What would they change about Television Industry?

Indian Television Industry is currently replete with umpteen numbers of channels and plethora of shows. It is an industry that provides employment to lakhs of people and churns out shows after shows for our entertainment. Entertainment of audience is of paramount importance to the production houses. With episodes airing five to six times a week, it is bound to take a physical or mental toll on the actors and the stars. So, what are the things our TV stars would want to change about Indian TV industry?

TV is a grueling industry with all the channels wanting their shows to feature in the top bracket of TRPs. Channels and production houses leave no stone unturned to garner TRPs, even if it means digressing from the originally planned storyline. This in turn compromises with the quality of the show and results in butchering of defined characters. Karan Wahi , who plays Rohan in Sony's Kuch to Log Kahenge feels that channels need to stop running after TRPs –"  This is a plea to the people who matter to stop running after TRPs. The numbers of people who watch the show are not just restricted to the ones who help determine TRPs. So, the let the script be."The content on the shows is now repetitive with all the shows following a set pattern. The room for experimentation in Indian Television industry is very restricted and thus, doesn't really come up with shows that cater to all the palates. Out of the box thinking is not the mantra that the production houses follow. Pooja Gor of 'Mann kee Awaaz Pratigya' on Star Plus feels that this a lot to do with the audience as well – 'The content in the shows has a lot to do with what the audience likes. If the choice of the audience shows a certain change, we can see different storylines. There are people who want to watch shows like How I met your mother, Mad men in India. The kind of effort they put in one episode is not even the effort, Bollywood puts in one movie.'

Many stars complain of physical and mental exhaustion. Shows run for almost the entire week and it is exhausting for the lead stars. It becomes an ordeal for the stars and production houses to submit a thirty minute episodes.  Most of the lead actors work nonstop throughout the year without breaking for any festivals or holidays and this tells adversely on their health. There are various cases is recent times of stars falling ill like Barun Sobti who looks haggard and fatigued and Eijaz Khan who recently was hospitalized.

Giaa Manek of  'Saath Nibhana Saathiya' on Star Plus feels that the TV industry is very harsh on new comers –"The exploitation of new comers should be stopped. Putting in sixteen hours a day is very taxing and the rules should be the same for all." If stars found serious issues to point out, Karan Goddwani of 'Chhal-Sheh aur Maat' on Colors could not help but find a funny tangent in the question.He said–"It is not just the number of hours we put in that we find taxing. Mumbai is crazy when it comes to traveling and the roads are bad with pot holes. Sets are really very far off and despite the comfort of a car, my body is not in one piece when I reach. I would plead all the production houses to not to have the sets so far away from the city."

Stars have spoken what they would want to change about Television Industry. What would you want to alter about your beloved industry?

Reporter and Author - Medha Parashar