Down with K serials

Just following up on the ‘domesticated’ comment Amitabh Bachchan made…well not so recently. Reminds of the K serials! Those dreaded, dreadful, awful, disgusting, diatribes against the liberation of women and everything that comes with it. I sometimes wonder if Ekta Kapoor actually believes in whatever she makes. I hope not for if she does then hells nigh! Women of the world unite! Against this nauseating assault on womanhood, modernity, and the progression of thought that does not seem to end and trust me there’s more muck coming from the K stable.

Its good, in these days of the Parvatis and the Tulsis to rewind and go back to the era of Humlog and Buniyad, not to forget the delightfully hilarious Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi and of course Mr Yogi, a unique celebration of the common man and his uncommon dreams.

All we get to watch today are painfully slow and agonizing stories (or should I say profiles?) of ultra-rich, incredulous, pathetic families where women are made to dress in ruddy chiffons and lounge around the house indulging in the worst kinds of familial intrigues. The men have no jobs (or so it seems). Oh yeah! They happen to be business tycoons and own plush mahogany offices…but rarely seem to go to work. Tycoons too need to work, don’t they?

I am reminded of Shridhar Kshirsagar’s Khandaan broadcast on good old Doordarshan some twenty years back. A gripping story of two feuding business families, skillfully crafted. Just that my father did not allow me to watch it (said I was too young for a programme like that, etc). However, I vaguely remember Shekhar Kapur and Kitu Gidwani in pivotal roles. Later, I happened to read some commentaries on the serial. Mahesh Bhatt’s Swabhimaan too succeeded in holding my interest for a while but as in all things written by Shobha De, the serial too went the sex-and-sleaze way.

They no longer make the Byomkesh Bakshi’s and the Karamchand’s any more, do they? Even Tehkikat was not bad. Zee made an attempt some time back with Mohandas BA LLB, a nice amalgam of suspense and humour. The downfall has been rather dramatic what with Saat Phere..Saloni ka Safar being the highest TRP-earner on Zee (or is it across the board, I don’t know).

TV is rather unbearable to watch, what say? (Except if there is some cricket happening.)