Indian soap opera

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Indian soap operas are soap operas written, produced, filmed in India, with characters played by Indians (except for a few Western actors like Tom Alter), with episodes broadcast on a daily/weekly/semi-weekly basis on Indian television channels/channel chains (Star Network, Sony Entertainment, Sun Network, Doordarshan) that are not often limited to the Republic of India itself: often many “serials,” as they’re more commonly referred to as, are broadcast overseas in the UK, USA, and some parts of Europe, South Africa, and Australia. (Doordarshan, or DD, is an exception: until recently it was only viewable in India and Nepal, but now also in the UK.)

Indian soap operas are often mass-produced under large production banners, with houses like Balaji Telefilms—run by Ekta and Shobha Kapoor, daughter and wife respectively to Hindi film star Jitendra—running the same serial in different languages on different television networks/channels. (See also: K Phenomenon)

The most common languages in which Indian serials are made in are: Hindi, Punjabi, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, and Malayalam, though most often they contain a mix of the predominant language and English. This often creates and unintentional comic effect: a certain High School-themed serial on Star One has created a bizarre language of its own, a heavy mix of colloquial Hindi and corruptions of modern American slang, which, though fairly odd to understand at first, has created its own coterie of loyal fans devoted to using the very same ‘language’ in daily speech.

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[edit] Features

Indian serials are often stereotypical, both in storylines and in characters. The ideals of the quintessential Indian Family are often given fanatical attention to, which lines being written in grand, melodramatic tones, drawing in references to events in the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, the typical Indian Woman, and other similar themes. Balaji Telefilms has often been frowned at for repeating the same essential storylines with different characters and sets (altering the sequence of events and their intensity) to create more and more serials.

One of the first serials created by the banner was Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi (literally, Because the Mother-in-Law was once the Daughter-in-Law), the story of the fictional industrialist family Virani, the apple-of-their-eye son Mihir, and their loyal and subservient (i.e., quintessential) daughter-in-law, Tulsi, his wife. An almost immediate release was another serial called Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii (loosely translatable as The Story of (all) our Homes), also a story about an industrialist family—albeit, the “Aggarwals”—also about the apple-of-their-eye son—this time, “Om”, though it is essential to note that later in the series the lives of all the brothers of the families and their wives were dealt with extensively—and yet again, their loyal and subservient daughter-in-law, “Parvati.” The storylines are loosely parallel, though the writers continually attempt to “shock” their audiences with rapes, extramarital affairs, murders, conspiracies, and kidnappings—in all serials, though at different points in time. A standard feature now is the 20-year-jump, where one epoch in the series ends at a stalemate and continues in the next episode with all the characters and surroundings twenty years older, the effects of ageing being shown by white dye in strands in the hair of the women of the family, and not-so-subtle hints of grey around the gentlemen’s moustaches and sideboards.

Another slightly unreal aspect of the Indian serial is the “face-change operation”. A typical scenario is one wherein an accident happens to one of the protagonists, with him/her waking up in hospital with a new face, one that is most often the result of the antagonist scheming with an evil plastic surgeon who creates an entirely new face for the hapless hero(ine). The protagonist invariably loses their memory, leaving them vulnerable to the antagonist’s schemes, and this, along with the 20-year-jump, helps create scenarios such as a missing darling son of the family now being one “converted” to one of the enemy camp, with further clichéd themes as the Indian Mother’s Yearning for her Son helping to create about a month’s worth of material, which inevitably ends in a reunion scene with lots of happy tears.

Dialogue in Indian serials, in addition to being largely melodramatic and filled with historical and religious references, is widely thought lacking as far as dialogue goes. If seen very carefully, one would notice that there is, in fact, little or no conversation that takes place during the 30-odd minutes of a typical Indian soap opera’s episode. Actors’ lines in scenes are often delivered one large monologue at a time (even longer in scenes of “conflict” between the protagonist(s) and the antagonist(s)), there are often dance scenes based on the exact same encountered in the parent film of the song (this being less parody and more of a filler, often seen during idle amorous fantasies of the “goof” of the cast), and features elaborate sound effects, which are actually repeated in different serials which are under the same banner.

For example, female antagonists often enter the room with screeching cat noises being played in the background, perhaps an allusion to the character’s invariable cattiness; though often antagonists that are well-known and widely-spurned by the TV-seeing public often have their distinctive entrance sound effects: in the serial Kasautii Zindagii Kay, whenever the character ‘Komolika’, began to scheme and soliloquise and/or entered a room, a playful, almost vampish strain of gaudy music was played to an amorous play of her name. This was keeping in with the effect her heavy makeup, thick, bristly fake eyelashes, and garish contact lenses portrayed the character as.

Male antagonists that are young often have Indianised strains of rather obscure hip-hop songs working for them in the background, and those that are older often have deeply resonating kettle drums booming in the background.

The camera often spins wildly from character to character during scenes in which shocking news is revealed, shaking vigorously when a character faints, and showing the same slap hitting the same cheek thrice during a confrontation, keeping in sync with the overall melodramatic touch most of the serials prefer to incorporate.


