What Hindi TV Serials can learn from Western TV shows

Here is a list of the mistakes we make and how we can improve :

(1) Lazy Writers : Imagine the effect a cleverly written scene will have where your audience will very naturally end up learning a valuable ideal or end up hating a character and understand why he or she is wrong without being spoon fed. To give an example, in the initial seasons of Desperate Housewives, Bree's son Andrew's deeds and actions justified what a jerk he was. The scenes were so evocative and self explanatory that the audiences naturally gravitated towards Bree and it was crystal clear as to why Andrew was such an anathema. However, our tv serial writers believe in preaching. There will be long repititive dialogues that will eventually bore you and you take back nothing from them. Like in a recent serial that i was watching, the protagonists kept harping in almost two lengthy scenes, about the importance of girl child. Though  I get the noble intention here, i simply cannot forgive the crude and lazy manner in which it was presented. Why talk when you can show? Isn't that breaking a very basic rule of creative writing for the screen. When you have the power of visual why read it out like a speech from a book. How primitive and unimaginative is that. Like spoon feeding the audience. I will blame the writers here. It doesn't matter you are always pressed for time and are required to churn out fresh ideas relentlessly like clockwork. But that is what you get paid for! Also you cannot afford to take your audience for granted. Also, a key element that many tend to overlook is that with set top box and internet, foreign channels are easily available. So now just Indian channels and same time slot programmes are not your only competition. Wake up to the fact that you are competing on a global level and there is no turning back now. If anything, this competition will only get more fierce with time.

(2) Lack of "real" drama : I will blame the writers here again. Because most of the plots lack a very real drama that should naturally tense the audience, we rely heavily on and mis-use other tools like too many slow motions, unnecessary round trolley shots, blaring back ground score, over acting and the now famous 3 back to back repetitive close up/ panning shots. Its like shoving a scene down your throat in a failed attempt to eventually evoke some inkling of dread. I never find myself naturally saying "Oh my God" and fervently rooting for any character in any setting. Also stretching a scene or drama beyond the required time in a failed attempt to exaggerate the impact or simply to buy/kill more time. It just shows you have no respect for your audience's valuable time. Why not instead use your brain to create situations that are naturally so powerful n full of drama that there is no need for such cheap, unintelligent tactics. Tools like background, camera work, mood lighting can enhance the scene to create a powerful emotion/ impact on the audience. So sad to see it all go to such woeful waste. I never see a western series ever wasting even a single episode. You are hooked because every time the story moves forward, there is ample of material to look forward to. They respect their audiences' time and intelligence. Here an entire episode can be dedicated to flashbacks, slow motions, wailing picturised on some filmy song!

(3) Treating your audiences like fools : Gimmicks like plastic surgery, resurrection, lost and found twin are so done to death, predictable and laughable i wonder if the audience buys it anymore. Come on! Really now? Also tacky CGI gives me goosebumps.

(4) Regressive : There is a very dangerous trend these days that many serials are following. It shows the men as total jerks, ill treating women and women are not just putting up with this unacceptable behaviour, they are in love with such men!!! I dont know what kind of sick masochistic pleasure the writers derieve from such potrayal but what i can't fathom is that inspite of repetitive misbehaviour, why can't they show a strong independent woman slapping such a jerk and leaving him for good? What is she scared of? Why can't they show she doesn't need to put up with such atrocities and is capable of  finding a decent job and better deserving lover and that this jerk is not the end of the world? And how can she ever love such a person? A woman who despite his bad behaviour tags along and finally manages to 'transform' the bad boy is hailed and revered! Millions follow the show. What kind of sick message does it send out? That men can get away with being the spoilt sport, it is the woman's duty to put up with such despicable attitude cause she lacks an alternative choice and that she is the one who will transform him into a good guy! I personally feel relations should be given a fair and patient chance to be fixed and mended before they are permanently tossed away for good but I or any self respecting woman for that matter, would never ever put up with a guy who mistreats me with his words and actions. Love is totally out of question! What are these serials teaching the impressionable youth, it scares me.

(5) Lack of diversity : While American tv series can indulge and spoil you with a plethora of choices from a Supernatural to Sex and city to Entourage to Game of thrones, Hindi tv writers/ makers are scared to take creative risks.

(6) Lack of originality/ unique ideas : Very few serials here attempt to try out something totally out of the box and mind boggling. Even if they do, they are handicapped by lack of proper infrastructure to keep it real. Dexter - about a do-gooder serial killer, Prison break - a gripping adventurous plot about escape from prison and nail biting yet believable roadblocks, Breaking Bad - desperate circumstances that make a law abiding citizen turn rogue, 24 - an interesting pattern for a show and they never lack material per episode for what goes on in a matter of just an hour, thats commendable! Even sitcoms like Seinfeld - amazing writing or Friends or How i met your mother. Even UK is superior in content when it comes to Sherlock holmes series, IT crowd, Spaced, etc. Pull up your socks, we are light years behind in terms of intelligent writing.

