Archive for the ‘Themes’ Category
Series on Discovery Travel & Living – Living with a Superstar – Shahrukh Khan
On April 08, 2010 in Discovery, TV, Themes, Video
Shahrukh Khan is the biggest star of Indian cinema (for his generation – since we also have Amitabh Bachchan, who is probably more respected than Shahrukh Khan, and you have Aamir Khan, who has developed a much respected branding of his own, and who owns 2 of the biggest money making films of India). He has a huge number of fans, and yet, there is a lot that people really do not know about Shahkukh Khan. When he travels anywhere, he has an entourage with him that prevents people from getting too close to him, and a security team that will guard him relentlessly. However, the interest in knowing more about him will also be great. And this is where this new program comes in, to show a behind the scenes look at Shahrukh Khan, at his home, his family, his travels, everything.
The show is called “Living with a Superstar: Shah Rukh Khan”, and is a 10 part, behind the scenes look. This involved a fair amount of work, with the production team traveling along with Shahrukh Khan across 4 continents; covering a set of different activities such as shooting, getting a personal tour of his home ‘Mannat’, being with him on vacation in London, access to another home in Dubai, getting to work with his wife and children, a lot of background on the experiences in his ownership of the low-performing Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) team. For those fans who want to know more about the superstar, the series is a must watch.
The series has been produced by a small production house called Blue Mango films along with Red Chillies Idiot Box and shows up every Friday at 9 PM starting February 26th.
Themes yet unexplored by Hindi Serials…
On February 11, 2010 in Channels, Character, Competition, Family, Hindi Serial, Themes
Till recently Hindi serials had been under the strangle hold of the formulaic “Saas-Bahu” serials with its high pitched drama, forever sacrificing heavily bejewelled women and settings that were far removed from reality. Just as viewers had had enough, a sort of coup happened that changed the face of Hindi serials. A few new channels, some bold production houses and producers and some very good writers ushered in the new phase of Hindi serials. As stories and content became more issue-based, there was virtual explosion of new themes that tried to capture a slice of the real life. Shows like Balika Vadhu, Na Ana Is Des Mere Laado, Uttaran, Bidaai, Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai slowly set the new grammar for Hindi serials.
Like all good things spark off a herd mentality, this trend too did the same across channels. Thus the new benchmarks of good television shows began to spawn off pale imitations that tried to imitate the success stories without quite getting the tone right. In fact it is time that some well meaning individual should take it upon herself/himself to point out the themes that have been unexplored by serials. Here are a few themes that come to mind immediately.
• Anandi-Jagiya but with a difference- The strong teen school going teenage population of India is yet to have a show that caters to them exclusively. The genre of teen-centered shows remains largely unexplored in films as well as television. Thus a serial that can speak their ‘lingo’, talk about the issues that bother them and that they have to face as part of everyday life (like exam related stress, competition, dating, drugs, consumerism) will surely be a hit with this segment. It will also appeal to the older audience as it can help them to understand their kids better.
• New-age families-Urban India has become a hotbed of relations that have so far been on the margin-the live in couple, the single parent, the step-parent, the single and not interested in dating individual, the single working woman unit-all of it will surely make for interesting themes.
• The Plain Jane/Average Joe Story- where the individual has nothing remarkable about himself/herself, not even a heart of gold. The journey that every common, regular human being undertakes without having to resort to a makeover or a miraculous turn of fortune can be an interesting story to narrate.
• The story of a neighborhood/mohalla/nukkad- where no one family gets to dominate proceedings and the story is populated with small families, individual characters and the interaction that they have with each other and the outer world.
• Karamchand Revisited- where the detective genre is treated with respect and dignity and not made out to be a farce. Stories can deal with crimes that are unique and common to modern India. And of course a very enigmatic detective figure has to be the lead.
