Industry reacts to Gill's moves
“More elbow to Mr Gill if he wants to improve quality of programming but we will have to wait and see what he has to offer,” remarks Amit Khanna, Plus Channel. Many in the industry have adopted a wait-and-watch attitude even as they prepare to give Gill a chance to put his money where his mouth is.

In the meanwhile, the Film Federation of India has decided to approach the information and broadcasting ministry to protest the absence of a single representative from the film industry on the board.

There is an interesting story doing the rounds of Bollywood after Prasar Bharati Chief Executive SS Gill decided to give Mandi House a rehaul, which reportedly included axing some ongoing programmes and mythologicals. The anecdote is that Ramanand Sagar who produced and directed Ramayana and Krishna and is working on Durga wanted a monopoly over mythologicals and decided to crib about too many poorly produced mythologicals being sanctioned by Mandi House. In the process, he got more than he bargained for when Gill decided, or was quoted as having decided, to give the thumbs down to all mythologicals. Sagar was not available to comment (and his son, Prem, said he could not comment on programming as he looked after programming and `I haven't been to Delhi for four years') but another story goes that after recently dethroned prime minister I K Gujral spoke openly against too many religious serials on Doordarshan, Gill, his nominee, decided to act on it and issue a fatwa.

Well, the genesis of all this brouhaha may not be known but Gill has gone on to say that what he was talking about was the quality of programming among other things, which was far from satisfying or being entertaining. Nevertheless, while the chairperson of Prasar Bharati, Nikhil Chakravartty, thought that Gill jumped the gun in airing his views since the Prasar Bharati board is to meet shortly on December 10, Gill’s announcements have got a section of the industry waiting hopefully to see if action will follow intent.

“I have seen what has been reported and these are the outpourings of a guy who suddenly comes in,” remarks Amit Khanna, Plus Channel. “I have known Mr Gill and the guy is quite a rational person, he is not the dinosaur he is being made out to be. At the moment, these are his thoughts, he is not making a policy announcement, that will take time.”

As for all “these reports of programmes being axed, Where is it happening? I saw Good Morning India and the horoscope (segment which Gill had reportedly attacked) is still on. I spoke to Dheeraj Kumar (producer of several serials on Doordarshan) and he said no one has contacted him yet.”

Khanna dismisses the gist of these reports as “just the speculations of some Delhi journalistic group that gets picked up by the rest.” According to him, by its very nature the medium is dynamic and calls for proactive change. “The biggest obsession of all Delhi-centric persons is news but news is not the be-all or end-all of this business. Still, it is a common anti-Bollywood stand of all these India International Centre lounge-abouts.”

The many changes that Gill would like to introduce in Mandi House range from changing content from a flood of corporate warfare serials and mythologicals to more Indianised programming and improving quality, to bringing back within the fold producers like Ramesh Sippy, Kundan Shah, Basu Chatterjee, BR Chopra and others who had produced programmes like Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi, Hum Log, Buniyaad, Nukkad, Tamas and Rajni which had a wake-up effect on all DD viewers. He has been quoted as wanting to make Prasar Bharati live up to its role as a public broadcaster first and not let “market forces alone determine aesthetics”. With a budget of Rs 1,000 crore, it is easy to see why revenue is not paramount. Apart from this, Gill wants greater transparency, less wastage of time with endless cups of tea being served and an end to officials receiving gifts.

Says Ashit Desai, senior VP, Nimbus, “His statements indicate two-three different thrusts”. On the programming front, reducing the overload of mythologicals (primarily because of quality) is a positive sign. For then it is not just rating or advertising that is being considered but its role as a public service provider. “The second thing is reducing the preponderance of programmes of a similar nature.” For instance, there are eight daily soaps on the national network which ''are simply an overdose. And except in terms of revenue for DD, the results are not positive. Even the revenue advantages exist only in the short term. Reaching numbers becomes that much costlier.” Desai goes on to explain that programming houses “like ours would drop out” so that will end up hurting DD. “The long-term effects are negative for all four, the broadcaster, producer, advertiser and the viewer,- who are the crucial elements. Unless its a win-win situation for all, the schemes will have only short-term benefits. For long-term association between all four, it has to be win-win for all.”

