When crores come cheap

BARELY a few months into our first major money quiz, crores already seem to come cheap. And the satellite channels in their battle for prime time TRPs, have quickly learnt it pays to pander to the couch potato’s greed. If one can muster Rs One crore by way of booties, the next one raises the stakes to ten. Try to better that!

So where do you think all the greed emanates from -- the channel or the channel surfer? The familiar chicken and egg kind of story, perhaps?
Until not so long ago, the battle for prime time used to be all but a matter of inane, seemingly interminable soap operas. All of them seemed to deal with the same kind of themes, and what’s more, often featured the same artistes, too. Adultery, puppy love and petty squabbles over the family’s millions -- these comprised the very grist to the soap opera mill. The more they sought to make them different, the more cliched they seemed in the end.

Then, slowly yet surely, news presentations became a feature of prime time. Here, too, the primary urge has always been to stay as close to the herd as space and breathing room permitted. Haven’t we wondered how all the channels seemed to pester the same set of shrill, sanctimonious bores for sound-bytes -- the Venkaiah Naidus, the Mamata Banerjees and the Sushama Swarajs, when surely, a lot weightier things more worthy of the nation’s prime time have been happening around us. Yet, every evening it’s the same old story -- the same politicians have a score of TV microphones thrust at their faces each evening, as they parry posers.

That’s why the Kaun Banega Crorepati mania hasn’t caught anyone by surprise. So what if the Big B has a very small bag of tricks -- we’ve seen him so often we almost know what he’s going to tell us even before he’s uttered it. The gentlemanly, suave Bachchan is any day a happier choice for the prime time audience than the Mamatas and Uma Bharatis put together. Frankly, tell us who’s interested in knowing whether Uma Bharati’s in love with KN Govindacharya or out of it? She can go and sulk in Hrishikesh or Badrinath all she likes for all we care. And so can the TV newshounds. Give us KBC, any day!

IT’S THE HERD INSTINCT AGAIN
NOT that the Bachchan hasn’t had his fair share of TV microphones thrust at him in recent times. The KBC tidal wave of success has virtually resurrected his sagging career in showbiz. From an ageing actor plagued by a glut of inane, forgettable roles, he’s back to superstardom, where he belongs, a hero who can do no wrong.

Meanwhile, Star Plus, riding on the strength of the KBC mania, seems no longer hampered by the disadvantages of being a pay channel -- Zee TV and Sony still are free-to-air. Now, for the first time ever, Star Plus is back on the main band. KBC is even pushing up viewership of other programmes, and Star Plus crested the top-10 slot for weeks with KBC for four days and Kyonki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi for three.

It’s still a toss-up whether it’s the size of the prize money offered which makes KBC such compulsive fare. Or whether it’s the anchor himself. Be that as it may, the show’s predictably spawned a couple of imitations already. Only, in this case, they’re imitations of an imitation, because KBC happens to be modelled on the foreign TV series, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

It’s the same old herd instinct at work, of course. First off the block has been Lakshatipati on a Southie channel. Zee TV hasn’t waited for too long either in bringing out its own version of the money game, Sawaal Dus Crore Ka. And Sabe TV’s roped in Shekhar Suman to host its own version, Jab Dekho Sab Dekho, which offers Rs 1.25 core by way of booties.

Never mind the Rs 10 crore on offer on Zee’s show, it still seems a poor cousin of KBC’s, a cheaper imitation. The show, judging from the looks of it, is hamstrung by a rather self-conscious host in Anupam Kher, and a Manisha Koirala who’s clearly out of her depths, here.

It’s the same old story with the game shows, too, as with soap operas and news presentations, then. When one channels scores a hit with one concept, we have a spate of me-too programming going on air on others.

Sadly, that’s been the bane of Indian TV software. Quality is at a premium. And as for originality, the less said the better.


Shaju George Alex