Of Sit-Coms and Soap Operas…
Having been born into a normal South Indian household that tunes into Sun TV every weeknight at 9 PM, I am no stranger to the world of Soap Operas. As any other mother with a direct link to the satellite will do, my mom takes complete possession of the remote control once the hourglass strikes 9. This is a normal proceeding that happens every night across millions of households. But of late, my mom still takes control of the remote control at 9 PM sharp, but the only difference is that now she tunes into Discovery Channel to watch “Extreme Machines”. And, if things don’t improve, I believe that she will soon start watching JAG on Star World!
OK, so now why is this sudden shift in her mindset to give her favorite soap operas a miss and tune into something which only her little intelligent kid,with a knowledge base that exceeds that of the Encyclopedia, watches 24×7. (I’m boasting about myself, if you are still figuring out who that intelligent kid is…). Have these serials become so boring and downright dumb that people will rather watch a switched off tv than watch the soap opera characters play the same scene day after day after day after day after………….
As far as I can remember, Sun TV was the first channel that came up with this concept called Prime Time Soap Operas, down south (DD was there, but its serials wasn’t aired at Prime Time). The 1st mega venture, Alaigal, is something that every household will remember. It was a thoroughly different affair from the monotonous nincompoopery that is being dished out today. The character played by Venu Arvind is fondly recollected even to this day, after about 8 years the serial was last aired. It was racy, it was fun and it was entertaining. No soap opera produced to this day has been able to reach the heights set by this mega serial. The only other major Soap Opera that many remember is Chithi which,although a shade lower than Alaigal, was still entertaining.
But the other attempts were merely done to fill up air space and test your patience. The success of the above mentioned serials threw open the flood gates and then, before you knew it, every channel had already began airing dozens of serials each day. Although many watch most of the serials even today, the number is steadily declining. “Kolangal”, for example, is one serial that is aired weeknights at 9PM on Sun TV. My mom, who used to watch every episode of this without fail previously, now thoroughly hates it. Its like running around in a circle, with no beginning or end in sight. The story line is in utter chaos, the characters are a mere farce, and the serial is downright irritating.
Other serials aired in the afternoons in Sun TV are no different. My mom says that they are all made up of the same stuff, only with different titles. The quality of content from Sun TV has been steadily declining, with it aping all the other channels to come up with new programmes. Sun TV, once a pioneer in such shows, is really struggling to strike a rhythm. But it still remains my favorite regional channel (A post on this is in the making)
The other channels fare worse than Sun TV as far as mega serials are concerned. Raj TV, which was started at around the same time as Sun TV, is such an impaired network that I wonder if anyone watches it at all these days. Its serials so suck. I don’t even know how they are still in business with their dysfunctional content. You can count the number of people who watch this channel, let alone people who watch soap operas on this channel.
Kalaingar TV, which was started with much fanfare, is proving to be no good either, courtesy Raj TV. The serials aired on this one so remind you of watching Soap Operas on Raj TV, that my mom doesn’t even want to tune that channel. The same cliched titles, title songs, cast, story line. You have had enough of them from Raj TV and you are better of not watching re runs on Kalaingar TV. With no originality in their contents, Kalaingar TV is using its money muscle to rope their audience in, rather than with their content.
Jaya TV on the other hand, has managed to air a few good serials and has broken the monotonous practice of airing mega serials at Prime Time with programs having varied content. Although it still has its share of dumb serials, it had tried its hand in creating a sitcom a la Friends called Krishna Cottage which still failed to make it big, because Friends is Friends and no serial can ever reach that pinnacle.
But the biggest trendsetter of them all is Vijay TV. Its brought a whiff of fresh air into the contents that is being aired Prime Time. Its latest offering , Kaadhalika Neramillai, brings in a refreshing change to the monotony of good – heroine – fighting – evil – man – who – happens – to – be – her – husband – with – a – villain – mother- in – law-who-has-nothing- between-her-ears. This newly started venture, with its fresh casting and a catchy title song, has already earned good reviews. Vijay’s other serial called Madurai, which was selected from an audience poll, also earned praise, although I’m not sure if it was a must watch among audience. And now, they have revamped the entire content directory played at Prime Time, which again shows why they are leading as far as innovation and experimentation is concerned. But I personally hate Kana Kaanum Kaalangal, as I believe it is nothing but sheer balderdash.
So the rhetorical question is, why is that all the major networks shy away from creating new soap operas with new story lines ? Is a woman subjected to injustice and seeking revenge the only story line around here (Sun TV has many of them – Kolangal, Arasi, Annamalai, Anandham, Meghala…….!!) ? Is it like a formula or something where someone has to be tormented all the while and make those watching it cringe? While its an accepted notion that most of the mega serials’ audience comprise only of women, does it mean that they will take this crappy storyline for all eternity ? Alaigal which did not have such an inane story was still a hit !
It’s high time the content producers started changing their perspective of what could be made into a mega serial. For all the talent that we have here, we still have not had one quality sitcom or a thriller or a horror soap opera (Marmadesam was one epic serial but it was not a mega serial…). And these soap operas run like for ages without any purpose, (The sitcom “Friends” ran only for 236 episodes spread over 10 seasons. Kolangal has run so far for about 857 episodes in one single season and there is no end in sight…!), which seriously puts off many. In today’s hurried world, people have no patience to watch a serial without any visible change in the story line for 700 odd days and they simply switch channels or avoid watching them altogether, which, judging from my mom’s irritation, has already been set into motion.
Adios…
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