Recently, I got some Indian channels hoping they'd make me feel like I was in India while I hibernate in front of the TV in an evil Minnesotan winter. The mid-western cable guy who showed up in his overalls, sat and watched for a few minutes, wide-eyed at how colorfully dressed everyone seemed. "They cry quite a lot, don't they" he exclaimed innocently. It's been about two weeks and I have been watching, out of plain curiosity, these Hindi TV serials where the primary villain is this wicked daughter-in-law who insists on wearing jeans, does not want to cook, eats meat and wants a nuclear family rather than the drama-rich joint family that has kept this TV series going. So now I feel like I am in India...but in a rich Gujarati family of the 60s.
India has moved into the 21st century (I think) and so has our use of technology and standards of living. Mumbai (Bombay) is a jungle of high rise apartments and rickety shanties which all have in common the mighty television. Working women, girls in mini-skirts and denim capris are a common sight. Yet the television series for some reason insist on showcasing family dramas that seem to belong to the 1970s or perhaps even earlier. One might argue that this scene still plays out in some parts of India. But quite honestly, I have known people from all parts of India from Lucknow to Rajasthan and have yet to meet a single person who can relate to these serials. Yet, the producers claim that these series are commercially successful. I guess when one has nothing to watch on TV except for these similar family-drama type series on all channels then what else can one do.
Interestingly, this trend was started by Ekta Kapoor of Balaji Telefilms, who is a successful Indian TV creator and quite an enterprising woman who has made a mark in television production. Her persona is far from the saree clad bahus of the series she has spawned. With the arrival of the saans-bahu circus, gone are the glorious years of television when series like Udaan, Nukkad, Fauji, Tenali Ram and Karamchand where the story was new and refreshing with every episode.
