Hum Log punch to Kellogg crunch

"Television has become the big moral guide in today's world." Looking at Miguel Sabido's quote on the back cover of the book, Writing & Producing for Television & Film, which I'd just finished reading""after tedious effort, I may add""I wondered if the former vice-president for research at Televista in Mexico has surfed Indian television channels lately.

Those of us who follow the "television beat" closely are familiar with the "Sabido method" ""he developed the process in the 1970s as a way for producing radio and television drama to impart social messages. This method also left its imprint on Indian television, especially in the 1980s and early 1990s, with serials like Hum Log"" our first social content soap opera that subtly brought out messages of family planning in the living room without making conservative India blush.

The question is, can Sabido's method still be used to create a lasting impact on audiences through Indian television? Or can a book like Writing & Producing for Television & Film, which concentrates on Sabido's entertainment-education format, click in an industry ruled by TRPs, advertising gimmicks and Ekta Kapoor's mangalsutra-endorsing bahus engaged in petty kitchen politics? Er... I'm not too sure.

No, there's nothing spectacularly wrong with the book. As experts in their field, both Esta de Fossard and John Riber have synergised their efforts to bring out this book for the benefit of those who would like to work towards creating programmes, serials and cinema with a relevant social message. To be fair, the book has its moments. A chapter on character demonstration, for instance, includes a script of Hum Log's fifth episode and is a trip to nostalgia-land, with characters like Chutki, Dadi, Rajjo and Basesar Ram coming alive to almost magically interact with the reader. Similarly, scripts of popular serials from Vietnam (Overcoming Challenge, on drugs) and Bangladesh (Ei Megh, Ei Roudro on family planning) as well as other countries have been used to illustrate various points.

However, one wishes the authors had included some interviews with directors, scriptwriters and other important people behind the programmes that have been mentioned in this altogether too theoretical book. What also brings down interest levels is the quality of photographs: extremely bland, poor and shockingly boring. Even the text at times seem repetitive. A sample: chapter one has a section called "Steps in entertainment-education project development", about how a film and television project can be developed through a series of steps called the "A" train: audience, analysis, access, articulation, artistry, auxiliaries, advocacy, advertising, assessment and adjustment. The second chapter too includes the "A" train and is almost identical to the first chapter. This is a sure-shot way to ensure that the reader loses interest.

But the book does make us think about whether our current crop of films, programmes and serials can influence the social issues that face our society. Much of today's entertainment in India is in "instant serial" mode: quick packs of gorgeous girls, exotic locales and virtually no storylines. Serials like Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin may initially have borrowed Sabido's method to genuinely trace the dilemma of an "ordinary" girl with extraordinary potential. Today, however, the protagonist is just amother glam doll endorsing products and catwalking into conference rooms. Clearly, the message is teetering.

Astitva on Zee television is perhaps the only serial that has fared slightly better recently. The protagonist is a doctor who at regular intervals speaks to the audience about the state of Indian women in society, raises issues of female infanticide and AIDS, and also campaigns for eye donation. Similarly, Jasoos Vijay, a BBC-sponsored serial that focuses on HIV, is a big hit in villages and smaller towns.

However, barring a few serials and ad spots that feature stars like Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan spreading the message (of, say, a polio-free world), Indian television is obviously bowing to the power of Television Rating Points (TRPs) as measured by an embedded sample of a few thousand households.

These days, the face of Indian television is game shows, talent hunts and other mechanisms to manufacture instant fame and adulation. Can a fresh crop of talent focus attention on a message of social relevance rather than all the glamour and big bucks? Can they survive TRPs? Maybe Fossard and Riber should consider writing a pragmatic book on just this. WRITING & PRODUCING FOR TELEVISION & FILM

Esta de Fossard & John Riber
Sage
Price: Rs 460; Pages: 278