FADE IN

SUPER:

“Will there ever be a good show to watch on Indian TV? ”

This question is posed by my own brain every time I switch to a Hindi channel on prime time. Day after day, week after week, Hindi speaking families are bickering over insignificant, petty issues that supposedly bind their social ties. Jarring costumes, trivial problems and constant sermonizing. Its either battle of the sexes or battle of the generations. A trope as obvious as the “generation leap” is now entrenched into industry lingo (or at least in poorly, worded press releases). An hour of watching TV leads me to believe that this “kitchen politics” must really be a big problem in Indian families. But how would I know? I’d be weakest link in any kitchen.

So that’s a possible solution. Probably I’m not even meant to watch these shows.

In that case, what exactly is left for me to watch on TV? Where am I to turn to get my own piece of escapist entertainment? Is there nothing meant to satisfy my own Values, Attitudes and Lifestyles?

All I ask is a place within your neatly demarcated, pompous sounding, consumer bracket.

So my beloved, omnipresent, all-powerful TV channel – “WHO AM I?”

Existential crisis established. Cue in lilting violin score

 FADE TO BLACK

END OF TEASER

As a part of a large ambiguous-by-design community called the Indian Middle Class, I am supposedly the audience that multinational corporations are running behind. As a 30-something, urban, married male with no kids and a moderate (still.. *sniff*) spending power, I believe that puts me right in the cross-hairs of every marketing strategy in this country. But I ain’t buying what they’re selling. Why? ‘cos I don’t watch what they’re selling.

There is NOTHING on any Hindi channel these days that entertains me. And I mean entertain, it is in the strictest definition as adopted by the TV channels themselves – “providing  fictional shows for a continuous period that I can relate to”. An hour spent in front of TV is an insult to my intelligence. My dad hasn’t spend thousands of rupees educating his kids to get back home after a long day and simply accept the puerile nonsense that’s dished out on the idiot box.

Which is exactly why I’ve started this blog.

A lot of things come together in my day job in a broadcasting company where I’ve been employed since 2008. Such as my love for movies & TV, conversations with some very talented people and a fly-on-the-wall view of one of the largest media markets in the world. This blog is my academic effort in trying to untangle the knots that are choking the way we consume entertainment everyday. Whatever you read on this blog is public knowledge available on the internet that I’ve tried to assimilate and understand. All opinions are personal and my employer doesn’t care about them anyway.

Let the discussions begin.