Fork in the road

Today I watched some episodes of "Malgudi Days" on DVD. I don't really remember watching any specific episode on TV during its original/second airing (I must have been 7-8 years old), but do have vague memories of watching the show, and of course, liking it.

By and large, my exposure to the world of Hindi TV withered during the 2000-2009 decade. The last Hindi TV show I watched regularly is probably the soap "Kahin Kissi Roz" during my last year in engineering college, in 2004 or 2005. On the other hand, during the same period, my consumption of Hindi films has held up very well. In fact, during the last couple of years, I hardly remember watching any new English film (either on the big screen or on small screen).

My point? I think that the quality of Hindi films has improved significantly during the last decade. Each year there are atleast 4-6 excellent/very good movies and another 7-8 decent/watchable flicks on view. Perhaps there is a higher number of good Hollywood films (ignoring for the moment films in other languages), but 10-15 good movies annually works for me. I don't even need to explore other sources to get an adequate movie-fix. With TV, the situation is reversed. I watch so much English language TV for entertainment (British and US) that I hardly feel the need to surf to the much vaster array of Hindi channels on offer.

I wonder why the two industries have moved in different directions. Bollywood manages to produce interesting offerings like "Dev D", "Bheja Fry" and even "Bird Idol" (a new animated movie aimed at kids), albeit amidst a sea of mindless junk like "Tashan" and "Blue". Hindi TV offerings never seem to rise above the ubiquitous soaps and reality shows. Both ultimately cater to the same broad market. If Bollywood has multiplexes to showcase a "Dor" or "Manorama Six Feet Under" to a niche audience, then television producers also have the medium of umpteen niche channels to showcase their talent. Both industries have received plenty of funding (there have been dozens of Hindi entertainment channels launched in the last few years; unfortunately each one has produced the same fare). The fact that I watch Hindi films almost to the exclusion of Hollywood offerings eliminates the possibility of me being completely "westernised" to the point of not being able to appreciate modern Hindi TV programmes. I have no ideas about the reasons for this phenomenon. But I do regret not having a cause to follow any Hindi television show, since none is on par with "Gilmore Girls"or "Psych" or "Hustle".