MxMIndia

Tag: saas-bahu

  • Does the changing role of women in GECs reflect progress in Indian society or is it just pandering to the advertiser?

    Is the serial woman tellying it like it is?

     

    By Ritu Midha

     

    About a decade ago, we saw the emergence of Tulsi, Parvati and Kussum. Strong protagonists – but all of them set in more or less the same socio-cultural setting, grounded in traditions but fighting against the evil (another woman in most cases) trying to tear their families apart.

     

    Cut to the present-day GEC. The protagonist is stronger, and differentiated. She is no longer just about pacifying the mother-in-law, and mothering her growing-up children. She is aware, educated, has a mind of her own, and she speaks it too. She has the spunk, and many a time, she takes the lead in decision-making. To put it simply, she does not wait for someone to save her, she is fully capable of doing the saving. And in between all this, she has a heart too, and dotes on her family.

     

    There is a Pratigya fighting against the issues in her own house – a decision maker in Allahabad; there are working or aspiring-to-work women in quite a few soaps – among them Kuch Toh Log Kahenge set in Lucknow and Afsar Bitiya with a Bihar backdrop. There also is a Hitler Didi, where the protagonist, living in Delhi, is the master of the house, and of course Balika Vadhu and Diya Aur Baati Hum (both set in Rajasthan), which propagate women’s empowerment in the rural and semi-urban areas.

     

    Is it an accurate reflection of the real Indian woman, or are these shows akin to the funhouse mirrors that exaggerate certain parts of our collective reality? Even if it does exaggerate the social consciousness, it definitely provides an example for those women whose staple diet of entertainment is still the Hindi GEC.

     

    States Anamika Mehta, COO, Lodestar Universal: “Undoubtedly media, at an overall level, influences society and television has a huge role to play in that sense. While at some level, some shows and protagonists do play a role in sounding a wake-up call or instilling confidence, courage, and independence of thought, they thereby create followers or loyalists. However it’s more of media mirroring society on television essentially – witnessed for instance in the shift from ‘saas bahu’ soaps to the current lot.”

     

    While the woman protagonists are bolder and more intelligent now, the socio-cultural cauldron from which they emerge varies from show to show. The reason, of course, is increase in purchasing power of women across middle India – Madhya Pradesh, not a favourite setting for television serials till some time ago, suddenly finds itself as the backdrop for a number of soaps. Is the appeal of these shows universal or does it appeal to audiences in a particular geography? States Nandini Dias: “The traditional shows like Uttaran and Balika Vadhu do find better resonance in smaller towns while the talk shows like Oprah Winfrey or Barkha Dutt show a skew towards metros. The shows which do well across all towns are usually love stories like Kuch Toh Log Kahenge.”

     

    However, Shubha George, COO, MEC, South Asia, believes that in case the objective is to target a specific audience profile, a lot more needs to be done in this direction. She states: “Indian TV shows are fairly homogeneous and cater to a pan-India audience in most instances. I cannot think of any particular example that is more popular in metros because of a bolder woman character. Rather, this is a concept which is yet to be experimented on by Indian TV shows for mass audiences.”

     

    Many of these shows depict subjects like second marriages, domestic violence and other women-centric issues, but do they manage to send a message across to society? As per Anamika Mehta: “Frankly it’s little to do with evoking social consciousness and more to do with experimentation with new audiences, new generation, different content and eventually eyeballs. While many of these shows initially kicked off with a social idea and an attempt to rouse audiences, eventually, given the eyeball battle, they turn more into trials and tribulations of a woman with plot twists and turns.”

     

    There is a conscious attempt at creating a protagonist who wants to change the world, who would capture the attention and imagination of young women. Are these shows with the new realistic woman favoured by certain brands – or it is only TRPs that matter in the end? States Ms Dias: “Media planning is called a science and an art for exactly these reasons. Media planners do look at data , quantitative parameters. But finally when they take decisions they need to predict the future of how a show will do in the future. So the qualitative factors need to be considered too. In fact with the number of brand integrations that are done, it is detrimental to a brand if they do these brand integrations without understanding the content and relevance of the show.”

     

    Ms Mehta too states that brands do look at the content of the show, however, many times the storyline changes in chase of TRPs. She says, “Only if the brand’s personality is in sync with the show do they look at doing show exclusive deals. Very often the shows digress/change/derail chasing eye balls which often could defeat the rationale for association.”

     

    On India’s wide-ranging social canvas, there are many Indias, and the psychographics change not only from New Delhi to Basti, but also from Defence Colony to Rohini. It is not easy to depict the myriad colours of the Indian woman. However, the effort is being made towards being progressive, covering a broader spectrum, and bringing to the fore social issues that women in particular face. Does it matter that it is for the sake of eyeballs, or to get more advertisers on board, if the issues are addressed in the end?