(7) Caught in a time warp : The characters in some of our tv serials appear to be suspended in some kind of a time warp. They sleep with such heavy jewellery and golden or purple eyes shadows (really now). The hair is always perfect and permed and they always seem dressed for a party, no matter where the scene is going! I don't know whether the makers are deliberately doing it to showcase production value and grandeur, which they have eventually succeeded at, unfortunately at the cost of taking it far away from reality. Why would you do that and distract from the main plot? Or are you compensating for the lack of it?  Also in the name of "indianising" your story telling for the local audience, writers dumb down the scenes. If its great and complicated have faith your audience will understand and lap it up.

(8) Ignoring a large section of modern audience : Most of the shows these days are set in a rural setting. Matter of fact, that is not an issue provided the plot is gripping. But with the writers busy re-inforcing ancient, redundant, outdated and regressive ideals or morals drilling it night after night into the minds of millions of their viewers that in the process they are neglecting a major chunk of educated, modern audience that could be residing both in the urban as well as rural areas. Plus, those of us who have access to foreign shows can calibrate, disapprove and dismiss the sub-standard quality of content available here. And for those sections of the audience that still doesn't have access to western shows and superior writing, why take them for granted? Its like selling black and white phones just because the consumer is still unaware about iphones and smart phones! Budgetary constraints are understandable (in fact that doesn't seem to be much of a problem as I don't see many sci-fi or special effects/cgi based shows on our channels, and the rest are doing pretty well in terms of production value) but I simply fail to understand why we can't compete on a creative level? And if we are lagging behind then the only obvious excuse is we are not applying ourselves enough. Thats laziness. Don't ignore the thinkers in the audience by justifying the tag "idiot box". Imagine if the writing is terrific and the content is good, it will be devoured religiously by both the hitherto untapped thinkers in the audience as well as the loyal plain entertainment seeking group

(9) Zero shades of grey : We like our characters either all black or all white, meaning either angel or devil. Has it ever occured to the makers that grey are more relatable and real characters? Plus, there is so much to play around with if a character has grey shades, he can forever keep his audience guessing. Sadly writers here don't like or use this shade frequently.

(10) Self Sympathy : When will we stop feeling sorry for ourselves? I have often heard makers here say that, the west may be advanced in technology but we here are rich as far the emotional angle goes, human story is our USP. I don't agree. The writers here seemed to be confused between making the audience root for the character (which could stem from either their well deserving cause, circumstance or a strong etched character that naturally demands audiences support) and between just buckets of tears over nothing and just feeling sorry and sympathy for all the wrong that has happened to them. Even if its cinematically and creatively acceptable and at times inevitable  to show a characters break down in order to show their transformation and to take the story forward, our writers take entire episodes and sometimes whole seasons to move on whereas their western counterparts will show the transformation in about 10 seconds and more effectively. Why do we love to linger? Again i guess lack of content makes us stretch and exploit scenes and emotions. When will the protagonists earn my respect and inspire me by getting up and changing their situations after a major betrayal or mighty fall? Thats the stuff memorable heroes and worship worthy charaters are made of.  Where are the jaw dropping scenes, mind boggling twists and turns, intensely moving and justified emotions that will make me return to the tube night after night?

I am still waiting. And its a long wait.

Every day millions tune in. TV is such a powerful medium. Imagine the kind of impact it can and does have on society, the kind of positive transformation one can cause to an individual or group. Of course tv is basically a tool for entertainment but when such a gigantic power is at the hands of limited people who can affect a larger section then why not use it effectively. Even if you focus on just entertaining atleast prepare, do your homework and brain storming and do your job right. Don't continually ham. That is not entertainment. Certainly not by global standards.

Its amazing how I can sit down to watch only 1 episode of say Prison Break, times flies and much later I realise that I am at episode 12 and I still can't afford to take even a pee break ! It is THAT ENGROSSING. And whenever my folks at home turn on the television I can't bear to watch it beyond 4 minutes! And beyond that if i dare, I would need a Disprin (what with all the unecessary wailing, preaching, lingering, bad writing.) Not exaggerrating but it is THAT BAD. Also when I say what we can "learn" from western shows, I do not mean simply copying or a shameless rip-off. I mean to get down to actually learning the writing techniques but ultimately creating your own original content for your loyal audience, that has been taken for granted for far too long.
- S. Chaudhary

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