A L CHOUGULE explains why historical serials do not appear often on television.2013

A L CHOUGULE explains why historical serials do not appear often on television.

If history is a boring subject for kids, probably adults also don’t find it interesting enough either. At least that’s the case with majority of television audience, if tepid response is an indicator of their disinterest for historical subjects. With a few exceptions, serials based on history or historical characters haven’t enjoyed much success.
It is probably why not many historical serials have been made as like mythology history is also a less preferred genre in general entertainment. But the need to break from daily monotony of fiction compels channels to visit history from time to time.
Hence like mythology, historical serials also find limited prime time space. Veer Shivaji was the last historical that went off air abruptly for lack of ratings a year ago. Now Sony has launched Maharana Pratap while Zee will has Jodha Akbar.
Though Doordarshan was the only mass entertainment channel in 80s and early 90s, the ratio of success for historical subjects was abysmally low. Though not many historical serials were made even then, no historical enjoyed the kind of success The Sword of Tipu Sultan did. Satellite channels have also occasionally dabbled in history. But the result has not been spectacular always.
Two shows that did well are Prithviraj Chauhan and Jhansi Ki Rani. Shobha Somnath Ki and Rani Padmini were non-starters, while Veer Shivaji managed to survive for some time. Chandragupta Maurya was a better success than the bunch of laggards and non-starters.
The prime reason for historical serials being few and far between, according to industry analysts, is that history is an expensive and risky genre.
“The cost is prohibitive and audience’s reaction borders on extremes – thumb up or down,” says senior television programmer Sukesh Motwani who as Zee’s head of fiction was witness to Jhansi Ki Rani getting eyeballs but Shobha Somnath Ki struggle to connect.
Elaborating further he adds, “The genre comes with too many stumbling blocks like high production values, right casting, research and writing. But the biggest challenge lies in identifying a character that has mass appeal, besides making his/her story relevant to today’s times,” points out Motwani.
Senior TV professional and industry analyst Ajay Kartik is of the view that there are not more than 10 to 15 popular historical characters whose story can be narrated on television.
“Every historical character is famous for one or two major events/battles and hence most of the stories have limited shelf life. It’s difficult to make a successful show that can last for a year or more on a daily basis,” he opines.
Motwani doesn’t disagree, “It’s difficult to zero in on right historical subject and make it work as a daily. Moreover, adapting it to the grammar of a daily soap is even more challenging,” reveals Motwani. Jhansi Ki Rani, according to him, worked in daily format because it dealt with journey of a woman from childhood to battle queen against all odds.
Sony’s head of marketing Gaurav Seth doesn’t deny that history is a difficult and less tried genre for various reasons. However, he strongly feels that from entertainment point of view it is an interesting and important genre. Speaking about Maharana Pratap, Seth says it is a great story that’s relevant even today.
“Maharana is a rare hero; a popular historical character not profiled much on television. The values he stood for and his fight against injustice and inequality will make the story ring with audience,” he says. Needless to say, like Prithviraj Chauhan and Jhansi Ki Rani, the take-off point for Maharana Pratap is the Rajput warrior’s childhood.
It is important to mention here that both Jhansi Ki Rani and Prithviraj Chauhan started with their respective characters’ childhood and didn’t undergo generation leap for more than a year because Rajat Tokas and Ulka Gupta as adolescent Prithvi and Manikarna respectively, became so popular that they had to be retained several months beyond their contractual obligations.
Seth is confident that Maharana Pratap will find traction with family audience because the story has lot of intrigue as the show charts the journey of Maharana Pratap’s life right from adolescence to his glorious rise as a leader which led him being rechristened as the first freedom fighter of India.
Similarly, Motwani also exudes confidence about Jodha Akbar’s potential to catch viewer’s attention on the strength of it primarily being a love story. While it remains to be seen whether both shows will buck the trend and prove critics wrong, history will always remain a less chartered territory in mass entertainment space because it just can’t beat daily fiction.
However, a weekly model could possibly work for history. “History is best suited for one-hour weekend slot,” feels Kartik. Chandragupta Maurya is a good example. As a weekend bi-weekly it did quite well on less popular Imagine TV and also didn’t disappoint even in repeat run on weekdays.