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Boundaries
are blurring and changing the landscape of Indian film and
television industry for ever, says Colors chief executive
officer Rajesh Kamat.
Those
were the days when young boys and girls bunked school to go
to the nearest cinema hall to catch a glimpse of their heartthrob
singing and dancing on the silver screen. Those were the days
when red carpets were rolled out at premieres of major movies,
where shutterbugs flashed and stars descended on earth to
give their admirers an opportunity to mingle with them. Those
were the days when cinema was larger than life and cine-stars
were worshipped like gods.
And
here we are today, the click of a button away from meeting
the hottest film star of the season. Dial a number, get selected
and voila! The next thing you know, you are sharing the stage
with Shilpa Shetty or maybe Aamir Khan! The blooming television
industry in India has made the impossible possible. Matinee
stars are the new prime time stars!
Chitrahaar
stars
The advent of television in India was followed by the monopoly
of Doordarshan for a long time. There was a time when families
got together in the evenings to watch their favourite serials
on TV. We still reminisce about Humlog and Buniyaad, and of
course Chitrahaar - our weekly dose of filmy music. That was
the how the TV stars came to our living rooms every week.
From small to big and back again
 But
as the television industry grew and more and more channels
came in, the picture started changing. And then, it changed
completely. Today what we see is a reversal of sorts. Shah
Rukh Khan who started his career with TV serials like Fauji
and Circus slowly rose to the epitome of fame as the King
Khan of Bollywood.
And
then, the unthinkable happened. He returned to television! However, this time,
he was a superstar, calling the shots on a game show on TV. Was
Shah Rukh bigger or the TV screen? Undoubtedly, it was the charisma of the small
screen that had pulled the superstar to it. Many others have treaded similar paths
and have created a place for themselves on the small as well as the big screen.
The business of TV
Television, in today's day and age is
no longer just a medium of entertainment. It is serious business. It gets you
visibility and instant stardom. With the proliferation of TV networks in the deepest
part of the country, reaching out to a million people was never easier than this.
For film stars, it serves as an impactful publicity vehicle! Film
stars began their TV career endorsing soaps and cars and biscuits in advertisements.
But today, it has more-or-less become mandatory for a TV channel to have a big
movie star on at least one of their shows in order to break through the clutter.
I'm lovin' it!
But no one's complaining. The audiences quite
clearly love it. The kind of response received by reality shows and celebrity
hosted game shows is unparalleled. And the advertisers are only too keen to put
in money into a show that they know will produce such a response.
And
actors? Well, for some, like Akshay Kumar, being on television is now a part of
their yearly work-plan - great visibility and unprecedented reach. For some actors
who have seen their days of glory and had faded from the marquee, look at television
as the perfect platform to get back into the limelight without having to take
on the dreaded character roles.
Amitabh Bachchan made his grand comeback
to a life in the limelight with the astoundingly successful Kaun Banega Crorepati
which catapulted the superstar right back into the big league!
The
new demigods
The rise of the small screen also gave birth to a different
kind of a superstar - the soapstar! So much so that there was reality shows looking
for the next TV star! A Tulsi was as important and well known - or maybe better
known - than a Kareena. Aspiring actors now look at making a name for themselves
on the small screen before hitting 70 mm. The mushrooming of tele-awards that
celebrate the success of the television industry is witness to this phenomenon
Small Screen ahoy!
But the magic of the small screen is not
just limited to actors. It has even spread to production houses and directors
who are now making a beeline to produce content for the small screen. Historically
successful banners such as Rajshri Productions and BR Chopra already have a few
successful shows running on television, while a lot more are in the pipeline.
On the
other hand, directors like Mahesh Manjrekar and Vikram Bhatt are also directing
and producing shows for the prime-time slot. Oppositely, Ekta Kapoor, the queen
bee of the small screen, is dabbling both into producing serials and into producing
films!
Redefining TV!
Perhaps, it's time for us to rewrite
some definitions. The big screen is still big, larger than life. But, the small
screen is probably growing bigger - not just in size but in popularity, reach,
glamour and returns on investments. What was once prime-time is the new matinee
slot!
And going forward, the picture gets even more interesting. Film
banners today are making a lot of low budget films, sometimes, keeping in mind,
only the television audiences. Television channels battle each other to get their
hands on the biggest blockbuster of the season for their television premieres.
To add to this, direct-to-home (DTH) television services stand to change
the picture once again. Pay revenues for both the broadcast and the film industry
are poised to grow as consumers, who started "paying" for content (pay
TV revenues and multiplex tickets are a case in point), will mature further. What
once used to be a family outing to the nearest multiplex, will now change into
a family sit down dinner in the den with the latest movie release right there
on their televisions and home theatres!
So is it that the magic of the
70mm screen no longer beguiles the country? Far from it! It is, in fact, spilling
over to the small screen. Entertainment is becoming seamless. Boundaries are blurring
and changing the landscape of Indian film and television industry for ever. It's
no longer the big screen and the small screen - it is just 'THE SCREEN'! | 