He cites the afternoon soaps as an instance. Earlier there were only two, Shanti and Swabhimaan. Then Yug came along and now there are eight. “The viewer has much more choice but it also means fragmentation of viewership for noone has the time to watch four hours of television daily. Fragmentation means lower ratings which affects advertiser which lowers revenue which lowers quality and you end up with trash. So in the long run, one ends up with this sort of loop if there is a preponderance of similar programming.” What is more, Desai is of the opinion that as of now DD channels face an identity crisis. “There is a directive to move all DD3 entertainment programmes to DD2 and from DD2 to DD1. That will create an imbalance, for DD2 in a sense is seen more as a metro channel although it shows in 23 cities. The crux of the matter is how comprehensive a personality can a channel present? Neither DD1 nor DD2 has a clear personality unlike say Zee, STAR, Sony, HomeTV, etc which have a very clear positioning and what they stand for. But when you shift Junoon after 52 episodes from DD2 to DD1 or Jai Hanuman like wise, then what is the channel differentiation?”

“A channel of choice is very typical in its characteristics. If it does not have the kind of fare you are looking to it for , you will switch. Till C&S channels were missing, one could get away with switching channel profiles. Today, its the quality of programming that matters, and not auctioning them to the highest bidder for a minimum guarantee irrespective of quality.”

In that regard, he welcomes Gill’s bid to reassert the public broadcaster persona of DD. “DD1 is also a prime social service provider. In fact the trends everywhere are that social messages don’t go down well if they are given in a dull drab format, it has to be entertaining and which is where quality programming holds a strong potential.”

Can one person make the difference? Desai feels so. “Typically, that will depend on how much freedom he really has. He has sent clear signals and the criterion is not just money. One must view it as a first opportunity where he is sending a message to both insiders and outsiders.”

He points to Surat where one commissioner could make all the difference in cleaning up the city after the plague, “and you would agree that municipal corporations are the most difficult bodies to change. But one man did it. You need a strong chief executive, not a committee, but a driven leader at the top. Give him a tenure of six years from which he can be removed only through impeachment. Then he will not have a short-term outlook.”

Among those leading the metamorphosis of the state-run television programming, Ramesh Sippy was at the vanguard. Buniyaad, which he directed, acquired a cult status with characters like Lajo and Masterji and Veerawali becoming legends even as they fleshed out life for post-Partition refugees. Sippy did make a comeback on Doordarshan nearly four years ago with Kismat in partnership with Nimbus’ Harish Thawani but the association was short-lived. “I have also been informed that my name figures among those” that Gill would like to see back in DD’s fold but till he hears from him personally and “understand what he has in mind”, Sippy is unwilling to comment on the basis of newspaper reports.

“In the meantime, I cannot disagree with his line of thinking. It is very necessary today. For the fare is very standard and it is fair to expect a programming mix that is relevant. Its not as though the policy is not in place but the results don’t always show up.”

The move to bring back all those who were in the vanguard of sponsored and commercial programmes is healthy thinking for they were the people who laid the foundation. “It does not have to be only the older people, there is room for everyone, including the present producers, but these were the people who made it work in the first place.”

Sippy took Gaatha to STAR after Mandi House failed to respond or accord respect to the pioneers. “They cannot expect me to run to Delhi and chase people for a break. I gave them Buniyaad and the results are there for all to see.” When Rathikant Basu moved to STAR Plus, he invited Sippy and offered to make the programe which Sippy would handle creatively with the revenue being shared. “The thinking seemed right. There was a feeling of fairness, also Mr Basu had started the Metro Channel for DD which was a success and with Rupert Murdoch’s backing there was no reason to say no.”

Transparency and fairness are the two qualities that Anupam Kher would like to see Doordarshan hold out. “After all, it appears that presently some people get all the contracts and some do not get even one. Some serials go on for 500 episodes while my own serial Imtihaan (produced by his Media Entertainment Company) which got a good response did not get a single slot after the first run. If successful programmes and people with the right credentials are given weightage, it would surely be an improvement.”

As for minor quibblings like not being served tea, Anupam Kher smiles, “I am sure he is talking about constructive functioning and not wasting time unnecessarily. Who would argue with that? That is his way of increasing efficiency and introducing professionalism. I think that is fantastic. I will do without tea any day but I am sure he will offer me tea if I go to visit him.”

At the end of the day, however, all have adopted a wait and watch attitude. As Amit Khanna points out the Prasar Bharati Bill lapses on December 31 unless it is passed and with the dissolution of the Parliament, there “are overriding concerns to be faced at the moment, Prasar Bharati or no Prasar Bharati.”

Anupam Kher adds, “Gill is absolutely right. Quality is trash - I am with him. Right now the quality of software is not the greatest possible, it has to be improved. He has expressed his point of view and he has a right to do so... possibly the producer of some mythology that is being axed would look at it differently. In any case, one has to wait and see what he has to offer and what he replaces the existing programmes with.”

Amit Khanna rounds it off thus, “I say more elbow to Mr Gill if he wants to improve the functioning of Mandi House but mere good intent is not enough.”