Indian soap opera

Indian soap operas are soap operas written, produced, filmed in India, with characters played by Indians (including those of Western descent like Tom Alter), with episodes broadcast on Indian television channels/channel chains that are not often limited to the Republic of India itself: often many “serials,” as they’re more commonly referred to as, are broadcast overseas in Pakistan, the UK, USA, and some parts of Europe, South Africa, and Australia. (Doordarshan, or DD, is an exception: until recently it was only viewable in India and Nepal, but now also in the UK.)

Indian soap operas are often mass-produced under large production banners, with houses like Balaji Telefilms—run by Ekta and Shobha Kapoor, daughter and wife respectively to Hindi film star Jitendra—running the same serial in different languages on different television networks/channels. (See also: K Phenomenon)

The most common languages in which Indian serials are made in are: Hindi, Punjabi, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, and Malayalam, though many contain a mix of the predominant language and English. This often creates and unintentional comic effect: a certain High School-themed serial on Star One has created a bizarre language of its own, a heavy mix of colloquial Hindi and corruptions of modern American slang, which, though fairly odd to understand at first, has created its own coterie of loyal fans devoted to using the very same ‘language’ in daily speech.

Hindi soap operas have gained popularity abroad, across South Asia and beyond into Afghanistan, Southeast Asia, and among the Indian diaspora elsewhere. A number of Hindi soap operas have also been dubbed into Mandarin and gained popularity in China.

Features

Indian serials are often stereotypical, both in storylines and in characters. The ideals of the quintessential Indian Family are often given fanatical attention to, which lines being written in grand, melodramatic tones, drawing in references to events in the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, the typical Indian Woman, and other similar themes. Balaji Telefilms has often been frowned at for repeating the same essential storylines with different characters and sets (altering the sequence of events and their intensity) to create more and more serials.

One of the first serials created by the banner was Itihaas whose theme music is now the banner music of Balaji Telefilms, then Hum Panch and later the third series Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi (literally, Because the Mother-in-Law was once the Daughter-in-Law), the story of the fictional industrialist family Virani, the apple-of-their-eye son Mihir, and their loyal and subservient (i.e., quintessential) daughter-in-law, Tulsi, his wife. An almost immediate release was another serial called Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii, also a story about an industrialist family—albeit, the “Aggarwals”—also about the apple-of-their-eye son—this time, “Om”, later in the series the lives of all the brothers of the families and their wives were dealt with extensively—and yet again, their loyal and subservient daughter-in-law, “Parvati.” The storylines are loosely parallel, though the writers continually attempt to “shock” their audiences with sex, extramarital affairs, murders, conspiracies, and kidnappings—in all serials, though at different points in time. A standard feature now is the 20-year-jump, where one epoch in the series ends at a stalemate and continues in the next episode with all the characters and surroundings twenty years older, the effects of ageing being shown by white dye in strands in the hair of the women of the family, and not-so-subtle hints of grey around the gentlemen’s moustaches and sideboards.

Another slightly unreal aspect of the Indian serial is Plastic surgery. A typical scenario is one wherein an accident happens to one of the protagonists, with him/her waking up in hospital with a new face, one that is most often the result of the antagonist scheming with an evil plastic surgeon who creates an entirely new face for the hapless hero(ine). The protagonist invariably become vulnerable to the antagonist’s schemes, and this, along with the 20-year-jump, helps create scenarios such as a missing darling son of the family now being one “converted” to one of the enemy camp, with further clichéd themes as the Indian Mother’s Yearning for her Son helping to create about a month’s worth of material, which inevitably ends in a reunion scene with lots of happy tears. One of this example is in Kasamh Se when meera burns Bani in the April epdisode.

Dialogue in Indian serials, in addition to being largely melodramatic and filled with historical and religious references, is widely thought lacking as far as dialogue goes. If seen very carefully, one would notice that there is, in fact, little or no conversation that takes place during the 30-odd minutes of a typical Indian soap opera’s episode. Actors’ lines in scenes are often delivered one large monologue at a time (even longer in scenes of “conflict” between the protagonist(s) and the antagonist(s)), there are often dance scenes based on exactly the same encountered in the parent film of the song (this being less parody and more of a filler, often seen during idle amorous fantasies of the “goof” of the cast), and features elaborate sound effects, which are actually repeated in different serials which are under the same banner.

For example, female antagonists often enter the room with screeching cat noises being played in the background, perhaps an allusion to the character’s invariable cattiness; though often antagonists that are well-known and widely-spurned by the TV-seeing public often have their distinctive entrance sound effects: in the serial Kasautii Zindagii Kay (to be correctly read as Kasauti Zindagi Ki, but throughout the serial it was never thought to be corrected), whenever the character ‘Komolika’, began to scheme and soliloquise and/or entered a room, a playful, almost vampish strain of gaudy music was played to an amorous play of her name. This was keeping in with the effect her heavy makeup, thick, bristly fake eyelashes, and garish contact lenses portrayed the character as.

