|
TELEVISION:
KYUNKI SAAS BHI KABHI BAHU THI
Keeping
It In The Family
The story
about the daughter-in-law of an upper-class family notches up a phenomenal
following of two million viewers and becomes the second most watched programme
in India after Kaun Banega Crorepati
By
Anshul
Avijit
It's
time for dal politics. Not Sharad Yadav versus Ram Vilas Paswan as you
might assume but arhar versus moong. On TV, the bahu-beti-bhabhi brigade
takes charge and spices up ratings as more and more viewers find they
simply cannot have enough of their favourite family soap.
 |
| Role
Models: Malhotra (Tulsi), Shivpuri (Ba), Dave (Daksha) and Mehta (Savita)
|
Family No.
1, as it were, is the Virani khandaan in the wordy daily soap Kyunki
... Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi ... Launched on Star Plus in July along
with Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) but minus the hoopla, Kyunki has
effected a quiet coup d'etat to emerge the second most-watched programme
across all channels after the Big B's quiz show.
Market research
consultancy AC Nielsen TAM's nine-city average from November 19 to 25
put KBC at the top with 10.7 points. But Kyunki was close behind with
a 9.9 rating. This is when there's virtually no viewership for the Hindi
serial in Chennai and Bangalore. But in Mumbai, Delhi and Ahmedabad, Kyunki
often overtakes KBC.
But the
ratings reveal an interesting trend: 60 per cent of the top 50 programmes
are family dramas. There's Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki (Star) at third
rank, followed by Koshish Ek Aasha (Zee) at number four and Heena
(Sony) at five.
At 10.30
p.m. four nights a week Kyunki is bang in the primetime slot. "It's
easy for the whole family to sit down together and watch it," says
producer Ekta Kapoor. It's like a Gujarati thali, she adds, with something
for every palate. What's more, as a daily it's paced fast enough to keep
viewers hooked. And thanks to the extended family it portrays, there is
a lot of potential for subplots, tangential intrigues and even comedy.
An unmarried cousin has got pregnant, another bears the secret of her
husband's past indiscretions and a silly aunt has found an even sillier
girl to foist on her son. Oh, what a tangled web.
It helps
that much of the cast is from the Marathi and Gujarati stage and relatively
new to TV. "Viewers can make up their minds about who they do or
don't like," says Associate Creative Director Monisha Singh. Scriptwriters
Rajesh Joshi and Vipul Mehta have been careful to avoid simplifications:
for instance, the mean mother-in-law also cares about her family's well
being. And then there are plenty of contemporary references: in a recent
episode the grandmother, Ba, takes off to see a film (Fiza) with a group
of young girls.
Kyunki is
essentially a TV version of the hugely successful Hum Aapke Hain Kaun.
In fact, it is even better because unlike the saccharine-laced film, Kyunki
has its moments of intrigue. Central to it is something most Indian households
can relate to, the tussle between a woman and her son's wife. Better still,
with three generations of women there's someone every member of the audience
can associate themselves with. "There's a strong element of empathy,"
says P.N. Vasanti, director, Centre for Media Studies. "Yet it's
about a rich, upper-class family so there is fantasy too."
Historically,
Star programmes have not appealed to the heartland. That changed in July
when the channel decided to go desi with a vengeance. Says Star's Executive
Vice-President (programming) Sameer Nair: "We want our audiences
to know that we are not a gora channel. We're fun to hang out with."
For Kapoor
it wasn't just about fun: "I wanted to create a position for myself."
Already, Balaji Telefilms has signed five new soaps in addition to the
18 it has on air. Unlike KBC, success came gradually for Kyunki. Although
shooting began on April 7 a lot of details took time to be ironed out.
Kapoor says Star executives felt the title was too long. Then one of the
serial's more endearing characters Daksha (with her trademark Junagadh
accent) played by Ketaki Dave, an established Gujarati stage actress,
almost didn't take the role. "I had reservations about playing a
mother," she says. Finally, the Balaji unit was apprehensive about
casting the then short-haired, bespectacled and relatively inexperienced
Smriti Malhotra as Tulsi. It's another matter now that "Tulsi"
is flooded with marriage proposals. "Women seek my advice on how
to deal with their own daughters-in-law," laughs Malhotra.
Much of
the success lies in the details: each actress has a wardrobe of some 40
saris that match her looks and demeanour. Even the number of bangles one
wears was decided on the basis of her role. Savita, the eldest bahu, wears
a black thread around her neck. It figures, she's superstitious and suspicious.
For the
first five weeks after its launch, the soap seemed to languish. "It
wasn't even among the top 100 programmes," recalls Executive Producer
Gautam Sobti. But then the climb began. For Star, this was part of a strategy
to provide a "complete" channel: there was no way KBC ratings
could be sustained and it was imperative to have strong soaps to retain
newly won viewers for the channel.
Kyunki's
success has opened the floodgates of family serials, many of which feature
large joint families where womenfolk sport mangal sutras like badges of
honour and do little other than uphold family values that would do the
Sangh Parivar proud (see box). "In a society like ours that is changing
so rapidly there is a great deal of nostalgia for the old system,"
says Sony's head of programming, Rekha Nigam.
But Zee
sees nothing unusual in this surge. "Family serials have always been
around. It's Star TV that has just discovered them and is making a big
noise," sneers Sainath Iyer, president, corporate communications,
Zee. "The ratings really show the strength of our soaps."
That doesn't
cloud the uncomfortable fact for Zee that the most watched programmes
are on arch rival Star-KBC, Kyunki and Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki. Zee's Koshish
Ek Aasha is fourth.
But at the
end of the day, there can be no substitute for a good plot. Add to that
a whopping good cast and the mirch-masala of events in the Virani family
and perhaps it's not hard to understand why this one's a hit.
-with
Himanshi Dhawan
Top
|
METRO TODAY
Ayodhya
is an issue that is pre-determined. And it matters little in the present
fuss that the foremost casualty is the truth, writes INDIA TODAY Deputy
Editor Swapan Dasgupta in 
