What’s on air?

Aparna Kaushal
Aug 24, 2017 · 2 min read

The reach of Indian television is far more than any other technology. Families may be living and swearing by Channels, talk shows, soaps, news anchors they reckon with, imbibing the psychology knowingly or unknowingly. While the national channels have content relevant to the Indian diaspora, we have a number of private channels that are far more popular.

The stories are being produced from all nooks and corners quicker than ever. Any sign of culture, gratitude, simplicity is observed with disdain by the new age media owners. The loud and casual is filling up.

For example, the recent rendition of the life of a historical warrior in India in a TV series was abruptly ended on the reason that the TRPs had fallen. The serial rendered the story of a Maratha army leader Peshwa Bajirao in the 18th century, a father and a son story against the back drop of conflicts of culture, religion, family and nation. The script, direction and dialogues upheld human dignity in terms of words and delivery and portrayed shades of various characters with elegance. The producers and broadcasters still decided to pull it off for the results of a TRP survey.

The airing of few very repulsive and weak serials however continue for years. These serials revolve around either detailed mythology which is out of place and date or around crime, betrayal, etc in an explicit way. Shielded by popularity these serials miss critically looking at the story telling, context and presentation. In the garb of art and freedom, raw is allowed and raw is served. On a spectrum of freedom of expression and righteous way of expression the audience is only conditioned to applaud the quick thrills and the cheap jokes. The audience gets a distorted sense of superiority by indulging in ordinary or weaker plots available in bulk (like fast food).

Similarly, there is no curated content for kids in India that is aired on prime channels. They are served content that is not relevant to India.

At the same time the point that a well narrated and directed series was aired among the other usual soaps, hints that good content is being produced at all times but needs to be encouraged against overt success. If only media makers took simple steps to serve the diverse audience with good, meaningful content they may encourage a general moral upkeep, a healthier thought process and a well spoken generation.

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