'TV industry is ahead of film industry'

Mumbai, May 13: Actor-turned-producer Dheeraj Kumar whose company ''Creative Eye'' is producing the TRP topping serial ''Ghar Ki Lakshmi -- Betiyan'' claims the television industry is not at par with the film industry but far ahead of it.

The TV industry, which constitutes approximately 115 channels, is worth Rs 17-18,000 crore, Dheeraj Kumar told UNI.

''We take the real problems of the people, not fictional ones, and give solutions and so people start reacting to them,'' he says while explaining the popularity of the television.

''Even in the 21st century, the girl child is a burning issue in places like Chandigarh and Lucknow. Even the Government of India is tackling this issue. And when we reflect this in our story, there is strong identification,'' he explains further.

''The growth of TV vis-a-vis cinema is much greater and by the year 2011 the growth is estimated to go up by 52 per cent with opening of several avenues like DTH, Tata Sky, Dish TV and content providers like us and Balaji Telefilms. I think the future of TV is very sound and bright.'' Entertainment is serious business. Gone are the good old days of Doordarshan when ''Chitrahaar'' and the weekly Sunday movie was a big deal. Today, with several channels like Star Plus, Zee TV, Sony, Star One, Star World to name a few, TV has its own superstars like Ronit Roy aka Mihir Virani and Mr Bajaj, Sudha Shivpuri aka the 104 year old 'Ba',the female protagonists are worshipped by the masses like ''Tulsi,''Prerna'' and ''Parvati''.

Nivedita Basu, Creative Head of Balaji Telefilms says, ''I attribute the iconic status of 'Tulsi', 'Prerna' and 'Parvati' to Ekta Kapoor. It is Ekta's passion towards these characters. She literally eats, sleeps , breathes and drinks these characters. These are not just serials for her, its more than that.'' ''Also somewhere down the line we realise that some members of our family are like these characters. We began to relate to them. People from the lower, upper and middle class identify with 'Tulsi', 'Parvati' and 'Prerna'. Also the actors merge very well with the characters,'' she adds.

Nivedita echoes what Dheeraj Kumar says, ''We deal with real life issues, like sibling rivalry, which happens in every household so there is a strong sense of identification.''

The three serials -- ''Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhie Bahu Thi'', ''Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki'' and ''Kasauti Zindagi Kay'' are going strong. Reshmi Ghosh aka Bhoomi Virani acknowledges the over-riding influence of the small screen. ''One year of exposure at Balaji Telefilms did wonders for me what films in the past eight years could not do,'' she said.

Rajshri Thakur aka Saloni of ''Saat Phere-Saloni Ka Safar'', Mona Singh aka Jassi of ''Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin'', Pari of the Rajshri serial ''Woh Rehne Wali Mehlon Ki'' and Juhi Parmar aka ''Kumkum'' of the hugely successsful serial ''KumKum'' too have emerged superstars, thanks to television.

So, what lies behind the success of television? Supervising Producer of 'Saat Phere...'' Abdul Karim says it is all about finding the pulse of the audience. ''If you find it ... great.

Otherwise, no.'' Besides, the quality of work has improved in television and now serials have become more like films with songs, dances, et all, he points out.

But on a more practical note Sneha Kamat, correspondent with ''Showtime'', points out, ''Every Indian home has either one or two TV sets, as a result there is high visibility.'' Going by the market signs, TV boom is here to stay for a long long time. As Yash Khanna, Head of Corporate Communications, Star TV says, ''If you go back 10-15 years, there were only four channels.

The audience strongly connects with serials nowadays because of the presentation. In the future there is going to be more competition what with new channels coming up like NDTV, BAG Films and others.''

UNI