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Twists a n d
Television
Hindi soaps try every trick in the
book to stretch their longevity.
Here’s how it works.
Turns
Uttaran
By Anindita Sarkar
Balika
Vadhu
Yeh
Rishta kya
Kehlata
Hai
Pavitra
Rishta
Taarak Mehta
ka
Ooltah
Chashmah
L
ast year, a handful of fiction dailies,
completed a staggering 1,000 episodes.
Names like Uttaran (1,000 episodes in
November 2012) and Balika Vadhu (1,000
episodes in May 2012) on Colors, Yeh Rishta Kya
Kehlata Hai (1,000 episodes in October, 2012) on
Star Plus and Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah
(1,000 episodes in October 2012) on Sab TV,
will ring a bell even if you are not a regular serial
watcher. Pavitra Rishta on Zee is the latest one that
went past the 1,000 mark in March 2013.
For many others, the journey ended anywhere
between the 7th and the 33rd week - which could
mean episodes that range from 35 (if telecast five
days a week) to 165. Teri Meri Love Stories on Star
Plus stayed for 7 weeks, Shubh Vivaah on Sony for
16 weeks, Chaal, Sheh aur Maat for 18 weeks and
Kairi - Rishta Khatta Meetha for 33, both on Colors.
The difference in the striking gap in longevity
can be explained by a simple fact - smart survival
strategies. Since not everyone has the canny ability
to prolong the life of a show to phenomenal
heights, what are those tricky components that not
just keep a show alive but also keep the audience
hooked?
Conflict and separation
tories of conflict are somehow supposed to be
the best kind of amusement to satisfy an average
Indian family’s quintessential existence. Conflicts
generate discussions. In a show, the conflict could
be between couples, siblings, parents and children,
in-laws, neighbours and best friends or rift-loving
relatives.
Much of the revenue (65-70 per cent) generated
in the Hindi GEC space comes from advertising
household products to the audience. To keep
that coming in, GECs work that much harder
to create stories and sub-plots that will hold.
While kitchen politics is the most common design
used to inject a dose of clash within the story
(primarily because the genre is mostly watched
by women, who control the remote in a singleTV household during primetime), disagreements
between couples are a popular choice, followed by
stories of separation and getting together.
Top TRP generators like Bade Achche Lagte Hai
(on Sony), Pavitra Rishta, Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata
Hai or Balika Vadhu lean heavily on the conflicts
between the ‘so much in love’ couples.
Like the ‘lost-and-found’ formula of the Hindi
cinema industry of yore, conflict and separation
is the most tried and tested formula on TV soaps
today. “Since audiences are convinced that the
couple will be together at the end anyway, they
look forward to the separation and enjoy the
dose,” says Rajan Shahi, founder, Director’s Cut
Productions. Some of the shows produced under
the banner include Sapna Babul Ka... Bidaai (Star
Plus), Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai (Star Plus), Amrit
Manthan (Life OK), Kuch Toh Log Kahenge (Sony)
and Havan (Colors).
Observe this. Star Plus’ top rated show, Yeh
Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai, used conflict between
the married couple Akshara and Naitik, the lead
S
protagonists, as one of the big tricks to gain
audience attention (Week 11, 2010). The issues
and arguments that separated the couple were
built up in about three months. When the two
finally resolved their issues and came together, the
episode had garnered 7 TVRs.
Delayed gratification
arriages on TV involve the highest budgets
(costumes, set, people) and are used to
build traction to ensure stickiness and, eventually,
a spike in the ratings. “Audiences like to see
richness, grandeur and many people in marriages,
probably because these are the kind of marriages
that they aspire for but cannot afford. Those who
can afford it, copy it. Wedding planners get ideas
from it. A marriage can push up even the weakest
show, while shows that perform well, come out
with very high TRPs,” says Sandiip Sikcand, actor,
writer and creative director. Some of the shows
that he has worked on include Kahaani Ghar Ghar
Kii, Kkusum and Kasamh Se.
In an ideal Indian family, consummation is
something that should follow marriage. But since
an early consummation would also mean that the
love story has reached a happy ending, why not
delay it and prolong the pleasure of the audience?
The ploy generates love, longing and lust between
the lovers and, therefore, amongst the audience. A
M
“A marriage can push up
even the weakest show,
while shows that perform
well, come out with
very high TRPs.”
