Amit Khanna: More of the same

FREEZE FRAME/ Nearly all movies and television programmes follow the same formula

One of the most commonly accepted postulates of showbiz is the existence of a magical formula for success. Call it a stereotype or a rehash, but popular entertainment has been all about more of the same syndrome.

So one sees a pattern, a kind of repetitiveness with which films, TV shows and music keep coming back. Almost every year there appears a trend "� a sort of flavour of the season "� of musicals or adventure films, game shows or paranormal stories or ballads. This is not unique to one market or one media.

In fact, if there is a maxim of success in tinsel town it is the near universality of public acceptance of the tried and the tested. Popular culture per se is the sum total of the most widely accepted and practiced arts.

Obviously when this becomes a business, people tend to become more risk averse and hence end up doing what is perceived to be the most popular.

It is also often said that it is the one who breaks away from the rut who actually wins in the end. Yet we have countless examples of how programming that's similar, sometimes in both content and style, has succeeded simultaneously or in quick succession.

In Hollywood you have sequels and prequels and a never-ending franchise of a successful entertainment product. Spiderman is a classic example. From a comic strip to animated series to films, games, merchandising and more. Or take the Star Wars phenomenon or Harry Potter or The Lord of the Rings. The audience loves it and the creators are churning out more and more versions.

Then, of course, there are the imitators. For centuries imitation has been the best form of flattery. In showbiz, especially in India, not only is this rampant but it also often borders on plagiarism.

On the other hand, you have several examples over decades of filmmakers who have gone against the trend and set new benchmarks, only to be emulated by others.

While the movies have always spawned generations of similar movies in almost all genres, the phenomenon of more of the same has got compounded by rise of television.

TV has so much of the same beaming at hundreds of millions of people that it is a wonder that one network is distinguishable from another. You have networks or bouquets with similar channels. These channels have programming which is akin (not to forget the same commercials).

Even amidst all this similarity there is also a commonality of talent, or the lack of it. This uniform packaged and processed entertainment and information is as much a 21st century staple as fast food or ready-to-wear clothing.

All this does not stop audiences from watching, adoring and even get addicted to TV. As the legendary Orson Welles once remarked "I hate watching TV as much as I hate eating peanuts but I can't stop eating peanuts!"

In India, all major networks/bouquets have a general entertainment channel, a news channel, a movie channel, a sports channel, a music channel and so on. All general entertainment channels in turn have soaps, thrillers, comedies and the like.

Interestingly, most entertainment channels have the much talked about family dramas from Balaji Telefilms. Despite what Ekta Kapoor may like us to believe, all her shows look and sound alike, with the same permutation and combination of actors.

There's nothing wrong in that as long as the programme delivers, in terms of ratings and the bottom line. Except that this success is cyclical. Again, there is very little innovation. When one Kaun Banega Crorepati triumphed, every channel jumped on to the game show bandwagon with disastrous results.

When one cricket telecast had a pre-match tamasha, others followed suit. Last Sunday I discovered four channels with cookery programmes in the same time band. Now Star, Zee, Sahara, Sony, MTV, Channel V and ESPN are doing some form of a talent hunt!

Have you ever noticed that almost all news channels have the same format, the same people giving the same sound bytes and invariably the same clumsy visual, with a gaggle of tagged microphones jutting into the frame and some rude inaudible voice asking inane questions?

To add to this, the speed at which anchors play musical chairs makes it difficult sometimes to remember which channel one is watching. So much for an identity. Yes, fortunately for a culturally diverse country like India, we still have a linguistic divide, which allows some amount local colour to creep in.

The general dumbing down of content is a bane not only in India but globally. This is reflected in the Page 3s of newspapers, chat shows on TV, skin flicks and war movies. Another problem is the use of 'formats' and syndicated material.

Like junk food, most of this standardised processed entertainment is puerile. As we move towards an on-demand world, it is innovation that will determine the winners. There is enough talent around. There are also enough mavericks.

What we need is a judicious mix of both "� otherwise sheer boredom will kill audience appetite even for the most stereotypical, most loved, most watched and the most profitable programme. l

Amit Khanna is chairman of Reliance Entertainment. The views expressed here are his own