It was an experimental year for Indian television with the successful import of Pakistani dramas, increased Bollywood presence led by Amitabh Bachchan and introduction of mature concepts like gay romance..
The Bollywood megastar's much-hyped fictional debut has been one of the biggest highlights of TV in 2014. He starred in psychological thriller miniseries 'Yudh', which was created by 'Gangs of Wasseypur' director Anurag Kashyap.
The show, which revolved around a real estate business tycoon (Bachchan) and was said to be loosely based on American drama 'Boss', was praised for the stellar performance by the evergreen star and the supporting cast, which included Bollywood actors Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Kay Kay Menon.
It, however, did not garner the expected TRPs and was mainly criticised for its slow pace and confusing plot. The 72-year-old actor returned in full form with his reality game show 'Kaun Banega Crorepati 8'.
It rained Bollywood stars on TV as superstar Aamir Khan made a comeback with two seasons of his social issue-based show 'Satyamev Jayate', while Salman Khan returned with reality show 'Bigg Boss 8'.
Shah Rukh Khan was seen judging a reality dance show for the first time to promote his film 'Happy New Year', while Akshay Kumar hosted a dance-based series 'Dare 2 Dance'.
Another high point on TV this year was the entry of Pakistani shows. With their novel storyline and treatment, these dramas came as a breath of fresh air for the audience, who earlier had the option of only melodramatic soap operas and reality shows.
Finite-duration dramas like 'Zindagi Gulzar Hai', 'Maat', 'Humsafar' were praised for their subtle screenplay combined with natural performances.
Perhaps taking a cue from their Pakistani counterparts, many miniseries were launched this year. Emotional thriller 'Laut Aao Trisha', an official adaptation of Spanish tele-novela 'Donde esta Elisa' and filmmaker Ashutosh Gowariker's TV debut with 100-episode series 'Everest' are a few ones, which have impressed the audience.
