There’s something extremely comforting about Doordarshan National. And one reason for that is the more it tries to change, the more it remains the same.
So, while the soul-stirring patriotism of ‘Mile Sur Mera Tumhara…’ may have been replaced by ‘Har Ghar Tiranga…’ or ‘Bharat Maa…’, it is still ‘Desh ka pehla channel’, which is doing all it can to be ‘Desh ka apna channel’.
At least that is what DD National claims. Well, it hasn’t become a completely pan-India channel, but it does try to: where else will you find a show devoted to the ‘7 Sisters’ — otherwise known as the Northeastern states? Not on any of our national news television channels, not on private DTH-cable channels, nor on the streaming OTT channels.
But what could be more topical than to learn about Tripura, Mizoram, Assam, Nagaland – and of course Manipur, where ethnic violence has shaken the very foundations of the state?
Where else would you find a relentless effort to give women the “power to fight the world” as demanded by Chhotaki Chhatanki in one of DD National’s new shows of the same name?
New: Doordarshan National gave itself a fresh coat of paint on 15 August with some things new and some things old. So there’s our all time favourite Chitrahaar (twice a day)—which began in 1982 featuring songs from Hindi films—side by side with Janki, a series about a prosperous family that wants a male child as its first born and will go to any lengths to ensure that.
And you know what? It’s fine, it’s fun. It works, so long as the viewer is willing to play along.
Also read: BJP women leaders get more upset over an imagined ‘flying kiss’ than Manipur or Nuh violence
No more hysteria
We’re fed up. We’re exhausted. We’re done with the fake melodrama that passes for news where headlines say ‘PM roars from Red Fort’ (Times Now) and the hysterical outbursts that define news debates—both will increase over the next year as elections approach.
We’re done with the daily rona-dhona of saas-bahu men and mansions soap operas on Star Plus, Sony, Zee, Colors, etc. that haven’t really moved on from when Union Minister Smriti Irani played Tulsi—the ideal wife, mother, daughter-in-law turned avenging goddess in Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi between 2000-2008.
And while there is excellence in many series on streaming channels, there’s also a lot of violence, crude language and a grim reality without innocence.
On DD National, we’re relieved to bask in the remembrance of things past: old songs from old films in Chitrahaar where Tanuja is romanced by Rajesh Khanna, Jaya Bhaduri by Sanjeev Kumar… Sigh.
What’s more, you get to watch old films too in Bombay Talkies: over the past few days, I have seen Kesari, Gadar Ek Prem Katha, Karma (with Dilip Kumar), and Luv Kush with…Jeetendra and Jaya Prada. OMG, when did you last spend time with Jumping Jack?
Entertainment channels have completely abandoned films—they’ve left cinema to the streaming channels. Yet, even there, you can’t find a golden-olden picture beneath the sheen of the new ones.
Doordarshan National may not screen Awaara, Aradhana, or Anamika but then again, it might. And you will see films from the last century on the channel. This is huge: many of us long to relive the pleasures—or the pain—we experienced watching those films.
Also read: From Haryana to ‘terror’ on train, TV news is shy to identify victims when they are Muslim
Substance, not slick
The new serials on Doordarshan National lack the finesse, well-oiled look of shows on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hotstar, SonyLiv, Zee 5, their slick, tight, well-written screenplays and dialogues—at that level, DD National has nothing to recommend.
However, the themes of its shows are much more important. There is a conscious effort to have women, young women and young girls, at the centre of attention—watch Chhotaki Chhatanki, Jahan Chand Rehta Hai, Janaki – the main prime time shows on DD National.
The messaging is straightforward, strong: women, young women in particular, deserve better and they’re going to seize it—from the most unwilling hands, come what may.
Chhotaki is lively, intelligent and can get rid of roadside Romeos in her village, with the twirl of her cycle wheels. She also tells her family a thing or two about female empowerment—she has two sisters who constantly require her strong-arm tactics.
In Jahan Chand Rehta Hai, Kiran is in love with science but her family thinks she should be scouring dishes and peeling potatoes—in preparation for her future as a wife. The opposition of her entire joint family to her ambitions will drive her into the arms of… Well, let’s not give away the plot.
Janaki could be nicknamed, ‘No family for girls’. It begins with a baby girl being left by her father at a temple in the wilds. In his rich family, a boy must come first, even at birth. Until a boy is born, no girl can grow up there…
You could say this is heavy duty social messaging. And you would be right. It is. But no more than the preaching in the Amazon Prime series, Made in Heaven. In fact, DD National serials have a lighter if more obvious touch. There’s something dark and darker about OTT shows, no matter how good they are.
To be out in the open with Kiran, flying a kite before she is roundly scolded by her family, is somehow less oppressive.
Also read: Indian TV serials are still stuck on ‘evil women snatching husbands’. OTTs race ahead
Stirring stuff
Old shows like Swaraj and S.I.D. Farz—the former about revolutionaries and freedom fighters, the latter about the fight against criminals—are very poor in production values. The English officers in Swaraj sound like they’re American, and look about as English as an Indian does. Awful. Yet, it’s 1857 and the Indian soldiers are about to rebel… Stirring stuff.
In S.I.D., a willing suspension of disbelief allows you to enjoy the show—even when the good guys kill the same guy for the second time. The blood spilt in Swaraj or S.I.D. is so evidently not blood it could be an advertisement for red paint.
Such pleasures, only on DD National.
The author tweets @shailajabajpai. Views are personal.
(Edited by Prashant)