Sandiip Sikcand
common joke that the industry gets to crack when
discussing scripting tricks is this: “Consummation
will get you the requisite TRPs but a delayed
consummation will make you the tallest in the
hierarchy.”
However, this may backfire too. Remember
Ekta Kapoor’s decision to introduce a touch of
‘Dirty Picture’ sensuality on Sony’s Bade Achche
Lagte Hai to generate fresh audiences for the show?
The consistent ‘sensuous’ promos of the March
2012 episode on Sony (for a week or more) led to
Taking a leap reinvents the show and works almost
always, provided it is a good plot and has been seeded
into the show organically, in the first generation story.
“Since audiences are convinced
that the couple will be together
at the end anyway, they look
forward to the separation and
enjoy the dose.”
Rajan Shahi
universal anticipation that the ‘move’ could crown
Bade Achche Lagte Hai as the No 1 property in the
Hindi GEC space for the given week.
Contrary to all expectations, the move bombed.
Despite an almost 20-minute love-making sequence
between Ram Kapoor and Sakshi Tanwar, the
show failed to make it to the top 10 programmes
for the week ended March 17. Instead, it attracted
a lot of filth on the social networking circuit.
Unfortunately, Kapoor and Tanwar had acquired
the status of the ‘cute’ aunty-uncle on TV and to
watch this adorable middle-aged couple getting
steamy on national television was probably a bit
too much for the audience to take.
The consummation card, if played well, could
push TRPs to stratospheric levels. Quite a few
writers believe that consummation as a trick
works even better when one of the two is not
in love with the other. “Audiences like to see
couples wherein one does not wish to get into a
physical relationship if the other in the party is
not romantically attracted. That keeps the story
floating for a long, long time until love finally
happens, followed by delayed consummation,”
says Sukesh Motwani, the former fiction head for
Zee TV who now works as a consultant.
Crafting intrigue
he strategy of creating curiosity and deception
for the audience (within the current storyline)
pays off in the long run. It could germinate in any
form with the most common ones lying within the
outline of a thriller, a misunderstanding, a blast
from the past, a secret of a family member (works
even better if he or she is ‘holier than thou’),
the return of the dead, plastic surgery, entry
of a lookalike and/or the other woman and the
existence of an illegitimate child. These gimmicks
were used time and again by Kapoor of Balaji
Films for shows such as Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi
Bahu Thi, Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii, Kasautii Zindagii
Kay and Kkusum.
Interestingly, one of the most successful creative
strategies used well by many long running shows
including Saath Phere (2005-2009), Sapna Babul
Ka... Bidaai (2007-2010) and Ghar Ki Lakshmi
Betiyaan (2006-2009), is ‘the mystery behind that
door’. Ghar Ki Lakshmi - Betiyaan, for example,
showcased a 10-day-10-night track around January
T
2008, wherein Bhavishya’s (the protagonist) wife
kept hearing voices behind the door only to realise
later that her husband is psychotic and would talk
to the dead body of his ex-girlfriend.
the Maha-episode
he little twists introduced in regular doses
lead to high points, which in turn give birth
to maha-episodes. Usually hour-long sessions,
maha-episodes attract special attention from both
the audience and the channel, which comes up
with specific marketing and promo plans.
The strategy for introducing maha-episodes is
simple: pull in the most loyal audience set for a
show even on a weekend, which otherwise stays
low on ratings.
“Shows such as Balika Vadhu, Uttaran, Bade
Achche Lagte Hai or even a Mahadev run on a fifth or
a tenth of the budget of a big fat reality show. Yet
they perform in the range of 3-6 TRPs, compared
to the reality show numbers (about 2-3 TRPs).
Therefore, it makes sense to bring in that loyal set
of people on a weekend through a maha-episode
T
“Audiences like to see couples
wherein one does not wish to get
into a physical relationship
if the other is not
romantically attracted.”
Sukesh Motwani
that intends to reveal the intrigue or suspense
which kept the viewers hooked on to that show for
so long,” says a top channel executive.
Taking the leap
his strategy involves introducing new
thoughts, characters and tracks to the show.
It brings in new dynamics wherein the same
story can be retold in a completely new fashion.
