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| A scene from Dekho Magar Pyar Se |
Mumbai, July 24: Christopher Columbus wanted to discover India. Now Indian television is discovering the country named after him and areas adjacent to it.
There is a new buzzword in Indian serials and it has nothing to do with K. It is the “telenovela”, the teleserial as it is known in Spanish. After the success on Sony Entertainment Television of Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin — based on the serial Yo Soy Betty La Fea produced by produced by RCN, one of Colombia’s biggest television companies — the telenovela looks set to swamp the small screen in Indian homes.
This week both SET and STAR Plus, the mother channel to the most formidable saas bahus, have announced projects based on the telenovela.
STAR launched Dekho Magar Pyar Se on Tuesday, based on the Spanish My Sweet Fat Valentina, while SET today launched Hum 2 Hai Na — adapted from the Latin American Complices al Rescate (Friends to the Rescue), which has run successfully in 30 countries.
Both will be daily soaps at 8 pm, a band that both channels are trying to build up differently from usual soap hour that kicks off at 9 pm.
STAR bought the rights of Sweet Valentina produced by RCTV based in Colombo and distributed worldwide by Coral International. It is the same company from which Sony bought the rights of Jassi, said the STAR spokesperson. SET has bought the rights for its serial from Televisa, based in Mexico and Brazil.
STAR and Sony are reported to be looking at more such shows, though the channels said it was premature to discuss the projects now. There are “hundreds” of South American soaps that have done well internationally and channels here are fast getting acquainted with their Latin spellings, said a television executive.
In Dekho Magar, the protagonist is a 17-year-old girl who commits the social crime of being fat but falling in love with a hunk. Hum 2 Hai Na is about two 11-year-old girls who turn out to be twins. “It’s the classical separated-at-birth story,” said Sunil Lulla, executive vice-president, SET.
So what is the point of importing a story when it is there already? The channels feel money spent on a readymade format that has already worked well in several countries is money well spent. “A film like Do Kaliyan (an old Bollywood hit featuring two girls who turn out to be twins) would be for three hours. But buying a format of a telenovela would take care of 30 hours,” said Kunal Dasgupta, CEO, SET.
South America was the place to shop for serial formats because of the cultural closeness, said Dasgupta. “South American soaps are family-oriented, have a respect for tradition. Those countries are also poor and have the same middle-class aspirations like us,” he said. “The West is good for importing game-show formats.”
Dekho Magar director Shrey Guleri and Nikhil Alva of Miditech, which is producing Hum 2 Hai Na, agreed.
But they have to “localise” the formats, which mainly involves editing the sex and making “emotional adjustments”.
But the greater reason for tur ning to South America is the desperate hunt for a story that would not smell of kitchen politics. This again proves that, in India, originality often is a new form of imitation.
Zee says it scores on this count. “We are into Indian content. We will not reproduce borrowed ideas,” said the Zee spokesperson. The channel is trying to build up its own serial formats that it can export. The first attempt in this direction, Tamanna House, went on air recently.
“The story was formatted carefully,” said B.. Gautam, creative consultant with Zee.
Gautam said he has several other formats lined up, including a serial called Omprakashji Tumhe Dhundh Lenge, where the audience will participate at several junctures of the story that has been designed like a game show.
But Tamanna House fell flat in the TRP race, while Jassi soared — if not in the ratings, at least in recall value.
“The South American companies have yet not begun to market their formats in an organised way,” said Sony’s Lulla. But if they discover India now, they may discover a goldmine, he said.
