halka fulka phir bhi lazeez

Of late there has been a new genre of television shows which are ruling the trp charts on Hindi GEC.( to be precise such shows have existed before. Only thing is that they are back on the tube almost after i dont know how many years) These shows i would call as the feel good shows. There is a long list of such shows. Almost every GEC has come up with such shows. Though Colors bein an exception. ( They are happy with Dadi sa and Ammaji running their shows)

Star Plus seems to be sabse aage in this genre with two shows- Sasuraal Genda Phool and Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai- topping their Trp charts. Apart from that Sony has Saas Bina Sasuraal and Baat Humari Pakki Hai. Even Zee is not behind with their show Raam Milayee Jodi.

All these shows have lots of things in common. First and foremost they have identifiable characters. There are no characters who always have a voice over running behind them and their eyes doing more talking that their lips. Also neither do we have a protagonist who seems to have all the good virtues that exist in this world making them look out of this earthy world. Here the characters are more realistically potrayed and even the leading ladies have their short coming.

Second is their treatment and plot. They do not have heavy material for drama. Though drama is an integral part of television shows, they rely more on cute/romantic scenes as well as heavy emotional scenes. They have all the elements to touch the emotional side of the indian masses. Also they rely heavily on light scenes. Or to be more precise they treat even very dramatic scenes in a very lighthearted way and hence makes the viewing enjoyable.

Third is their cast. Almost all of them have an ensemble which are so aptly fit in their respective characters that   they look almost as if they are those characters themselves. Be it Suhana from Sasuraal Genda Phool or Dosti/ Tanya from Saas Bina Sasuraal. Or even supporting cast like Rajshri from YRKKH or even Badi Baa from Raam milayee Jodi. All actors have fitted so well into thier characters that its difficult to differentiate whether you are liking the characters more or the actors.

A couple of years back, Baa Bahu aur Baby blonged to similar genre and not to forget the show was a great success. The audience has always had a liking for such shows. And with current success of such shows once again shows that such kind of shows are here to stay. After all you need break from masaledaar food....!!!

masala maar kar

What if Komolika was a wearing simple white saree with no makeup. Am sure you cant. Similarly one cant imagine indian television without drama and tears. Every show on television does have enough masala for their viewers. Of late two shows have been doing really well for Zee tv. Jhansi Ki Rani and Yahan Main Ghar Ghar Kheli. And their reasons for doing well is not surprising. Both the shows are witnessing a hight point currently and so they have enough drama or in other words loads of masala to keep the viewers hooked to them.

Lets talk about YMGGK first. The show recently revealed the truth of Mamaji ( Rajesh Bees) and hence Zarina Wahab is back to her own house. The episode which revealed the truth behind Mamaji was really well shot. Not only did they not insert too many reaction shots of the supporting cast, they kept adding a twist after every some time. Throughout the scene ( though the scene was really long and extended to two full episodes with occasional intercut scenes) the focus was only on characters who were important for the scene. There was one more thing which differentiated such a scene from other similar scenes in other shows. It was the background music.

We have become so used to listening to those similar sounding background score which had been once popularized by Ekta Kapoor that show sounded fresh. This show took to score which was more indian in feel and had a classical touch to it. The scene also had some very smooth camera movements. The tracking of the camera as well as the movement of the actors was done cleverly to avoid too many takes from different angles. On the whole current track is being played well. Only thing is had the screenplay been a little more crisp, the scene would have been better. But still on the whole, the show has done a good job.

The next show that we need to mention is Jhansi Ki Rani. I dont know how true are the incidents and events in the show, but the screenplay has all the elements which would appeal to the mass. I think the makers have the fingers on the pulse of our indian audience. You can feel the adrenalin rush as you see super dramatic visuals accompanied by equally loud mantras and beats. As you see the episodes, you actually feel the hatred for those firangis and to add to this is their new signature tune Bhaag Firangi Bhag.

Though at times, it seems as if they are just trying to glorify Laxmi Bai to no end, yet throughout it turns out to be an entertaining outing. What needs to be applauded is the tight and racy screenplay. The screenplay has enough dosage of masala not forgetting scenes which will wet the kerchiefs of the female audience.

On the whole both the shows have been doing well of late and why shouldn't they. After all indians love masaledaar food....!!!