After a long time, I got chance to
see every possible genre of TV programming in India and I switched from Hindi
Satellite to Bengali Satellite to News. And given that I strongly believe our
daily soaps are an exaggerated but quite true version of our society at large,
it was not very difficult to comprehend the reasons behind the mammoth changes
our world is going through.
The plots, the twists and the
turns were all there but what was most interesting to observe was that except
in one particular soap the protagonist was never the male. Bengali soap operas
were throwing up strong women characters dime a dozen and the men refreshingly
were playing a complete second fiddle. In fact in some of them there were
downright; for the lack of a better word, clueless about their own existence!
Sample this, the women of Bengali
soap operas are superwomen; they manage their careers and family with aplomb,
have perfected the roles of the family matriarch and do not hesitate to give
the men their share of feeling important and in control.
The men on the other hand, whine
and whine and whine some more while waiting to be rescued and shown direction
by someone clearly more capable and yet sermonize about tradition and values
whenever they get a chance. Sometimes it clearly shows that the women give a
rat’s ass about what the men say. It’s so refreshing after almost a decade of
saas-bahus ruling the roost.
Finally it also dawned on Bade
Achhe Lagte Hain to call it a day. About time, like everything else we rarely
understand the importance of closure at the right time when you are on a high.
On the other hand, someone in Kolkata had the brilliant idea of replicating
Balika Badhu, frame by frame for the Bengali audience; who for all they are
worth; do not yet get Hindi as well as they think they do.
Hindi Satellite is also not
falling behind. With all its creative liberties Mahabharat remains one of the
best retellings of mythology and epic genre on Indian Television. The premise
of another amongst the the highest TRPed shows is based on an age old movie of
Rekha and while starting in an interesting note, it completely lost its way and
given the creative powerhouse in the country, it too has a rip off in Bengali. Coming
back from the dead always has an interesting angle.
Reality shows continue to glue
people to their seats and I watched one more season of Roadies and Splitsvilla.
Raghu and Nikhil’s trousers keep getting more and more fluorescent by the year
and finally it’s Sunny in my living room once again.
Oh and while I am at this, it’s so
much fun to poke fun at those who only watch the TV series to figure out what
happened at the Red Wedding and thereafter.
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