The mad race for ratings
Randeep Wadehra

A still from Sarrkkar: The story has an eye on the TRPs
A still from Sarrkkar: The story has an eye on the TRPs

CAN you name the presiding deity of the small screen? It may also be called the God of Mindless Soaps, but is better known as the TRP (acronym for Target Audience Gross Rating Points). Yes, TRP decides the fate of all television shows, and no television channel or producer dare defy it.

Priyamvada Vir Pratap Singh (Sarrkkar, Zee TV, 8.30 pm, Monday to Friday) is the Chief Minister of Vishal Pradesh. She has been temporarily unseated as she’s to clear herself of the charges of murdering her husband. That’s not the only problem. Her sister-in-law Bharati, the stand-in CM, conspires against her to usurp power. Then there’s Bhagwat, the diabolical opposition leader, who’s stranger to morality and decency, and a natural ally of Bharati. Naturally one expects a high-voltage political drama with intense ideological clashes. What unfolds on the small screen is just another variant of family melodrama.

The very word politics makes one think of intrigue. There are, among other types, family politics, office politics and political politics—wherein horse trading, backstabbing and wheeling-dealing are the norm. Of course, there’s a hubby too, a moron who just can’t understand what’s happening around him; as a variation he might be a philanderer with the other woman tucked away in another part of the town. The other woman wants to replace the wife, and adds to the confusion already confounded by the script-writer.

Call of cash

THE hold that TRPs have on the content of a production becomes evident on Kaun Banega Crorepati. Bollywood rules supreme, with Amitabh Bachchan leading the procession. Other stars who’ve featured in the quiz show so far, to serve some charitable cause, are Saif Ali Khan, Priety Zinta, Kajol and Ajay Devgan. They have won sackloads of the moolah to be used for a good cause. At least, now we know that, despite relatively easy format for them, our film stars are not really a collection of dumb dolls and half-witted hunks. For ordinary participants too the questions are generally easy in the beginning – ensuring that no participant returns empty handed. Rs. 20, 000/- is the minimum that even a perfunctorily informed person can make on this show. Big B is more outgoing in the KBC2 than in its earlier version. He cracks jokes, teases the participants and generally horses around to the delight of all. Since he is a superstar Big B gets better of the exchanges. But one teenager had him stumped when she said that if he proposed she’d say yes, although she knows fully well that ‘Jayaji’ is his wife. During the entire show one saw the loquacious chchora from the banks of Ganga verry verry careful with his words and gestures while interacting with the teeny-bopper. Good for TRPs, no?

No matter what the subject and the setting of a serial it ends up following a predictable pattern.

Sarrkkar is no different. It’s supposed to be a political drama, but presently looks more like a family soap, with politics merely providing a backdrop to the petty games that have become staple ‘entertainment’.

There’s Urvashi, Priyamvada’s elder bahu getting drunk and drenched in tears because her hubby, Kunal, was once in love with Yana. The ambitious younger bahu Shweta’s scheming mother ensures Urvashi’s fall from grace. Yana, the journalist and Kunal’s old flame, wants to replace Urvashi, and sets about inveigling Priyamvada. Bhagwat, in cahoots with Bharati, plays dirty games to rub Priyamvada’s nose in the mud. Her quick-tempered younger son Karan believes in resolving all problems through violence while her rebellious daughter Kritika falls to Bhagwat’s machinations and opposes her own mother in the elections. Competent acting is the only saving grace of Sarrkkar with Divya Shah nee Seth dominating the show.

Hackneyed dialogues, humdrum scenarios and hamming have become salient features of most of the stuff being churned out. Why something different can’t be presented? Politics also stands for governance, management of a political party and participating in the legislative proceedings where there’s enough scope for drama. But we hardly get to see such cerebral stuff. At least we can have a middle-brow problem that would polarise various dramatis personae.

For example, the CM of Vishal Pradesh ought to be facing her political rivals both in the legislature and the hustings on issues confronting the state—something that’s barely mentioned in the narrative. A problem involving social-moral dilemma could confront the protagonists leading to a crisis situation in the state legislature or, at least, the cabinet; presently the crisis looms thanks to attempts at horse-trading.

Votaries of free market economy may please note, free interaction between demand and supply does not always promote quality. If the contents on our small screen are any indication, quite the reverse is equally possible. All private channels come up with slick serials – production values wise – but the contents are all fluff and waffle. But this is the stuff that our middleclasses lap up day after day, serial after moronic serial. So, why should producers complain? It’s easy money for script writers, actors, directors et al.

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