Indian serials first began with the introduction of the television set in Indian homes: the first soap opera on the State-run channel, Doordarshan (the only television channel that existed at that point in time), was Hum Log, a story of a family comprising of three generations. It was urban, it was middle-class, and it was new, and till today, it, along with Buniyaad, is considered among the best-made Indian serials to be seen by an Indian audience.

In the “old” Star TV channel of the Star Network, certain serials like Saans and Kora Kaagaz broke the mould and gained artistic as well as commercial success; serials on Zee TV like Taara and Banegi Apni Baat (which featured among the early work of renowned Hindi/Tamil actor Madhavan), too, were of the same privileged fate.

[edit] The Next Generation

More recently serials on the Star One channel on the Star Network have seen to be largely different from the conventional, with Saturday Night Live-esque programmes like The Great Indian Comedy Show, stand-up shows like The Great Indian Laughter Challenge and game shows like Bluffmaster being of great popularity. However, it should be noted that in a purely technical sense game and comedy shows aren’t really ‘soap operas’, and though alternatively-themed shows on crime (Siddhant), High School (Happy Go Lucky), and twentysomethings do exist and are relatively popular, a grand majority of Indian television shows are soap operas based on the Family-and-Marriage theme.

[edit] "The K Phenomenon"

Based on predictions made by celebrity astrologer/numerologist/tarot-card reader Sunita Menon, almost all serials made under the [[Balaji Telefilms banner are supposed to begin with a ‘K’, regardless of what language it’s made in. This is believed to be Creative Head (Ekta Kapoor)’s ‘lucky alphabet’, and consequently, the K Phenomenon was born. Examples are Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii, Kasautii Zindagii Kay, Kkusum, Kavyanjali, Kahiin To Hoga , and so on.

An exception is, however, Hum Paanch, a comedy about a family of five sisters, their bent-on-their-getting-married but loving stepmother, and their father, who talks to their dead mother via a framed photograph hung on a living room wall. This is probably because the show was created and shown in an entirely different time—the late nineties—presumably before Ms Kapoor met Ms Menon. It is interesting to note that despite all the stereotypical content K-serials contain, they are all immensely popular with the masses, which is believed by some to be a result of the initial K.

Another exception is 'Ghar Ek Mandir'(literally: The House is like a Temple), which has been one of Sony TV's most popular soaps.

[edit] Further information

No Indian serial so far has dealt with issues such as the legislative system, rural issues, etc., and though some are set within legal/medical/rural contexts, it has storylines, once more, largely based on marriage and family, or rather, the concepts of marriage and family in the traditional Indian context.

Neither has an Indian serial dealt with homosexuality or AIDS which are burgeoning issues in India. An ironic fact, considering Ekta Kapoor, Creative Head of Balaji Telefilms, which is believed to produce the largest number of Indian soap operas, was quoted in a film magazine in an interview as saying one of her favourite shows was Queer as Folk (unavailable for purchase in India, incidentally), and that the actor who played Brian, Gale Harold, was one of her favourite TV drama actors.

However, in commercial terms, Indian serials almost always do well. Not many Indian serials ever end—and so, writers are forced to stretch storylines over a generation or more to cope with the lack of character-exploration/situation-exploitation. Many Indian serials run for over five years, and, analogous to Bollywood film stars being deified to Godhood, many soap opera stars are treated with a demigod-like quality. The actress who played “Tulsi Virani” in Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, Smiti Irani, stood to be elected as MP in the 2004 General Elections from the Delhi constituency of Chandni Chowk, and it was hoped by her party, the BJP, that her popularity would help them out in that largely pro-Congress area. However, she lost, and the seat, along with the entire election, was won by a massive pro-Congress vote.

[edit] Sexuality & Nudity

For a long time, sensuality or scenes with sexual overtones were covertly expressed on the small screen. Even if it were an integral part of a story, directors resorted to suggestive scenes to convey the message.

The usual props like rain and thunder, turning off the lights, snuggling behind closed doors, drawing up the sheets, etc hinted at physical intimacy between the lovers.

It was with the advent of Zee TV and serials like Tara, Banegi Apni Baat, Kurukshetra and Hasratein that seductive scenes came to be incorporated expansively. Tara, probably, led the way with a bold and blatant storyline. A lip-to-lip kiss between Alok Nath and Navneet Nishan sealed the love between them in the serial. Recalling the kissing scene, Vinta Nanda, writer, Tara says, “It was part of the story line. Whatever we projected in Tara was not for the sake of doing it, that’s the reason none of our artistes had problem portraying the scenes.”

The kiss was just one aspect of Tara which throbbed on showing women smoking, drinking and wearing minis. It also had tracks of extramarital affair and live-in relationships. This mother of all bold serials was a channel-driver for Zee.

