Four cheers for Marathi Manoos

Dwindling audiences for Marathi theatre need not be cause for worry. Never mind if the Marathi-medium schools have less takers. Minuscule ...

Dwindling audiences for Marathi theatre need not be cause for worry. Never mind if the Marathi-medium schools have less takers. Minuscule readership for Marathi publications is also no botheration. Maharashtrians of the world, stop worrying and sit glued to your television set. For, now the task of preservation of Marathi ethos is the proud domain of the Marathi television channels.

With the recent launch of Tara, Marathi homes, if at all there is such an uncorrupted entity, can avail of four entertainment channels, thanks to the satellite and cable networking. While Alpha Zee Marathi completes over a year, Prabhat started in November last year, and the Doordarshan-run Sahyadri called DD 10 until April has just begun its innings. And just as these regional8217; players are entering homes, a couple of others have also threatened to woo Marathi viewers in the near future. Is there room for all these channels to register their presence on the radar of the average Maharashtrian TV watcher8217;s consciousness, one wonders. But then South Indian states have proved that ten-odd rival channels can co-exist. Competing for time slots, obviously.

Madhavi Mututatkar, deputy CEO, English and Regional Channels, Zee Network, does not agree. 8220;We try to tailor our programmes as per the viewer profile. Our viewer is an upper middle class person, educated in the English medium, surrounded by young and old family members. Naturally, the programme mix caters to different tastes. We have remakes of success formulas like Saregama along with new concept of daily soap Abhaalmaya.8221;

Mutatkar also claims that Alpha Zee8217;s programmes have 8220;an aspirational look8221; which means they 8220;delineate people8217;s aspirations on screen8221;. For instance: 8220;You will never find a chawl setting in our slots. People, even those living in chawls, want to be upwardly mobile in their lives. And we cater to their aspirations.8221; However, P L Deshpande8217;s Vyakti ani Valli, set in a chawl, is much-flaunted on the channel. 8220;But that is literature, a classic, you see,8221; she counters glibly.

But in a hectic bid to sell culture, these channels also seem to be drawing heavily from the readymade reservoir of Marathi plays. Telecasting full-length plays is the easiest way out. It takes care of substantial programming time, that too in the name of love for theatre. The Prabhat channel, facing a financial crunch before its recent merger with a big-time paging service concern, recently overdid the theatre8217; bit. While it repeated two plays over 60 times in two months, much to the agony of the viewers, some artistes like Rohini Hattangadi have been immortalised due to the reruns of their interviews in Thet Bhet, another programme.

However, the practice of showing full-length plays has thrown open a different kind of industry. Ongoing popular plays are being shot specially for Marathi television channels. As a result, theatre actors, actresses, directors and producers now have a market independent of the regular audience. As Charuhas Satam, Creative Director of Prabhat claims, 8220;We were the first to telecast three-hour plays. Similarly, we have other firsts to our credit like a serial shot abroad to woo our phoren brethren. With folk arts finding pride of place in the Lavani festival or the serial on Shahirs of Maharashtra, we have a mixed menu from sol kadi to spaghetti.8221;

Despite the tom-tomming of a wholesome menu, the channels always tend to follow the beaten track. It is only once that Zee8217;s Prapanch gives a new insight into changing Marathi upper middle class. But most of time, we see smart-alecky camera-conscious anchors imposing themselves on unsuspecting viewers with inane questions like 8220;What difference do you find between flirting and dating?8221;

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Also, one wonders if it is mandatory for all the channels, especially the private ones, to include the murder mystery-horror slot. Horror stories peppered with the supernatural element make for a tasty primetime recipe for the Ramsay Fan Club, never mind the strong progressive rationalist thought advocated in Maharashtra.

Nitin Vaidya, CEO, TARA Television Aimd At Regional Audiences, claims his channel, which is still struggling to reach all cable homes, will inject a whiff of fresh air in its programming. And probably set an example. 8220;Our channel will contribute in the building of a positive lifestyle. It is not mere entertainment, but programming with an educative purpose. We are concentrating also on the News and Current Affairs8217; section with more stories from the interiors of Maharashtra. Positive social experiments in the mofussil will be recorded by the channel. We cannot do away with all the established formats like film-based musical countdowns and antaksharis. But, we will at least try to give the programme a different interactive look, so that it is not a xerox copy of the Hindi and English versions,8221; he adds.

But for the time being no one is perfect. Interaction is one aspect lacking in the rechristened Sahyadri channel. Despite the tremendous reach of this 24-hour satellite channel thanks to the exclusive high power terrestrial connections, the DD outfit fails to inspire the average Maharashtrian. Programmes, bearing a typical sarkari ambience, lose out due to the aggressive marketing tactics of the private channels.

However, things seem to be slowly changing with the advent of the new Director of Mumbai Doordarshan, Mukesh Sharma. Equipped with years of film-making experience at the Children8217;s Film Society of India, Sharma has introduced new packages. He will start retrospectives of veteran Marathi film artistes from June 6. He has also bought the rights of some Marathi plays. Since their phone-in programmes had done well during the state elections, more such inter-active programmes will also be initiated.

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Sharma says the public should change its mindset toward Doordarshan. 8220;I agree that we need to attain perfection at many levels. However, we work under tremendous constraints. I have only few good producers at my disposal. Being a public service broadcaster, controlled by government rules, I cannot hire and fire producers like the private channels do. I have to make do with the limited talent pool,8221; he adds.

While there is a mad rush to woo the viewers, it is a bit difficult to gauge the viewers8217; tastes. Rival channels claim high television rating points TRP, but they are not always indicative of popular choices. As Anil Shetty, owner of the Prabhat channel puts it, 8220;These ratings are respected in the TV industry mainly because there is no other method by which one can gauge audience response. However, TRP and GRP ratings can be interpreted as per one8217;s convenience. The best way to gauge audience response is to count the number of advertisements. The Chates can tell it all.8221; So watch out for the ads!