Advertisement

Was wondering if we can recall the days of ‘Shreeman Shrimati’ where Keshav Kulkarni is running after Prema Shalini with Dilbura uncle and Koki keeping an eye on them? It still makes me laugh with its honest humor. If we talk about an ‘independent women’ Rajni would probably be the first one to start the female protagonist rage. If we talk about colorful characters in soap, ‘Nukkad’ would stand tall. If we talk about Mythology, till date the TRP’s of Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan, Mahabharata and Krishna are unbeaten. What a count, Phew!!! There was so much variety then or maybe it was the start of an era where viewers wanted differentiated content and production houses were eager to experiment.

Today the audience is more evolved, the last decade has made the audience wiser and the Television channels have learnt to catch the pulse of the viewers. If we see today, each channel is busy spinning a yarn of its own. However a trend has been noticed if a show becomes success on any given channel then others too, follow suit. Each tries to work around the same lines. Currently a trend has been noticed whereby each channel is trying to go regional, the interiors of different states. Earlier there was a trend with the shows on Gujarati family backdrop or a Punjabi family. But now almost all the shows on GEC are regional centric. To some extend even brand are focusing on regional marketing. This genre is getting experimented to no ends with shows having Marathi, Gujarati, Bihari, Rajasthani, Haryanavi backdrops spread across all the channels.
Adgully spoke to some leading thought leaders and innovators in the industry for a survey “will the regional genre get saturated”

Sidhartha Basu, CMD, Big Synergy

I think for each it is important to go beyond being local and you have to be global as well. Just to elaborate my point I would like to give example of Satyajit Ray’s movies which will substantiate my argument. The backdrop for Satyajit Ray’s movies was rural Bengal, but in terms of treatment it made it a universal human story and that is the rule that will apply to everybody. To catch people’s imagination, I don’t think a drama serial which is set in a Marathi backdrop necessarily should only appeal to Maharashtrian’s. In the sense if it really has to survive it must appeal to people beyond that. That’s the test!

Ashish Golwalkar, Deputy Vice President, Non-Fiction Content & Events, ZEE Entertainment Enterprise

No i dont think at all ,that the regional genre is getting saturated. It’s an old time and tested method. Even if you watch movies they would have to rely on some kind of a backdrop. Therefore the regional or local backdrop doesn’t matter much; what matters is the content. If the content is good then it will be accepted by all. There are many movies also, which are not of the language that people in general understand but it works fantastically with subtitles and that is only because of the content.

Rohit Bhandari, Senior Vice President (AXN/ Animax)

India is a vast country and it is always going to be a place where there will be a fair mix of affluence. We will find people from middle class to lower middle class. So that difference is always going to be there. At the end of the day one can’t fight each and every battle, so you figure out what’s the best battle you can win. Let’s say if a person in Maharashtra would like to be entertained either in Hindi, Marathi or English, it is going to be the same thing right across, except probably in the south. Almost all channels have various language option whether it is Star Plus, Sony, Colors etc , then you have seven-eight movie channel options and news channel options , then there are other genres like , sports, infotainment. So within a crowded space as long as you maintain your core there is somebody who is going to come and watch you.

We have read about the views that are in favour of it but to combat saturation of the regional genre on the other hand we have others who feel differently.

Ashvini Yardi, Programming Head, Colors

Yardi says, “I wonder who started that. Actually it was started by Colors only to get the regional flavour, because prior to us all the shows were skewed towards the metros and no one really knew where this family had come from. So we thought to give it a bit of a more flavor and started with Balika vadhu giving it a rajasthani flavor. And the lingo got so popular that we decided to take it further with shows like laado, where haryanavi is very distinct. Having said that “thoda hai thode ki jarrorat hai” is back to the metro: It’s a middle class shivaji park show. Regional genre has already got saturated. I think it already has, which is why we are moving towards the metro.”

Rahul Mittra, CEO, Brandsmith

Well arguing on the same ground Mittra warns, “Regional flavour in Daily soaps has existed on Indian television for long, essentially to woo particular audiences, especially in the wake of cut-throat competition for eye balls. Though, it may lead to a loyal regional audience, in the long run it may put off the general mass bowers. Different characters based on different regions, eg punjabi mother in law, south Indian don, maharastrian cop, gujarati shop keeper, etc keep both the audience & brands happy, but an entire regional plot may lose its fizz soon, unless the story is very gripping & performances powerful. For Brands too, a pan India appeal & story line is of utmost importance as regional channels double up for their state/region specific advertising & branding needs. Even a big canvass successful film like Rajneeti faces the challenge of being dubbed as an “overrated & exaggerated display of Bihar/ Central India politics. It doesn’t get that bad, feel some. Hence, regionalism in electronic software definitely faces the challenge of getting isolated sooner or later” warns, Mitra, the branding & communications expert.

Adgully brought to you the story in the same format as discussed with the leaders. It is true for me that the regional genre is getting saturated and forcing a viewer like me to switch off. But I can’t challenge the view points of the Pundits, therefore, leaving it for the time to tell.