     

     

    INDEX
    Success mantras from media captains
    All work and some play
    Riding the creative crest
    Holding up the managerial sky
    Celebrating the difference
    Managing Middle India’s Golden Lady
    Wooing vibrant India’s Wonder Woman
    Rural women – how strong is their ‘spending say’?
    Is the serial woman tellying it like it is?

     

  • Undercover Boss is the stuff of modern-day fairytales

    Gouri Dange: Head Honcho’s Day Out

    By Gouri Dange

     

    I don’t tear up (fancy word for cry foolishly) watching anything on TV or in the movies usually. Close friends sit around pulling on their box of tissues even while watching TV ads, for godsake, and I usually smirk and talk loftily and alliteratively about manipulation of the mind by the media and other such airy stuff.

     

    Weepy Indian soaps, saas-bahu dramas in Hindi and Marathi, I catch only by accident when my finger touches the wrong buttons on the remote; and when I then see a screen-wide shot of large reddened cow-eyes, mascara fake lashes shimmering with tears, I only guffaw and cringe.

     

    But here I am, sniffling after every episode of Undercover Boss. Why, oh why? People around me ask. But they’re quite touched too, I can see.

     

    First a little about the format: in each episode (on BBC Entertainment) the CEO or owner of a big corporation goes on to his shopfloor or into the field, incognito as an entry-level employee, spending one week doing the rounds with ‘lower rung’ staff. He changes his appearance, and since the corporations are huge (45,000 employees, etc) and have far-flung operations, none of the staff that he interacts with are likely to recognize him.

     

    The explanation given for the accompanying camera is that a film is being made on entry-level workers. The boss works in various areas of the company operations, at different locations. This way, he gets to interact closely with the lower and middle order in his corporation.

     

    Invariably, his 7-day outing is an eye-opener for him, one day at a time. The episode is dotted with poignant as well as really funny interactions, as he gets to see and work the system himself. He himself is often bad at doing what they do, invariably needs help, and is sometimes declared unemployable by the supervisor he may be working with!

     

    He meets employees who soldier on in spite of serious health or personal issues, he sees some of the absurd outcomes of his own policies, made far away in corporate settings. He is, to use a cliché, humbled by his own people as he goes along with them on their daily rounds.

     

    At the end of his week undercover, the head honcho returns to his corporate HQ, and calls a handful of the employees who he feels are doing a particularly good job under trying circumstances. He first reveals his true identity to them, much to their shock and amusement, as they recall how frank and ‘themselves’ they have been around him, when they thought he was just a newbie. He also calls in a few link-men in the chain, who need to change something in order for some policies or attitudes or daily circumstances to change for the better.

    The hard-working, cheerful, resourceful employees are then rewarded with promotions, or bonuses, while some employees are given training or better working conditions. Sometimes, the boss will step right out of the groove and help with a personal problem, or even better, turn the person’s coping skills into something of use to the company itself.

     

    For instance, one employee who undergoes dialysis every week, and yet works hard and happily, is also given time off to volunteer at a hospital which is something he wants to do – here he becomes a shining example of the benefits of positivity and good work.

    A simple ‘go-cart’ may be given to some employee who legs it from one building to the other far too many times a day in a large factory compound. More budget allocations are made, as the Boss learns experientially, that his operations just cannot always be about maximizing profits and minimizing down time. When he communicates this to his Board, you can see some faces thaw, some faces tighten; it is very interesting to see those reactions too.

     

    Undercover Boss UK episodes are restrained, and I hoped that the US ones would not be simplistic and manipulative; luckily they are not. Now you’re free to call me a Hopeless Romantic, but what slays me each time is the profoundly shaken look on the Boss’s face, many times during his undercover week. The other thing that has me reaching for someone’s tissue box (I don’t own one, perhaps I need to, now) is the changing look on an employee’s face – from guarded, restrained listening, to a shy child-like slow flush or grin. This changed expression comes up when he/she realizes that someone has watched them closely as they do sometimes mind-numbing jobs (either monotonous, or plain icky, including non-flushing toilets), appreciated their work, and is following up with not just a perfunctory pat-on-the-back, but with change and rewards. There are also often frank and forthright apologies from the Boss for being blind to many things in his own company and his people.

     

    When everyone in an interaction becomes a little more human, I tend to come undone. Of course, the program has QUITE a few ad breaks, and that becomes the Brechtian device that alienates you nicely, so that you never get too caught up and carried away, fortunately or unfortunately.