Production houses and channels are taking a leaf out of the English GECs and coming with tele-series keeping in mind a wider audience — men and youngsters. Sangeeta Yadav speaks with some of the directors and channel heads who say that TV is going through a transformation and big budget tele-series are here to stay
From long-winded daily soap to finite episodes and tele-series, saas-bahu drama to big budget sci-fi and action thriller, showmakers are redefining TV viewing. Call it the influence of English GECs or the need of the hour to bring a change in the usual serials on small screen, production houses are coming up with out-of-the-box storylines.
English tele-series like House of Cards, The Big Bang Theory, The Blacklist and Breaking Bad have followed the tried and tested formula of not dragging a show for more than 13 weeks and making a comeback with a fresh storyline or finite shows. Something that viewers who tune into Zindagi are familiar with.
“Tele-series are a positive trend. Instead of having a show with 500-plus episodes that goes off air because of low TRPs, it’s better to come up with limited episodes which the audience loves. Having infinite episodes means that the soap suffers in terms of creative quotient. But today, the audience has a plethora of options; they can tune in to another show. Recently, more shows have gone off air because of low TRPs,” Gajra Kottary, scriptwriter of shows like Astitva and Balika Vadhu tells you.
She also tells you that taking the risk and experimentation is what today’s showmakers are willing to take to bring the best that they have to offers to the viewers at home. After the success of big budget finite tele-series like Anil Kapoor’s 24, filmmaker Vipul Amrutlal Shah is all set to come up with an action-packed thriller Pukaar - Call for the Hero, journey of Major Rajveer Shergill played by Rannvijay Singh.
“Pukaar is on the lines of 24 in terms of format. It’s a show about relationships and how to deal with them; something that the male viewers will identify with. Having Shah on board, who made one of the longest running TV show Ek Mahal Ho Sapno Ka in 1999 that stretched to 1,000 episodes, there is bound to be high expectation,” Deven Bhojani, co-director of Pukaar says.
However, one is told that not all tele-series are a hit. “Coming out with a tele-series doesn’t mean that one has a formula that will guarantee success in a short span. Take the case of Yudh, it could only manage to find a niche audience,” Kottary says.
Ending a show in a few months and coming up with its next season is the smart yet difficult move. The trend of seasons which started with Naa Bole Tum Naa Maine Kuch Kaha, got a mixed response. So the production house and the channel prefer to continue with the show and instead of a season they introduce a leap and change the track. Sasural Simar Ka is one such example. The show has already taken three leaps since it’s launch in 2011.
“Making a tele-series instead of an on-going daily soap is challenging. The story has to survive through 28-episodes and not get stranded. Keeping a tight control over the storyline and character development is important and a dangerous hurdle to cross. If the show is a hit, viewers’ expectations rise and it becomes all the more challenging for the scriptwriter to come up with a better storyline. Showmakers also have to be ready for the comparison that is drawn every time a finite show airs,” Nimisha Shukla, an ardent TV viewer and blogger tells you.
Also, the shows are no longer just for the woman of the house. Men and younger audience are also kept in mind. “Action-thriller shows like Maharakshak Aryan are made keeping in mind the younger and male audience. To keep a show only for the weekend slot means that one can keep the audience’s attention even on holidays.The good part is that the viewers are liking this new format,” Namit Sharma, Zee TV’s programming head, says.
Agreeing with Sharma, Kottary opines that earlier, the content was for 18 to 35-year-old women. Today, one must expand the content and make shows for those who don’t want to watch the usual saas-bahu drama. There is plenty of scope to explore various genres and concepts on TV and create shows that can cater to a much wider audiences. Now that the show’s quality has gone up and will continue to grow, the target audience needs to be defined properly for each show,” she says.