SIGHT & SOUND
Little choice in thrillers
Amita Malik

The first detective series I remember watching on TV with great interest was Alfred Hitchcock Presents. It was on American TV and Hitchcock, the master of suspenses, introduced some of his great successes with that characteristic droll, deadpan expression which made the thrills even more exciting.

Indian TV has not exactly led the pack with great detective serials. But for some time, CID has been top of the pops and, what is more, in the general serial category, thus proving that Indian audiences relish a serial beyond the saas-bahu orbit if it is well done. In fact, it is a serial I never failed to miss, for several good reasons. For one thing, the cast is highly polished. Then, the stories are convincing. Lastly, taking a leaf from the Perry Mason serials, it has good, modern gizmos to whet the appetite, even the girls in the serial lend a hand to the scientific investigation. Lastly, there is fast action in the stories, which is essential for detective stories.

But, recently, CID’s monopoly has been broken by another very different thriller series, Detective Onkar Nath. Here again, the main cast of both serials does good acting, although the Dr Watson connection is evident in the case of the trusting friend who is dim at times but splendid in a tight spot. Where I initially faulted this serial, and to some extent still do, is in its over-complicated plots, with the main character often resorting to disguises which are not very convincing—one can easily see through them even if his victims do not. Recently, Onkar Nath has slightly tightened up its plots but sometimes cannot resist the temptation to be over-clever with them.

However, what has slightly spoilt the two detective serials for me is, first, that they are telecast at the same time. With little enough choice in detective serials, one would like to watch both and compare them and, for that matter, have a choice of one’s own viewing preferences. But no, they must run simultaneously and leave one frustrated, because one must sacrifice one to see the other. Such are the perils of competition.

The second, more irritating and less necessary, intrusion in both serials is the main characters running competitions for new talent and descending to downright advertisements for themselves.

This has taken away from the exclusiveness, the mystery and even the dignity of the two chief detectives. If I may say so, they have cheapened the required austere quality of the serials, which should be in contrast to the mush in saas-bahu and other serials.

There have been so many sports events that I hope sports enthusiasts did not miss what, to me, was the most exciting of them all, the Davis Cup matches in Moscow between Russia and the US, with Marat Safin coming into his own for the country and Andy Roddick giving a good fight in the fifth set before losing to his Russian opponent. It was a fight for their nations and that brings out the best in players. Russia won, in spite of the Bryan brothers winning the doubles for the US. The best part was the minimum of ads on Zee, which made viewing pleasurable and ad-free for once.