However, while a few may agree that taking a leap
is almost like making a new show, most feel that a
leap takes a show back to its basics.
Taking a leap reinvents the show and works
almost always, provided it is a good plot and has
been seeded into the show organically in the first
generation story. “It is important to stick to what
the origin of the show was. Leaps flop when a lot
of shows try to create a new show,” Sikcand says.
an episode, sudden poverty and sickness and/or
merging two or three shows of the channel into
one to create a ‘Mahasangam’ episode are a few
other tricks that channels and show producers use
to design short plots and high points.
“Item numbers, song and dance sequence or
getting film actors on a show can lead to sampling
and audience stickiness, but only for a very short
period. They will return only if the content is
good. Mahasangam, on the other hand, is used
to pull in the loyal set of viewers of an already
established show to sample a new show or a show
which has not been performing very well,” says
Sneha Rajani, senior associate vice-president and
business head, Sony Entertainment.
Why change track?
hen a soap runs for long, it is chiefly
because people have fallen in love with
the characters of that show. Sure, the show
starts off with a certain premise but the storyline
quickly takes it to a place where it departs
from that premise significantly. And because
it is not possible to predict, say 1,000 episodes,
in the single concept that started the show, it
is the characters that bring in the continuity.
Consequently, it becomes the journey of that
character through a variety of situations that lead
to interesting storylines.
The audience comprises two kinds of viewers
- the ones who are still watching and the lapsed
viewers, who have dropped out. One of the
objectives of bringing in such twists is to bring
back those lapsed viewers.
Says Prem Kamath, head, channel V & STAR
Pravah, “They know the character, they know the
storyline but somewhere they stopped watching
it. With a twist, there is a good possibility that the
audiences who were watching the show will come
back.”
W
Never-ending stories
an a show keep churning out plots? It can,
if the plot fits into the DNA of the show.
Take Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo (2009-2011)
on Zee TV or Na Aana Is Des Laado (20092012) on Colors. These shows allowed largerthan-life storytelling because of the worlds they
represented. In the dramatic feudal set up, there
C
T
And then some more…
tem numbers (Kashmira Shah performing on
Amrit Manthan to celebrate Agam’s bachelor’s
party in May 2012), a special song and dance
sequence, getting film actors on the show for
I
“Every show’s success is
finally measured by the TRP it
generates. However changing
the track of a story is always a
double-edged sword.”
Sonali Jaffar
could be dacoits, murders, closet mistresses and
illegitimate children to create a lot of credible
twists within the shows.
However, the use of similar plots in shows like
Pavitra Rishta or Uttaran could make the shows lose
it all. Since such shows are so dependent on love
stories, the pain of that story is what would keep it
afloat for a long time. Shows also need to develop
the role of the supporting characters and not just
the protagonist to extend its life.
Selling the story
he cost of producing an average episode of
fiction in Hindi is approximately `7 lakh. In a
maha-episode, the costs would double.
A twist in the tale may not always incur
additional investments, but if the change in the
track means new sets with new faces, the initial
expense of that transition could go up to as much
as `1 crore. Therefore, the twist had better get in
additional eyeballs and for that, the channel needs
to create awareness through extended marketing
and promotions. Word of mouth too plays a very
significant role.
“The success of every show is finally measured
by the TRP that it generates and changing the track
of a story is always a double-edged sword,” says
Sonali Jaffar, story and screenplay writer. Some of
the shows for which she has written are Kya Huaa
Tera Vaada (Sony), Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo
(Zee TV), Navya (Star Plus), Ek Hazaaron Mein
Meri Behna Hai (Star Plus) and Sasural Simar Ka
(Colors).
T
What next?
ere are some sub-plots we dreamed up. How
about a handsome husband turning out to be
an alien, the illegitimate child of an inter-species
consummation? What if the young, sexy vamp
proves to be 180 years old and needs to drink
blood to stay young? The docile housewife of
the show is actually a sexy, smart spy who knows
kung fu?
After all it’s all about ideas and imagination.
Laugh at your own peril - if the writer and the
channel have their vision right, the plot could
add 1,000 more lives to an already powerful
show. n
H
“Item numbers, song and dance
sequence or getting film actors
on a show can lead to sampling
and audience stickiness, but only
for a very short period.”
Sneha Rajani
anindita.sarkar@afaqs.com