. As a nation we react better to tear-jerkers. Think of our most memorable ads and most of them will fall under this category whereas the Yanks use humour to sell. They prefer funny stuff. It's a culture thing, I suppose. Still, there's no pardoning the Chittis and the Annamalais of the world.
dude, humour requires far more creativity. Its very easy to come up with these weeper crap.
and yes, the staellite channels are single handedly repsonsible for this. give the audience a chance, and see how they react. same with movies, most of the clean comedies are super hits. but as ammani said, its difficult to be consistent.
hey.. u remember that Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi? Think it was telecast abt 20 yrs back.. I remember watching at our Hindi teacher's home in 84 or 1985 as we didn't have a TV at home then. One of the serials that I would never forget.
I heard that it got re-telecast few years later, but missed watching it.
Ammani
I know that to write a single funny episode, leave alone week after week is a difficult job. But then does it mean we are a nation of serious writer who dont have a funny bone. I cant accept that.
I do understand that comedy sells more in US and UK than anywhere else. But then smiling and laughing without worries is really what one aspires in life, isnt it ?
Who doesnt remember the Vanna Kolangal or Nam Kudumbam of S.V.sHekar, which was only half as funny as the stage shows but still was enjoyable ?
Saranyan
I am looking for a start. We will think about being consistent in comedy, after we get started making good funny serials.
Uday
I have been there. Many a day nighter has been lost to the cause of some Kulavilakku or whatever.
Chakra
I distinctly remember Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi. I also remember Wagle Ki Duniya and Karamchand.Two other original programs in Indian television during their times.
Jagan
Very good point. Iwanted to write about this in my post itself but it good too long and unweildy and hence didnt. The social impact of such really bad and depressing serials,are surely being felt all over the country. The ideal daughter in law or the conniving mother in law is already a cliche in movies that didnt require more dwelling. And the tv serials are all based in and around the same theme. Expectations and faith in real life are sure to be decided on the way these serials interpret women. And thats really very sad state of affairs.
Thanks for refreshing my memories about Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi, Ghar Jamai. I remember watching a SV Sekar serial every weekend on Doordharshan I think.
I just cannot stand all these serials of these days. It always ( like you mentioned ) a women crying.!
I wonder why noone is coming forward to five a comedy serial on weekdays.
By the way on a funnier note:
Did you know that they are making the serial "Metti Oli" for seniors? Yes..and do you know the name..!! MUTTI VALI..!! ( Thanks Vikatan).
Amen to all of what you wrote brother.
Now let me list why there is a disproportionate amount of tear jerkers or better yet, why there is a severe dearth of quality comedy sitcoms in Indian TV.
1) Indian cable/satellite TV industry is still in its infancy. Remember, 15 years ago Sun TV was a monthly video magazine producing company and most of India had only one Channel, my beloved DD. It takes time to evolve and reach what american TV has achieved in -what 50 years?
2) The target audience of TV serials, at least that of the regular Suntvs, rajtvs, JJtvs et all, consist mainly of the homemakers. This effectively translates into a huge number of family based tear jerkers.
3) When the viewer ship contains a good proportion of young, independent adults(read, all the software pros, new economy guys) we can see the arrival sitcoms like friends/Seinfeld/Frasier (right now this target group gets their humor fix right out of real friends /sienfelds/Frasiers…)
4) American television, at least the broadcast ones, is not completely devoid of crappy soap operas. We have to remember that NBC that produced Seinfeld, Friends, Cheers, Cosby Show, Fresh prince of bel air, still runs the grand daddy of all mega serials-“Days of our life”.
5) As more and more young adults start to earn and become a target group for the corporates, we will hopefully see a turn towards better programming that focuses on the lighter side of life.
In near future we are going to get
Friends, Everybody loves Raymond, Frasier, King of Queens, Seinfeld ... in Tamil !!!
Vaazhga dubbing ;)
Think of Kramer talking Tamil. It will look more funny :)
Days of our lives, all my children... and how could you guys miss - Judge Judy, Judge Joe Brown, and the paternity tester - Maury and My ex-mayor Jerry Springer???