Male antagonists that are young often have Indianised strains of rather obscure hip-hop songs working for them in the background, and those that are older often have deeply resonating kettle drums booming in the background.

The camera often spins wildly from character to character during scenes in which shocking news is revealed, shaking vigorously when a character faints, and showing the same slap hitting the same cheek thrice during a confrontation, keeping in sync with the overall melodramatic touch most of the serials prefer to incorporate.

Indian serials first began with the introduction of the television set in Indian homes: the first soap opera on the State-run channel, Doordarshan (the only television channel that existed at that point in time), was Hum Log, a story of a family comprising three generations. It was urban, it was middle-class, and it was new, and till today, it, along with Buniyaad, is considered among the best-made Indian serials to be seen by an Indian audience.

In the “old” Star TV channel of the Star Network, certain serials like Saans and Kora Kaagaz broke the mould and gained artistic as well as commercial success; serials on Zee TV like Tara and Banegi Apni Baat (which featured among the early work of renowned Hindi/Tamil actor R. Madhavan), too, were of the same privileged fate.

The next generation

More recently serials on the Star One channel on the Star Network have seen to be largely different from the conventional, with Saturday Night Live-esque programmes like The Great Indian Comedy Show, stand-up shows like The Great Indian Laughter Challenge and game shows like Bluffmaster being of great popularity. However, it should be noted that in a purely technical sense game and comedy shows aren’t really ‘soap operas’, and though alternatively-themed shows on crime (Siddhant), High School (Happy Go Lucky), and twentysomethings do exist and are relatively popular, a grand majority of Indian television shows are soap operas based on the Family-and-Marriage theme.

"The K Phenomenon"

Based on predictions made by celebrity astrologer/numerologist/tarot-card reader Sunita Menon, almost all serials made under the Balaji Telefilms banner are supposed to begin with a ‘K’, regardless of what language it’s made in. This is believed to be Creative Head (Ekta Kapoor)’s ‘lucky alphabet’, and consequently, the K Phenomenon was born. Examples are Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii, Kasautii Zindagii Kay, Kkusum, Kavyanjali, Kahiin To Hoga , Kasamh Se, Kitani Mohabbat Hai and so on.

An exception is, however, Hum Paanch, a comedy about a family of five sisters, their bent-on-their-getting-married but loving stepmother, and their father, who talks to their dead mother via a framed photograph hung on a living room wall. This is probably because the show was created and shown in an entirely different time—the late nineties—presumably before Ms Kapoor met Ms Menon. It is interesting to note that despite all the stereotypical content K-serials contain, they are all immensely popular with the masses, which is believed by some to be a result of the initial K.

Another exception is 'Ghar Ek Mandir'(literally: The House is like a Temple), which has been one of Sony TV's most popular soaps.

Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai

The concept of an arranged marriage is quiet unique to the Indian culture. The families choose the bride and the groom as per their own beliefs and customs and the two strangers are tied for a lifetime by the knot of holy matrimony. There is no courting and they rarely ask the bride and groom for their preferences. This is a beautiful and heart warming story of a girl called Akshara who, not unlike millions of other girls in India, knows that her marriage will happen with the consent of her parents and family. Like other young girls, she also has grown up fancying film stars and cricket stars…but to fall in love before marriage remains a distant dream for her. Akshara is born into a traditional Marwari family - the Maheshwaris of Udaipur. She is the apple of everyone’s eye and lives a protected and sheltered life. Her family loves her very much and sets up her alliance with a deserving boy of their community. Although she willingly accepts her marriage with Naitik, whom her parents have chosen as her life partner, she realizes that their relationship is not like any of the romantic notions she had nurtured in her heart about her future husband. Her mother explains to her that love is an emotion that finds it’s way gradually into the relationship between a husband and wife. As they get to know each other more and more, and learn to adapt themselves to their life partner, love will surface and they will find their bonds strengthened by it. Akshara then begins the journey of discovery of her new life wondering if life is really the miracle that her mother proposes it is. Love after marriage is something Akshara is yet to experience. In the quest of that unrequited love, she will chance upon changing dimensions of various other relationships… some bitter… some sweet… and finally discover that life is indeed a miracle.

Ram milaye Jodi

Zee TV serial Preet Se Bandhi Yeh Dori...Ram Milaayi Jodi is the tale of Mona and Anukalp. Mona is Sikh while Anukalp is Gujarati. As fate would have it, Anukalp and Mona get married. However, the marriage has chances of succeeding only if the families bury their hatchet.