The other serial that had kisses and seductive scenes galore was Banegi Apni Baat. Set in a college campus, the serial openly discussed condoms, sex and sexuality. As Deeya Singh, producer says, “The brief given to us by the channel then, was everything from pimples to pre-marital sex should be covered in the serial.” The story was woven around this concept and what emerged was four kisses and a lovemaking scene in the most popular serial of its times. The first kiss was quite innocent with Rahul planting one on Riya’s lips just to win a bet. The other kisses happened at a weekend bash where an intoxicated Ritu smooches her boyfriend who is also high, Priya tries to ease Rajat’s pain with a gawky peck on the lip and Rahul kisses Riya passionately to convey his love. Besides this, a hot scene between Nikita wearing a shirt and Karan was picturised at the swimming pool. Recalls Deeya, “We did not deliberately incorporate the scenes, it followed the character’s storyline.”

But the one serial that sensationalised the smooch was Kurukshetra. The serial was about corporate warfare with Seema Kapoor and Parmeet Sethi playing adversaries. Seema, who had a vampish role, had to seduce]] Parmeet and get important information out of him. Parmeet, who knows her intentions, plays along. At one point, he pulls her and plants a kiss right on her lips. The celebrated kiss was the talk of the town for many weeks. Talking about it, Seema says, “I distinctly remember the day when we shot the scene. When I arrived on the sets, I could feel tension in the air. Lekh Tandonji who was the director was being vague about the scene while narrating it to me. I thought it would be a peck on the cheek but to my shock it was a kiss on the lips. It was not all that long, it took just a few seconds but the media hyped it no end.” And no, she doesn’t regret it, on the contrary “I enjoyed it,” she says non-chalantly.

Dinesh Bansal, who produced Kurukshetra, claims that he was the first one to show a kiss on the small screen. “It was a well-picturised romantic scene but the media publicised it as a 24 hours kiss!”

One serial that indulged in heavyduty lovemaking scenes shocking the viewers was Hasratein. The serial revolved around extramarital affair and within the first four episodes only there was a hot bedroom scene between a married Himani Shivpuri and her lover. Later on, in the same serial a passionate meeting was shown between Seema Kapoor and Harsh Chhaya. It’s a song sequence and Seema comes out of the bathroom, suggestively nude and runs into Harsh Chhaya. What follows is a steamy love scene.

Ajai Sinha, who produced Hasratein, points out that the serial was about carnal desires and there was no way he couldn’t avoid it. “In any case I feel scenes with hidden meaning are more vulgar,” he justifies. In another of his serials Justajoo, Ajai portrayed a scene of seduction between Harsh Chhaya and Arpita. “Harsh Chhaya, who is married to Pallavi Joshi, falls in love with his sister-in-law Arpita. She is also attracted to him. They had to drop their inhibition for the story to move ahead and a lovemaking scene between them was shown to that affect,” he explains.

Strangely enough, despite their popularity, seductive scenes went out of fashion once these serials were over. Family dramas came to rule the tube and as Dinesh puts it, “We realised that television is viewed mainly by women and they are not very comfortable with seductive scenes. That’s the reason we switched over to serials with joint families.”

With Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, anything to do with sexuality was relegated to the bedroom behind closed doors. That was two years ago. Recently, however, they showed a suggestive smooching scene between Gomzee and Tisha. That is just the beginning. The recently launched serials are slowly and surely getting into the forbidden territory all over again. For instance, in Lipstick, there was a lovemaking scene between Abhay and Sheetal, where the girl is playfully seducing the guy. Another scene, was the gay love making scene between Sheetal's husband and another guy, where Sheetal eventually catches him and decides to divorce him. Says Shristi Arya, producer, Lipstick, “It is a part of our story and will be shot between Aly Khan and Nigaar.” Promoted as an adult night soap, Lipstick promised to be a hot, hot serial but has been quite tame. According to Shristi, the serial depicts the lifestyle of the rich and the famous where they are open about their sensuality. Yet they had to concentrate on the track of Sunidhi, a middle-class girl ruled by middle-class morals. “We were getting letters favouring her character and we had to follow viewer feedback,” she admits.

Serials like Love Marriage, Kittie Party and Kkusum are tracing bold storylines but seduction is only briefly ‘touched’ upon.

But today, quite a bunch of lovemaking & sensual scenes can be seen in serials like Tumhari Disha, Jab Love hua, Kumkum, Sindoor, Kaisa yeh pyar hai, etc.

There has been some partial nude scenes, but there has not been any full nudity in Indian serials as of yet.

[edit] Major Channels

The major channels on which Indian serials are seen are:

Hindi

Regional

  • Zee Bangla (Bengali)
  • Zee Gujarati (Gujarati)
  • Zee Marathi (Marathi)
  • Alpha TV (Hindi)
  • Alpha Marathi (Marathi)
  • Alpha Gujarati (Marathi)
  • Sun TV (Tamil)
  • Surya TV (Malayalam)
  • Udaya (Kannada)
  • ETV Telugu (Telugu)
  • ETV Bangla (Bengali)
  • ETV Kannada (Kannada)
  • DD National
  • DD1
  • Various local-language DDs.