TV producer Sumeet Mittal spoke to Ganita about why the family format will still hold good on mainstream channels and his new non-fiction show, Rivals in law
As somebody who has followed and perpetuated stereotypes on television with Diya Aur Bati Hum, it comes as a surprise that producer Sumeet Mittal is venturing into the non-fiction space with Rivals-In-law, a game show between two families bound by marriage. And just as we were wondering if a mainline saas-bahu practitioner was finally giving into the winds of change on Indian television, Mittal demolished the notion that the genre had lost its appeal but could do with a bit of tweaking.
The concept of family and togetherness is an all-time sell, he told us on the sidelines of the promotion of his new show and a recasting and rebranding of Diya Aur Bati Hum. “As a nation, our mass mindset is still today dominated by the joint family system. Even nuclear families value culture and the extended family structure. So the family orientation is going to be around in the entertainment space for quite some time, more so on Indian television. I think if we try to get away from the family scenario, we will not be able to hit the numbers, which are so crucial to the business of sustenance. For Indians, television viewing is entertainment as well as good learning,” Mittal informed, saying he was buoyed up by a number of messages commending Diya aur Bati hum for helping families reunite. Television, Mittal believes, is an emotion-driven business by virtue of invading people’s homes and private spaces.
So his new show, too, dwells in the periphery of formula. Its appeal lies in combining the relationship that drama viewers want from a reality entertainment show, with the practical take-home skills they’d expect from a cooking format. So every episode, a young wife, her mother-in-law and husband/son are introduced. The son must choose a favourite dish for them to prepare. Both women get to work in the studio kitchen under the watchful eye of a chef host, and age-old tensions are brought to boiling point in the process. The son must ultimately decide who cooked it best, and his dilemma is relatable for many in the audience. This is Mittal’s first foray into a global franchise. “I would like to have all kinds of flowers in my bouquet. We would like to make our shows for the global market. At the same time, we would want the Indian market to open up to the global space,” he told us.
Clarifying the different production processes for fictional and non-fictional drama, he said, “It’s a very different ballgame. In the fiction space, we don’t think about the number of episodes and just believe in producing good content episode after episode. In the non-fiction format, we have to fix our story-telling within a specific timeframe. As a creator, I would love to tell stories on different platforms differently.”
Talking about the potential of the internet and the increasing popularity of web series, he doesn’t see it denting his core business. “The young audience is going to go on the digital platform for a specific kind of entertainment, barring the family dream. It’s good that we have evolving genres on the digital plane but they are not going to take away the hardcore television viewers. A new audience is emerging for the web series but numbers are not shifting from television to internet. So, every time a new web series comes up on the digital platform, my assumption is that we will see new numbers rather than numbers just dividing or spreading.”
However, he agreed that viewership had gone down for television, not because of diversion but because of poor substance. “Mainstream numbers are down because people are not liking the content. Entertainment television is going through a midlife crisis. As producers, we just have to reinvent the wheel and figure out the process of identifying markers. I am sure we will soon be back with a right fit for a new developed taste. It’s just a matter of time.”