Hai hai Hindi serials

I am always fascinated by why we watch TV, and what makes shows popular. I remember having been mystified by the success of Wheel of Fortune and the celebrity status that Vanna White attained just turning over missing letters in a phrase.  Today I have a new preoccupation. Following people's comments in chatrooms about one popular Hindi TV serial ipkknd ( iss pyaar ko kya naam doon?) There was one recent comment where a viewer threatened to fly down to India to kill the villain in the show if he followed through with his plot to murder a popular character!  Talk about merging real life and fantasy.  The TV producers of these popular shows have to carry the burden of people's emotional well being even as they make decisions to pursue certain story lines.  For eg, recently two plot lines were scuttled as a result of public outcry over their unpopularity! The soap opera industry in India,  still in its infancy, is a victim of its own success.  Too much audience involvement curbs creative independence of writers and results in actors working long hours to record different plot lines because of decisions to can unpopular themes.  Also ruining the show are the inappropriate use of body doubles given these resultant time pressures.  And get this, life can become downright risky for folks who dare leave a show when they have become the darling of their fans.  Barun Sobti the popular protagonist of ipkknd is a case in point.  He is being mobbed and reviled just because he has decided to take a break and pursue the silver screen.  There are some wonderful elements to this show - great acting and aesthetics, wonderful music and clever gimmicks, whereby musical scores are tied to characters and moods, making for layered appeal and comforting familiarity.  However a good show can become great only if maniacal serial watchers lighten up.  So here is a call to them, in the interest of improving the quality of the fare being served up.  Allow these serials to happen without becoming emotionally entangled.  There are life lessons here in deferred gratification and remaining intellectually and emotionally curious!