Opinion When heroes filled the screen
Could the new hyper-nationalist epic dramas on TV indicate that the BJPs star is on the rise?
Remember the wonder years when the entire country came to a standstill and people sat spellbound before Ram and Laxman in their dhotis,with a quiver slung across their bare chests,fighting for good over evil? Or when Krishna,the charioteer,urged Arjun onto battle and the arrows flew through the air like rockets? They were the greatest TV heroes in the grandest TV spectacles of our times Ramayan and Mahabharat. For sheer epic scale (pardon the pun),they have been unsurpassed. And though there was at least one attempt to revisit the Ramayan,the Ramanand Sagar version,and B.R. Chopras Mahabharat remain iconic.
They were also considered to have boosted a revival of interest in things Hindu,which expressed itself most visibly in the Ram Janmabhoomi temple movement and the rise of the BJP from relative obscurity to political power in the late 80s and 90s.
Now,we have a spate of new serials based on historical and epic events or larger-than-life personalities. Theres Veer Shivaji (Colors),Chandragupta Maurya (Imagine) and Dwarkadheesh (Imagine),as well as Shobha Somnath Ki (Zee),which has replaced the long running Jhansi Ki Rani (Zee). Once again,theyre all on Hindu rulers or leaders,most of them famous for their daring exploits and their staunch national or regional/Hindu identities. In Chandragupta Maurya we celebrate the life of the king who,according to the programme highlight,became one of the greatest kings of ancient India,under the guidance of Chanakya,the scion of wisdom.
Shobha Somnath Ki,claims to be based on a Gujarati legend,and is about a fearless woman who fought a courageous battle against Mahmud of Ghazni to save the temple of Somnath from destruction. Somnath has been in the news lately because BJP leader L.K. Advani did not visit the city on the anniversary of his 1990 rath yatra,unlike on previous occasions. So there is a symbolic link here between the serial and politics.
As TV spectacles,these serials once again reveal our basic dilemma in otherwise brave efforts: how do you scale down larger-than-life events,say a battle sequence or god-like personalities to a small screen soap? The actors try to capture their grandeur with lofty speeches and the camera looks up at them to emphasise their titanic stature,but it isnt quite working.
At a time when the BJP is looking resurgent as Congress and its UPA government totter from one scam to another scandal,isnt it interesting that we should have serials about notable and renowned Hindu rulers? And the question is if the epics,Ramayan and Mahabharat,foreshadowed the rise of the BJP earlier,could the current crop of historical dramas based on righteous Hindu rulers do the same? Or is it simply a coincidence?
Of course,these serials are nowhere near as popular as the epics were and perhaps the epics would not have done so well in the era of cable,satellite DTH,Internet and mobile connectivity. Repeat telecasts of the two epics did not have high viewership. However,that leading entertainment channels are telecasting such historical/epic shows suggests that they believe these topics have a currency at the moment.
These serials mirror the surge in patriotic fervour and the sense of righteousness witnessed most clearly during the Anna Hazare fasts. To that extent,the timing could not be better.
And if you listen to the dialogues,theyre reminiscent of voices that were heard at Ramlila: for instance,on Tuesday,Chandragupta Maurya was going to war. All his troops discarded their protective arms,smeared white ash on their foreheads and called out Jai ho! (heard that often at Anna Hazares fast). And Chandragupta urged them on with words like,we will fight tooth and nail for our motherland. Is entertainment television thus reflecting the political and social climate of the moment?
The last week has been full of nostalgia on TV,with the fulsome coverage of the life and times of another popular hero,Tiger Pataudi. Television news has been at its best with fine assessments of his cricket career and by not dwelling on the other famous members of his family. Perhaps it is the man who has inspired such dignified coverage.
shailaja.bajpai@expressindia.com
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