New Article: History Comes To The Fore There is an interesting new article on Jodha Akbar. Dated 19 Jan from the freepressjournal. Rarely a historical serial has brought cheer to general entertainment channels. The last time a historical serial battled against the onslaught of family dramas was in 2009-10 when Jhansi Ki Rani stood out as a clutter breaker. Earlier Prithviraj Chauhan had its share of success as a weekend show. Veer Shivaji didnt have a successful run two years ago, while Shobha Somnath Ki was a disaster. But things have changed in the last six months, though there is no clear trend in favour historical serials. While earlier it was just one hit or a dud, currently two serials are doing better than social family dramas on respective channels - Jodha Akbar on Zee and Maharana Pratap on Sony. Of the two, Jodha Akbar is a much bigger success. Not only it is Zees most popular daily currently, but as second most popular daily in GEC space, it is also ahead of some of the other popular soaps like Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai, Saath Nibhana Saathiya, Pyar Ka Dard, Tarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashma and Balika Vadhu. On the other hand, Maharana Pratap continues to be Sonys number one serial. Going by past record, not many historical subjects have been attempted in daily format; moreover they havent been viewers favourite either. So what explains Jodha Akbar and Maharana Pratap springing a surprise? Could under- representation of the genre in mass programming be one of the major reasons? If you look at GEC programming of past decade, history has been an under-addressed genre. Obviously when an under- represented genre returns with a couple of shows it stands out as differentiator in the clutter of repetitive programming overdose, feels producer Abhimanyu Singh of Maharana Pratap. However, in his view clutter-breaking cant be the sole reason. Elaborating his point further, he adds, Differentiation does help but cant be the only reason for success of a genre. A lot also depends on the subject and treatment. For instance, Jodha Akbar is a love story like the film Jodha Akbar. Hence it is more a relationship story, a comfort zone that has always worked on GECs. That is also Ekta Kapoors (the shows producer) comfort zone. Speaking about Maharana Pratap, Abhimanyu says its DNA is different. It is the story of a great warrior and king who did not rule but worked for his people. So far we have concentrated on the making of Maharana. As it goes forward, we will explore Maharanas relationship with his father and wife. Since its launch six months ago, its been consistently doing well and has lot of potential to grow further, he adds. Industry seniors attribute Jodha Akbars success to its positioning and treatment as a love- relationship story. In fact, it is indeed a period relationship story of a couple set in a royal family. As senior writer Purnendu Shekhar of Balika Vadhu says, It is historical fiction and not a historical serial. Its making and treatment are like any other regular family drama with same popular elements of soap. So except the royal background and grandeur its difficult to differentiate it from a social family drama. At the time of the shows launch, Ekta Kapoor had said that history is open to various interpretations without disregarding historical facts. And her interpretation of Jodha-Akbar relationship was how a woman can bring about a change in a mans life which probably struck a chord with Zees programming team. As the then Zees head of fiction Sukesh Motwani says, Her concept for a daily show was perfect - the human side of a warrior and king whose job was to kill and conquer and a self- respecting woman becoming a catalyst in bringing about a change in him. Since the focus was on two individuals forging a relationship of love, romance and marriage against the backdrop of volatile royal politics, the makers and the channel decided to focus on Akbars personal life. In any case, walking the relationship path is an easy option in television than driving on a bumpy valour and warrior road. Besides, as Sukesh says, the story of valour has been told before on TV many times. So the novelty was in exploring the relationship story, he justifies. But making the 450-year-old story relevant to todays times and audience was a major challenge. How you narrate a story is very critical, characterization is another major key element. In Jodha and Akbar we found a relevant couple for todays times: a great achiever at very young age, a fine human and husband and a woman of substance. Their relationship was complex and full of passion. It lent itself well to contemporary adaptation, explains Zees programming head Ajay Bhalwankar. Call it history or historical fiction, the success of Jodha Akbar is pretty impressive. From below par start to second most popular daily, Jodha Akbar has the potential to become the number one show in mass entertainment space. But Diya Aur Baati Hum which is the most popular daily for almost two years now is not a pushover. However, if Jodha Akbar marches past Diya Aur Baati Hum, it will be the first for a historical serial or historical fiction to reach the top where family dramas and saas-bahu shows have ruled the roost