Bidaai

Bidaai is a story of two sisters, Sadhna (beautiful) and Ragini (unattractive). Sadhna is the adopted child in the family. Life is pleasant for Sadhna as she is beautiful but society is a bit rude and harsh on Ragini, who faces a lot more challenges because she is not good-looking. Both the sisters love each other immensely and are good natured but society’s approach towards them makes Sadhna’s life difficult as her mother starts differentiating between them. Sadhna is treated like a step-daughter in the house and feels punished for her good looks but Ragini loves her unconditionally. All-in-all, the story is about these two sisters whose 'looks' determine their happiness. This unique story embarks the journey of two sisters and makes one question the belief.

Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon

‘Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon’ is a star-crossed love story presenting an interesting contrast of personalities entwined in a relationship swinging between love & hate. Khushi and Arnav have diametrically opposite ideologies. If Khushi believes in means, Arnav believes only in ends. Khushi’s relationships are the most important to her, whereas Arnav believes all people come with a price and can be manipulated for one’s benefit.

Gulaal

Gulaal is the story of a young girl (22 years) who is very lively and positive in life who hails from a village named Rashipur in Kutch. She has a unique gift of finding water in the dry lands of a desert. A neighbouring village Talsagra has been facing a long and harsh drought. Vasantji (from Talsagra) comes to know of Gulaal’s gift & takes up in his stride to find Gulaal and end the woes of his village once and for all. When Vasantji finds Gulaal, she decides, against the will of her entire village to go with him to Talsagrato and benefit the village from her gift of finding water. Eventually their love blossoms and they get married. Gulaal becomes the one who ends the animosity of the two arch rival villages and brings colors of happiness to the lives of hundreds of people. She faces many obstacles in her life after this but faces them with confidence and by making intelligent choices.

Bade Achhe Lagte Hain

Off late, Bade Achhe Lagte Hain on Sony has caused much stir among television audiences. The show, produced by Ekta Kapoor of Balaji Telefilms was launched on May 30, 2011 & was a runaway hit once it was launched. The audiences loved the show, as the 'mature love story' concept was a very novel and exhilerating one. It is one of the top shows in Television. It tells the story of two strangers, Ram and Priya, who are poles apart, falling in love through the institution of marriage. They get married to each other due to pressure from their families, some awkward circumstances and obligations. Teeming with extreme revulsion towards each other, Ram Kapoor and Priya Sharma start their unwanted married life together. The initial days of their marital life rewards them with nothing more than sheer haranguing and aggravation. But slowly, through a series of misunderstandings, doings and revelations, they both inadvertently start developing feelings for each other, though not love, and keep their best foot forward in their relationship. Albeit, their blooming trust and strength in their kinship is still by no means secure, as it is vulnerable to some black sheep in Ram's family. Will they eventually fall in love?

Sexuality and nudity

For a long time, sensuality or scenes with sexual overtones were covertly expressed on the small screen. Even if it were an integral part of a story, directors resorted to suggestive scenes to convey the message.

The usual props like rain and thunder, turning off the lights, snuggling behind closed doors, drawing up the sheets, etc., hinted at physical intimacy between the lovers.

It was with the advent of Zee TV and serials like Tara, Banegi Apni Baat, Kurukshetra and Hasratein that seductive scenes came to be incorporated expansively. Tara, probably, led the way with a bold and blatant storyline. A lip-to-lip kiss between Alok Nath and Navneet Nishan sealed the love between them in the serial. Recalling the kissing scene, Vinta Nanda, writer, Tara says, “It was part of the story line. Whatever we projected in Tara was not for the sake of doing it, that’s the reason none of our artistes had problem portraying the scenes.”

The kiss was just one aspect of Tara which thrived on showing women smoking, drinking and wearing thongs. It also had tracks of extramarital affair and live-in relationships. This mother of all bold serials was a channel-driver for Zee.

The other serial that had kisses and seductive scenes galore was Banegi Apni Baat. Set in a college campus, the serial openly discussed condoms, sex and sexuality. As Deeya Singh, producer says, “The brief given to us by the channel then, was everything from pimples to pre-marital sex should be covered in the serial.” The story was woven around this concept and what emerged was four kisses and a lovemaking scene in the most popular serial of its times. The first kiss was quite innocent with Rahul planting one on Riya’s lips just to win a bet. The other kisses happened at a weekend bash where an intoxicated Ritu smooches her boyfriend who is also high, Priya tries to ease Rajat’s pain with a gawky peck on the lip and Rahul kisses Riya passionately to convey his love. Besides this, a hot scene between Nikita wearing a shirt and Karan was picturised at the swimming pool. Recalls Deeya, “We did not deliberately incorporate the scenes, it followed the character’s storyline.”

