Triumph of Truth or of TV?

Source: Wikipedia

When I told a friend of mine about “Satyamave Jayate”, the much hyped and widely televised (Star network with the local channels getting it in the respective lingo+ DD) debut of the method actor Aamir Khan in TV, he told me “Isn’t it similar to what Actress Lakshmi did some time back in Tamil? There are many people who do this in various TV channels. So what’s different?”.  I scratched my head and tried to defend myself and the show. When was the last time any TV show got so much attention?... Ramayan, Chandrakantha… When was the last time the theme song as powerful enough? – Mahabharat or Swabhimaan….. Or when was the last time, social media was out supporting TV shows? It would be quite interesting to think of twitter thread where they discuss about Kyunki Saas… last episode. So what’s different about it? - The hype, a wonderful rendition as its theme song or above all, Aamir Khan. Why should I or you or anybody watch it?

Well, the soap-heavy TV industry is begging for a change. Many would acknowledge that DoorDarshan was a much better platform for some really sound programs instead of just chasing commercial interests. The best part was there was just one channel to watch and each one from a family had a time slot to watch something. Today, there are exclusive channels for Soaps+extras, movies, for sports, for shopping, nature blah blah… in the end, the channel which the family watches tends to be based on the one who wields the power on the family. That is not to say that only grown ups wield the power. Kids can be a menace if they don’t get to watch what they want during their early years. Older folks tend to be powerful before they get bed-ridden. Dads, teenagers should be the least powerful ones . Moms are powerful always and can override any of the family members. So, obviously soaps are the most selling programs, next comes cricket and then movies. Over the last decade, reality shows have made a severe dent in these 3 types of programs. However, increasingly, people are realizing that reality shows are hardly real and mostly staged ones purely to prey upon viewer’s sentiments.

If one were to stack the reasons for TV programs not measuring up to the audience interests, Honesty would top the list. We know movies are stage-managed and theatre is fit for the intelligentsia, live shows are too grandiose, radio shows are good to hear but what about other senses, Laptops/ computers/ Tablets are for the tech savvy. TV is the most intimate of all media and that’s why its no longer a luxury. Tamil Nadu govt. did not distribute TVs for free just for nothing. It’s a necessity even though being called an Idiot Box.

So, with TV forming such a formidable place in the common man’s home, it’s obvious that commercial elements exploit it to the hilt. However, what is not obvious is that it should be that much personal or maybe that much honest.

Why do we watch news? For a common man, I would think the news tells him/ her what should guide their daily and long term decisions. Simply put, how much vegetables he can buy with the same money he spent yesterday on a movie or whether it is safe travelling to Phuket for a holiday. Instead, we have breaking news. There is no simple news today, everything is breaking something. Breaking news that some actress had deliberately allowed her wardrobe to malfunction is only going to titillate viewers than help him do something useful.

Why do we watch cricket in TV? It’s a national game or because we see ourselves in the middle of the field catching, running, hitting sixes and fours. Shortening the versions of the game or fixing matches or merging it with Bollywood only kills the basic fabric of the sport. How much can you exploit from the sport? How many TRPs can you extract from the simple sport where 11 guys are stacked up against one guy with a bat?

Why do we watch movies in TV? Simply because we could not pay for it at the multiplexes or because the movie were long gone before we could even plan to watch it with our families. Even the good ones. So the common man thinks, anyways, its gonna be telecast for the next big festival, why waste money? Instead, he gets fed up of watching the advertisements that dot the movie than the movie itself. I remember when I was a kid, when, for the Republic Day or Independence Day, it was announced that “Sholay”, a blockbuster of yore would be telecast. It was quite an event in my locality with everyone who knew hindi meticulously planning for the D-Day. Each one had a responsibility – like who would get the chips and snacks, whose house would we be watching, how to evict any resistance to watching the movie etc. in the end, when the D-Day, it was a disaster. In 5 mins of the telecast, the movie would run for 1 minute while the advertisements would take it from there for the rest of the 4 minutes. The movie itself with a running time of 3 hours, ran for close 6-7 hours and in the end when the climax arrived, the power was shut down as part of the load shedding. I think even the British would not have exploited India so well, as we are exploiting ourselves today.

Most importantly, why do we watch soaps? Because, Saas Kabhi Bahu thi means that every lady has gone through all the crap as a daughter-in-law before she becomes mom-in-law and the incidents resonates with their daily life. The theme of some soaps are so very relatable to the housewife although the content may not. But what happens, you sensationalize things, bring in Bollywood and sex and what not. (Let me tell you that only soaps I have known since Mahabharat and Junoon days are Lifebuoy, Cinthol, Chandrika, Mysore Sandal soap)

So, after all the Gyaan I wrote here to prove that I am some sort of bald headed Social scientist, let’s get back to “Satyamev Jayate” . Is it truly honest in its intentions or is it just another media vehicle laced by Mr. Aamir Khan to extend his market share beyond the Bollywood shores? Maybe, maybe not. What it has however, proved is that, for us Indians to watch and hear a desperate and tortured soul amongst us, we need a celebrity, lots of publicity and a Television. It may so happen that the very neighbors of the people interviewed by Aamir in the show, may not have known of the person before watching the show. We are not willing to help or reach out to people who are being victimized every passing day by life, by other people or by institutions created “of us, by us and for us”.

Can it get more pitiable than this?

Satyamev Jayate !!!!!!!