True, Sob-fest in india extends to primetime. But I can tolerate a Chithi anytime over 2 ugly people fighting over a transvestite!! (sorry for being judgemental)
http://www.agencyfaqs.com/news/stories/2004/05/17/9035.html
Here is a link to an article from May 2004. The will is there, the talent is definitely there, viewership is absolutely available, even if its urban/niche and it does seem like the advertisers are there.
The major question is..will the content providers, the venerable channels themselves, shape up and deliver a balance in programming?
Or will they be contented to look at the crappy programming in American TV and say, Ha! We can match their crap with our own?
In a copy-cat environment, if Zee's comedy venture is successful, hopefully the regional channels will copy and deliver some quality content as well. Hope. Hope. Hope. (just like Andy Dufresne tells Ellis Red Redding in Shawshank Redemption)
TLB: I used to think the same too. I guess we Indians are melodramatic / emotional by nature and that's what keeps us going. Everything is so bound to emotions, that we tend to take ourselves a bit too serious sometimes? Satellite channels need to given a kick on their ass for making so many lives more miserable!
Then again, I have seen good tamil comedy only in the movies. The television attempts (even K. Balachander) are worse than the weepers! Perhaps its the lack of funds? Or simply the choice of the people at home?
Hellboy
Good points. The only think I have to disagree is the fact that what makes or who makes the decision is homemakers= lovers of tearjerkers and nothing else. While I agree that the female targeted sentiments are tailored to earn the sympathy of the homemakers, wouldnt tickling their funny bone make good viewership too.
And I have to also say this. Comedy is not necessarily urban in nature. It can be a village or middle class based too. All of S.V.Shekars comedies in fact targeted that part of the audience. And they triumphed too.
Me
I think the dubbing of urban comedies will be like watching Narasimha instead of the Matrix. You know how that works.:)
Harish
If you dont mind me saying this, why so much angst ? The idea is to take the good from here and not complain about whats rotten. And for your information,have you ever seen any of the programs you mentioned being beamed at primetime when families get together in front of TV or when the working male or female returns from work?
Every network worth its salt is looking for the next Seinfeld and Friends...and thats what brings in the ratings, money and what not. And yes, CSI and Law and Order too. Not a Judge Brown or Jerry Springer.
Ramesh
Great link. I am hoping that comedy gets the attention it deserves in mainstream satellite programming (read Zee, Sun and Star TV) but a comedy channel is a start. Lets see how it goes.
Ranj
It is a point to note that we Indians respond extremely well to tragedy, much more than comedy. Be it movies or tv, good comedies are rare. No wonder a Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro or Andaz Apna Apna retain so much repeat value. What is it that makes tears work for us much more than a good laugh ?
LB, true - got carried away. I am indeed a great fan of Friends, Seinfeld et al (have both the series in my DVD collection)!
I did however add that Sob-fest in india extends to primetime. Indians except the elite few, prefer to live in Middle-earth - the land of hobbits, elves, saruman and sauron. The comedy shows that you mentioned deal with "regular" people - good people who make mistakes occasionally. People in middle earth are either good or bad. nothing in between!! All the Sun TV shows that you talk about deal with Good people Vs Bad people - Sharadha Vs Prabhavathi ... nothing in between .. good ppl cant do anything bad and bad ppl cant do anything good.
How can you write a comedy show with such characters?
Harish
Trust me. I have gotten carried away myself, quite a few times. And yep, grey is missing in Indian tv. Good people make mistakes. Bad people are occasionally humans too. This is missing. The protagonists in Seinfeld are each a good example. George is the most lovable loser in the world. You hate the snobbishness of Elaine and Jerry but still love em..and kramer is the biggest fool/joker in the world who is also the most likeable character I have ever seen on TV.
Thanks for coming by. Would you believe if I said it is based on a real-life incident? Except that in that case the girl 'wished' she had said so when posed the question. Also she's way more timid than my heroine.
Saw a similar post on another blog in my blogroll! The post itself was open-ended without any judgement. Some Anon has commented, which I couldnt resist but enjoy -- and for all the smart asses around who are still wondering why most women watch the "K" serials i guess the reason is it is nice to see that someone elses life is more screwed up than yours
Harish
Ill agree with you. That post, about sums up all that has been said and written here. Good one.
Anyone knows if "Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi" is available on VHS or better still VCD/DVD? Would love to get a hold of this classic sitcom
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