But the one serial that sensationalised oral sex was Kurukshetra. The serial was about corporate warfare with Seema Kapoor and Parmeet Sethi playing adversaries. Seema, who had a vampire role, had to seduce Parmeet and get important information out of him. Parmeet, who knows her intentions, plays along. At one point, he pulls her and performs oral sex on her. Talking about it, Seema says, “I distinctly remember the day when we shot the scene. When I arrived on the sets, I could feel tension in the air. Lekh Tandonji who was the director was being vague about the scene while narrating it to me. It was not all that long, it took just a few seconds but the media hyped it no end.” And no, she doesn’t regret it, on the contrary “I enjoyed it,” she says non-chalantly.

Dinesh Bansal, who produced Kurukshetra, claims that he was the first one to show oral sex on the small screen. “It was a well-picturised romantic scene but the media publicised it as a 24 hours sex!”

One serial that indulged in heavyduty lovemaking scenes shocking the viewers was Hasratein. The serial revolved around extramarital affair and within the first four episodes only there was a hot bedroom scene between a married Himani Shivpuri and her lover. Later on, in the same serial a passionate meeting was shown between Seema Kapoor and Harsh Chhaya. It’s a song sequence and Seema comes out of the bathroom, suggestively nude and runs into Harsh Chhaya. What follows is a steamy love scene.

Ajai Sinha, who produced Hasratein, points out that the serial was about carnal desires and there was no way he couldn’t avoid it. “In any case I feel scenes with hidden meaning are more vulgar,” he justifies. In another of his serials Justajoo, Ajai portrayed a scene of seduction between Harsh Chhaya and Arpita. “Harsh Chhaya, who is married to Pallavi Joshi, falls in love with his sister-in-law Arpita. She is also attracted to him. They had to drop their inhibition for the story to move ahead and a lovemaking scene between them was shown to that affect,” he explains.

Strangely enough, despite their popularity, seductive scenes went out of fashion once these serials were over. Family dramas came to rule the tube and as Dinesh puts it, “We realised that television is viewed mainly by women and they are not very comfortable with seductive scenes. That’s the reason we switched over to serials with joint families.”

With Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, anything to do with sexuality was relegated to the bedroom behind closed doors. That was two years ago. Recently, however, they showed a suggestive smooching scene between Gomzee and Tisha. That is just the beginning. The recently launched serials are slowly and surely getting into the forbidden territory all over again. For instance, in Lipstick, there was a lovemaking scene between Abhay and Sheetal, where the girl is playfully seducing the guy. Another scene, was the gay love making scene between Sheetal's husband and another guy, where Sheetal eventually catches him and decides to divorce him. Says Shristi Arya, producer, Lipstick, “It is a part of our story and will be shot between Aly Khan and Nigaar.” Promoted as an adult night soap, Lipstick promised to be a hot, hot serial but has been quite tame. According to Shristi, the serial depicts the lifestyle of the rich and the famous where they are open about their sensuality. Yet they had to concentrate on the track of Sunidhi, a middle-class girl ruled by middle-class morals. “We were getting letters favouring her character and we had to follow viewer feedback,” she admits.

Serials like Love Marriage, Kittie Party and Kkusum are tracing bold storylines but seduction is only briefly ‘touched’ upon.

But today, quite a bunch of lovemaking & sensual scenes can be seen in serials like Tumhari Disha, Jab Love hua, Kumkum, Sindoor, Kaisa yeh pyar hai, etc.

In comedy serial Dekh Bhai Dekh actor Vishal Singh not only worn speedos but also showed his naked butts. He is so far the first Indian telly actor to have bared his butt on small screen.

There has been some partial nude scenes, but there has not been any full nudity in Indian serials as of yet.

Success and status

Lately, Indian shows have gained lots of success in genres of rural issues and reality shows. However, in commercial terms, Indian serials almost always do well. Not many Indian serials ever end—and so, writers are forced to stretch storylines over a generation or more to cope with the lack of character-exploration/situation-exploitation. Many Indian serials run for over five years, and, analogous to Bollywood film stars being deified to Godhood, many soap opera stars are treated with a demigod-like quality. The actress who played “Tulsi Virani” in Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, Smriti Irani, stood to be elected as a Member of Parliament in the 2004 General Elections from the Delhi constituency of Chandni Chowk, and it was hoped by her party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), that her popularity would help them out in that largely pro-Indian National Congress area. However, she lost, and the seat, along with the entire election, was won by a massive pro-Congress vote.

Social impact

Soaps have an impact on Indian society, with regard to national integration, identity, globalisation, women and ethics.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Television in India
• List of television stations in India
• List of Hindi language television channels

External links

• List of TV Serials
• Watch Hindi Serials Online