Coming soon: On your small screen!
It’s not just Bollywood that has felt the hefty impact of the nationwide lockdown. Hindi TV shows, too, were stopped in their tracks, with channels having no option but to telecast old episodes. But now, TV producers have gone back to work, and fresh episodes are in the offing. Interestingly, BARC (Broadcast Audience Research Council) India’s latest data shows that Malayalam and Kannada GECS (general entertainment channels) have witnessed huge viewership growth with the return of original episodes.
Now, as Hindi shows get ready to brighten the small screen again, the big question is: Will makers have to go out of the way to re-connect audiences with their shows, or will it happen automatically? “I don’t think connecting again with the audiences is going to be an issue because we are still the same people with same habits and heart.
Indians are emotional people, so if we strike a bond with certain storyline/characters, it becomes a part of our life,” says producer Sumeet Mittal, whose two shows — Barrister Babu and Shubharambh — have already gone back on floors.
Producer Rajan Shahi, on the other hand, feels that everyone has to be “on our toes to survive”. “At this point, no one knows the future of the shows. I feel, now, we have to recreate the brand of a show, and that will be nothing less than re-launching them. We’ve already seen several shows shutting down [during the lockdown], and not many new ones getting the green signal. So, the biggest challenge for us will be to make sure that TRPS come in strongly and audiences come back,” says Shahi, the maker of shows such as Yeh Rishtey Hain Pyaar Ke and Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai among others.
But Mittal, whose Barrister Babu started with fresh episodes on July 6, feels Indian audiences’ love for “their favourite shows will never go away.” He says: “We want to see stories which give a nextdoor kind of vibe. And during the lockdown, it’s not as if audiences got a better option [to watch] as per their taste and liking.”
Experts, on their part, feel the “pent-up demand” is going to work its magic. “I have a feeling that people are going to lap up the fresh entertainment options — be it films or otherwise — as and when they come up for consumption,” says Atul Kasbekar, managing director of Bling Entertainment. Film exhibitordistributor Akshaye Rathi concurs, saying, “Be it films or TV, the idea should be to offer interesting, engaging stuff to the audiences, and they are going to lap it up.”
Prachi Desai called Ajay Devgn out for not tagging other cast members in the post commemorating eight years of Bol Bachchan’s release. His tweet only mentioned Amitabh Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan.
“Hey @ajaydevgn looks like you forgot to mention the rest of us aka #Asin @Krushna_kas @apshaha #Asrani ji #Neerajvohra ji #Jeetuverma , yours truly & everyone involved in making this baller of a film. #8Yearsofbolbachchan ” she wrote.
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He recently completed two decades of being a Bollywood actor, and has seen the film industry inside out since the time he was born to two of the most well-known actors, Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan. While many would believe that this place is only about glamour and fame, Abhishek Bachchan clears the notion. “This place is not about film premieres and parties. It’s a lot of hard work. Unfortunately, our audiences only see the glamorous side of it, and very seldom get to see the hard work, blood, sweat and tears we put into it,” says the 44-year-old, who made his big screen debut in Refugee (2000).
The actor, in fact, goes on to call Bollywood “the best place on Earth”. “As far as I’m concerned, I am what I am today because of this industry, and the audiences. They have made my family, and given our family everything. That’s very sacred to me. You should come and spend time with us on set, there’s so much hard work put in. I do understand there’s this huge glamorous image,” explains Bachchan, all set to make his web debut.
The actor had recently said, and maintains, that the film industry is a “very demanding place”.
Ask him to elaborate and he candidly explains, “Because the criteria and the way you work is very difficult. Life is difficult, everybody has their own journey and battles, and this industry is no different. It’s a very competitive place, where you’ve to work very hard to earn the love and respect of the audience, and even harder to maintain it.”
With time, he has managed to create his own space with films such as Yuva (2004), Guru (2007) and Manmarziyaan
(2018) among others.
However, the question does remain: Was it, or is it tough for Abhishek, being the son of a cinema legend?
He takes his time before answering this. “I’ve never thought about it,” he confesses adding, “I’m the son of my father. At home, he’s that, he has never wanted it to be anything else, my mother never allowed it to be anything else. I’m the son of my father, I’m a colleague of a legend. That’s the way I look at it.”
Elaborating on the equation he shares with his father back home, Bachchan junior says, “He never brings his work home, never imposes, what I believe as a fan rightly should be, the fact he’s a living legend of cinema. At home, he’s my friend, somebody I can sit with, watch sports or movies, discuss politics and current affairs. I think it’s very important to understand that dynamic, which I understand is very difficult to comprehend when you’re not living that and viewing it as a third person.”
However, this doesn’t mean that the actor looks at it as anything other than normal. “I’ve never looked upon it adversely. My love and respect for my parents is far too big for me to ever think to disrespect that emotion by thinking about it adversely,” he emphasises.