Jul 23, 2004 07:27 PM
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(Updated Jul 23, 2004 07:29 PM)
The journey of TV serials on Indian television began from the ‘Buniyaad’ and ‘Hum Log’ era and this journey continued with names like ‘Kabhi Sautan Kabhi saheli’, ‘Chandan ka palna resham ki dori’, ‘Kahin diya jale kahin jiya’…. Thought-provoking names, aren’t they!? (I actually wanted to translate these names but when I translated ‘Kahin diya jale kahin jiya’ as ‘A lamp burns somewhere and the mind somewhere else!’ I remembered that my English teacher is a heart patient… so I am very sorry, I cannot translate those names!)
When I thought of writing about the WORST TV serials, I wish to mention the following things which are predominantly seen throughout these serials, and which irritate me and most of us:
Extremists co-exist. For every serial, if we have a Tulsi or a Parvati, we also have a Payal and a Pallavi. The first two are the ‘saviors’ of their families and take their families out of every problem that comes their way. Yo! While the next two find joy in ‘barbaad kar dungi’ and those stupid laughters of theirs.
The ladies of the house (Most of these serials revolve around families) put on their makeup, wear those costly saris and ‘work’ in their kitchens. A menacing ‘nanad’ taunts the bhabhi who goes running to the stairs…. a favourite place of bhabhis where they cry!
The male members of the families are supposedly businessmen. But they are at home almost the whole day in their kurta pyjamas and all of them are merely ‘joru ke ghulams’ and they don’t really take a stand when it comes to beta ditching the newly-wed bahu, and it always has to be the ‘saas’.
The serials say they propagate Indian Culture. Point to be noted that all the goody-goody ladies like Parvati and Tulsi have to face problems, while the blouseless and the treacherous Komolikas have fun.
The Family planning programme never reached these families for each and every person has atleast three children (exclusive of the ‘naajayaz’ bachhas).
Marriages are held on a grand scale (no, no objections about that!) but no marriage stays for more than 25 episodes. Each and every couple atleast has one divorce or atleast one ‘main-ghar-chhod-ke-jaa-rahi-hoon’. (I am leaving the house) Example, Gautam’s wife Damini from Kyunki… is his third wife (The first two being Ganga and Teesha, the former was ditched by him and the latter was killed in a car accident.).
So here come the FIVE WORST HINDI TV SERIALS: (Starting from the fifth position)
- Bhabhi (Star Plus)
She is Pushpa, and she is the bhabhi of the house. But no one calls her by that name, anything from ‘kulta’ to ‘chharitraheen’ will do. Then we have a menacing Manju who was actually shown killing another elderly character.
The scenes are just too loud and the emotions melodramatic. The story was stretched like an elastic rubber band, and before they could do something about it, the relevance, continuity and power of the story had already broken off.
- Piya Ka Ghar (Zee TV)
Piya Ka Ghar is a really wrong name. A title should suit the content of the serial and the name in this case should have been Peeya Hua Ghar. The characters include Rimjhim who has a 24-hour tear tap fitted in her eyes, her mother-in-law who is just too famous for her ‘Ae Ladki!’, the teddy bear Alok Nath and the dumbest of them all, the Piya (I don’t remember his name!).
The very weird title track where the singer goes ‘Peeeeeeeeeeyaaaaaaaaaa kaaaaaaaaaaaaa, peeeeeyaaaaaa kaaaaaaaaa gharrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr’ is the only tolerable part of this serial.
- Kasauti Zindagi Kay (Star Plus)
Yet another serial of the extra-marital-affairs-and-naajaayaz-bachha genre. The two protagonists of the serial are called Anurag and Prerna who are madly in love with each other. But No KweenKapoor serial can be so simple! We have Bajaj who is in love with Prerna. We have Aparna who is in love with Anurag. Menaka is in love with Bajaj. And very recently Yash Tonk (‘Kunal Sikand’ from ‘Kaahin kisi roz’) has made an entry, and he loves Aparna. Love is omnipresent they say, this serial proves it right.
- Devi (Sony Entertainment Television)
This serial produced by Devgan Software is not too famous but still it is worthy of the second spot when it comes to the WORST SERIALS. A poor little Gayatri is thrown off the cliff by her husband. And when he comes back home, he sees her there with his parents. She’s actually Devi who has taken Gayatri’s ‘roop’.
Melodrama, violence, torture at its peak. We have Aman Varma who makes gestures that look like the way a lame goat would run (the reason, our TV serials? Maybe.) More than that, the producers should actually consider the fact that these serials will be watched by everyone throughout the country and this will only add to the superstitious beliefs.
- Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi (Star Plus)
Tulsi, Mihir, Ansh, Gayatri, Savita, Mansukh, Baa, Gautam, Aniket, Teesha, Damini, Karan, Ganga, Sahil, Mandira, Baapuji, Nandini, Pooja, Hemant, Prajakta, Harsh, Indu, Sejal, Shobha, Vishal, Payal, Tarun, Himmat, JD, Aarti, Karishma….all these are names of members from just one family.and many more jesters join this tear-filled fare.
Each son having three sons/daughters, each of them with a problem of his own. The problems continue, Tulsi continues crying on those stairs, Baa is in such state that just one tickle and she would collapse. Hemant is Pooja’s third husband, just as I said earlier, Damini is Gautam’s third wife, Sahil is Ganga’s second husband…. Thank God, they have spared Babuji and Baa!
Hats off to the producers, directors, screenplay-writers of these serials who make our TV scene a very meaningful and sensible place!
