History with kids

History may not be everyone’s favourite subject but it holds a great fascination for film and serial makers. And when depicted through the life of a child protagonist,it becomes even more enticing,at least that’s what channels have discovered. Take a look at the historical fare on television and you’ll see little ones dominating them. Take Zee’s Shobha Somnath Ki,which is about the unsung heroine Shobha who fought the Afghan invader Mahmud of Ghazni when he tried to destroy the Somnath temple in the 11th century. The story begins from Shobha’s childhood,conveniently paving the way for a cute girl Ashnoor Kaur who does the honours. Imagine TV’s Chandragupta Maurya based on the life and achievements of one of the greatest rulers of ancient India,till recently had a little boy Rushiraj Pawar essaying the title-role. The boy had connected big-time with viewers. Soon,Colors is revisiting one of the greatest Maratha warrior’s life history with Veer Shivaji and no prizes for guessing: this too will start from his bachpan.

Thanks to Balika Vadhu’s unprecendented success,children as protagonists have been ruling the daily soaps for over three years and this has percolated to historicals too. In fact,to counter Balika Vadhu,a couple of years ago,Imagine TV had slotted a historical Meera,which had a little girl,Aashika Bhatia,essaying the young Meera,even as Zee started Jhansi Ki Rani with Ulka Gupta playing little Laxmibai as its USP. While Meera didn’t meet with much success,Jhansi Ki Rani went to become a highly watched show so much so that when it got over,Zee decided to replace it with another historical Shobha Somnath Ki. However,much before these two historicals,Star Plus had aired Prithviraj Chauhan that narrated the tale of his exploits as a military leader and his love for princess Sanyogita. It was the first historical to depict the early life,read childhood,of a historic figure. Initially,it was supposed to be part of a few episodes,but Rajat Tokas who played the title-role became so popular that the serial aired on weekends consistently topped the charts. As a result,the makers continued with his track for more than a year and Angad Bedi,who was supposed to play the grown-up king,decided to opt out. Of the two years that the serial ran,over a year-and-a-half was dominated by Rajat’s Prithviraj!

When Zee decided to present the story of Jhansi Ki Rani from her childhood,they initially wanted to air around 150 episodes of her young life. However Ulka Gupta,who played the role,struck a chord with the viewers and her track was on for 207 episodes out of the total 400 episodes. Says Sukesh Motwani,Fiction Head,Zee,“Whether it was Jhansi Ki Rani or now Shobha Somnath Ki,in both cases we had to show the socio-economic-political scenario and how it affected Laxmibai or Shobha when they were little and how it led them to became such huge icons. We have all the material required to depict that.”

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So,it comes as a surprise when Imagine TV,which is struggling to get back into the race,does away with the boy who is giving them ratings. We are talking about Chandragupta Maurya and the little boy Rushiraj who had made the serial immensely watchable. The serial was getting a rating between 1 and 1.7,it peaked at 2,which is the best for Imagine TV in recent times,and yet instead of continuing with the childhood track,the channel decided to go in for a leap and now the adult Chandragupta has taken centrestage. Explains Saurabh Tewary,Programming Head,Imagine TV,“You cannot extend it just because it’s working. It’s a historical,and you cannot add plots or change history just because the child is popular! I know I have taken a decision that is likely to affect the business and the brand,but creatively speaking it had to be done.” In fact,he feels the leap came 20 days too late!

He,however,doesn’t agree that historicals with child protagonists have become the trend. “Both Chandragupta.. and Jhansi… had stories that start from childhood. But yes,you could say they are a safe bet with the masses.” Ashvini Yardi,Programming Head,Colors,avers that she is not following trends “Veer Shivaji chronicles the life of Shivaji from his teen days. Our focus is to showcase the making of the legend Shivaji, his growing years and how he was mentored to being a warrior.” Agrees Zee’s Motwani,“Not all serials/historicals that have children as protagonists work. Our own family drama,Chhoti Si Zindagi,which has two small girls in the central roles,is picking up now after a leap. It means every show has to find its own groove,” he maintains. It is true and in most cases,we find the child star is helping shows find it!