for over 13 years. Rarely a historical serial has brought cheer to general entertainment channels. The last time a historical serial battled against the onslaught of family dramas was in 2009-10 when Jhansi Ki Rani stood out as a clutter breaker. Earlier Prithviraj Chauhan had its share of success as a weekend show. Veer Shivaji didnt have a successful run two years ago, while Shobha Somnath Ki was a disaster. But things have changed in the last six months, though there is no clear trend in favour historical serials. While earlier it was just one hit or a dud, currently two serials are doing better than social family dramas on respective channels - Jodha Akbar on Zee and Maharana Pratap on Sony. Of the two, Jodha Akbar is a much bigger success. Not only it is Zees most popular daily currently, but as second most popular daily in GEC space, it is also ahead of some of the other popular soaps like Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai, Saath Nibhana Saathiya, Pyar Ka Dard, Tarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashma and Balika Vadhu. On the other hand, Maharana Pratap continues to be Sonys number one serial. Going by past record, not many historical subjects have been attempted in daily format; moreover they havent been viewers favourite either. So what explains Jodha Akbar and Maharana Pratap springing a surprise? Could under- representation of the genre in mass programming be one of the major reasons? If you look at GEC programming of past decade, history has been an under-addressed genre. Obviously when an under- represented genre returns with a couple of shows it stands out as differentiator in the clutter of repetitive programming overdose, feels producer Abhimanyu Singh of Maharana Pratap. However, in his view clutter-breaking cant be the sole reason. Elaborating his point further, he adds, Differentiation does help but cant be the only reason for success of a genre. A lot also depends on the subject and treatment. For instance, Jodha Akbar is a love story like the film Jodha Akbar. Hence it is more a relationship story, a comfort zone that has always worked on GECs. That is also Ekta Kapoors (the shows producer) comfort zone. Speaking about Maharana Pratap, Abhimanyu says its DNA is different. It is the story of a great warrior and king who did not rule but worked for his people. So far we have concentrated on the making of Maharana. As it goes forward, we will explore Maharanas relationship with his father and wife. Since its launch six months ago, its been consistently doing well and has lot of potential to grow further, he adds. Industry seniors attribute Jodha Akbars success to its positioning and treatment as a love- relationship story. In fact, it is indeed a period relationship story of a couple set in a royal family. As senior writer Purnendu Shekhar of Balika Vadhu says, It is historical fiction and not a historical serial. Its making and treatment are like any other regular family drama with same popular elements of soap. So except the royal background and grandeur its difficult to differentiate it from a social family drama. At the time of the shows launch, Ekta Kapoor had said that history is open to various interpretations without disregarding historical facts. And her interpretation of Jodha-Akbar relationship was how a woman can bring about a change in a mans life which probably struck a chord with Zees programming team. As the then Zees head of fiction Sukesh Motwani says, Her concept for a daily show was perfect - the human side of a warrior and king whose job was to kill and conquer and a self- respecting woman becoming a catalyst in bringing about a change in him. Since the focus was on two individuals forging a relationship of love, romance and marriage against the backdrop of volatile royal politics, the makers and the channel decided to focus on Akbars personal life. In any case, walking the relationship path is an easy option in television than driving on a bumpy valour and warrior road. Besides, as Sukesh says, the story of valour has been told before on TV many times. So the novelty was in exploring the relationship story, he justifies. But making the 450-year-old story relevant to todays times and audience was a major challenge. How you narrate a story is very critical, characterization is another major key element. In Jodha and Akbar we found a relevant couple for todays times: a great achiever at very young age, a fine human and husband and a woman of substance. Their relationship was complex and full of passion. It lent itself well to contemporary adaptation, explains Zees programming head Ajay Bhalwankar. Call it history or historical fiction, the success of Jodha Akbar is pretty impressive. From below par start to second most popular daily, Jodha Akbar has the potential to become the number one show in mass entertainment space. But Diya Aur Baati Hum which is the most popular daily for almost two years now is not a pushover. However, if Jodha Akbar marches past Diya Aur Baati Hum, it will be the first for a historical serial or historical fiction to reach the top where family dramas and saas-bahu shows have ruled the roost for over 13 years
Posted on: Sun, 19 Jan 2014 12:59:04 +0000
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