I watch TV when there is Cricket on it or while having my dinner. During dinner, if folks at home watch any serial or program, I refrain from changing the channel. As a result, I get an opportunity to watch serials in bits and pieces. And I have been able to understand the story even if I’ve watched the serial for only a few minutes after missing several episodes, such is the story. I’ve noticed some strange (and interesting) things in TV serials that I wanted to share:
Thanks to Ekta Kapoor, most of the negative roles in serials are portrayed by middle-aged women with heavy makeup and jewelry. The heroines are usually dumb until some major incident happens to the hero and they realize how they had been snoring with their eyes open.
A young, innocent housewife suddenly gets a double who is wicked and wants to knock off people who stand in her way. And I thought serials were supposed to be closer to life. With this kind of a story, this serial has just landed itself into no man’s land. It is neither realistic nor make-believe.
A comedy serial which started well about common, everyday incidents in an average neighborhood seems to have run out of ideas and now thrives only on festivals ranging from Republic Day to Diwali. Even Valentine’s day is not spared. All the cast does is sings (lip syncs) and dances to movie tunes and one guy at the end gives a lecture on how people should enjoy the occasion. This lecture lasts about 10-15 minutes in a serial with a running time of 30 minutes!
A serial on an autistic girl started well with a cute child artiste but lost its charm as soon as the child was replaced with an older one. And more recently, the older child was replaced with a woman who continued to behave like a child wearing stupid clothes and talking trash. Even if this were closer to reality, I am not sure how many people would want to see a grown woman act like a foolish child everyday.
So, is this trash the only thing on TV?
Thankfully no. There seems to be a fairly decent Whodunit serial that is definitely more watchable. Not surprisingly, its ratings have been up too. There have been a few music competitions that bring forth new talent along with high quality musicians and then there are the sports events, movies and songs to watch. So, keep yourselves occupied with these and be careful not to venture into the family serials zone!
PS: All points are in reference to Hindi TV serials as those are the ones popular at home. The title could also have been why I love watching and bashing TV serials :)
