The State of Television In India

From top left to right: Hum Log, Anupamaa, and Mahabharata

Bollywood has been around since the early 1900s, the term Bollywood refers to Hindi cinema and is formerly known as Bombay cinema.  Bollywood is known across the globe for its sweeping musicals, native Indian cinema, and surreal storylines. It is only recently that a Bollywood film won an Oscar for Best Original Score; the film RRR made history by becoming the first film to be nominated and win an Oscar. Bollywood is the biggest producer of films in the world, producing more than 1,000 films per year, double that of Hollywood. As much as the films have received a global audience, what remains a mystery is the television industry within Bollywood. 

TV began in India as an experiment. Only one program was offered weekly, with the intention of educating school children and farmers.  These shows covered public health, human rights, traffic, and road safety. Tv was available to watch in “television centers,” and so on, these tv centers spread throughout the country. Television was introduced to the Indian market in 1959, and while it took time to spread throughout different regions of India, by 1975, television was available in over 2600 villages and cities. 

With the introduction of television, the Indian government founded Doordarshan, the biggest public service broadcaster in the country, the company is one of the largest broadcasting organizations globally in terms of the number of production studios and satellites. Due to its government ownership, Doordarshan is the only company permitted to broadcast television signals within the South Asian region. However, in a deal between CNN and Doordarshan in 1995, the company agreed to allow CNN to broadcast on its channels 24 hours a day for the amount of $1.5 million dollars annually and 50 % of CNN’s advertising revenue. An average of 90 percent of India’s population receives programs through Doordarshan (DD1), with the organization operating 19 channels. 

Television in India began as low-quality, low-budget serials. The first of these was Hum Log, the serial aired on the 7th of July 1984 on Doordarshan. The show followed the Ram middle-class family as they struggled through prevalent themes of poverty, alcoholism, gender discrimination, poverty, and Indian native beliefs and superstitions. The family of seven, Basesar, his wife Bhagwanti, and their kids all live in one house and navigate the ups and downs of everyday family life in India. What made this a stand-out show was how after every show, popular actor Ashok Kumar would analyze the theme of the episode and give advice to the audience about how to navigate the issue. 

In today’s television climate, one of India’s best-performing television shows is Anupamaa. The show aired in 2020 and is still in its first season. Anupamaa follows the main character Anupamaa, a homemaker, her husband Vanraj, and her children. The biggest plot point is that Anupamaa’s husband is having an extramarital affair with his colleague; the affair has happened for eight years without Anupamaa finding out. The serial has over 800 episodes and an audience rating of 2.9. The show has been one of India’s top television shows in its history of television, mainly due to its relatable themes. 

Through the years, since the start of Indian television, the industry has grown to screen thousands of programs in the several languages of the region. With India’s large population of over 1 billion people, over half the people in India now have a television set. This allows all of the shows in India to have a large viewing audience, regardless of the storyline or production quality. Through the years, Indian television has seen an evolution in the type of content on screen. When television first began in the 1950s, most of the serials were centered around what was happening within the Southern Asian regions. Most of the shows featured themes of impoverishment, colonialism, and the different partitions in Indian society caused by class and caste. As the country began to develop and evolve, so did the types of themes that were seen on television. In the 80s, common trends seen on tv were more similar to what would be seen on American Hollywood soap operas, including family, the snuggles caused by class divides, and the daily lives of ordinary Indian people. 

The 80s is considered the golden age of Indian television. Bollywood was not performing as well, as the films were seen as dull and repetitive. However, television in India was going through an enormous transformation. For the first time since its start, tv in India was beginning to understand its audience. The stories resonated with the viewers, and the actors were perfect for the roles they were given. One of the most successful and beloved shows from this era was Mahabharata. The show aired in 1988 and was one of the first mythological tv serials introduced to the Indian audience. The show received rave reviews and was so popular that it was picked up by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The show ran until 1990 and aired a total of 94 episodes. The story follows two families, the Pandavas and the Kauravas, who battle for the throne of Hastinapura in the Kurukshetra War. 

Television allowed actors to have their start in the Bollywood industry before going to make the big epic films that would become globally known and adored. One example of a star that rose to Bollywood stardom after beginning in television is Shah Rukh Khan. Khan stared in the 1989 serial, Fauji, which followed the Indian Army officers as they were trained for battle in commando school. The serial was the first of its kind and taught audiences about the importance of humanity and discipline. Khan plays the lead as Lieutenant Abhimanyu Rai, and alongside his fellow soldiers, faces the highs and lows of training. This was Khan’s earliest role before he rose to Bollywood stardom. 

While other countries, such as Korea, are receiving global recognition for their television shows, Indian television has yet to penetrate global markets. The K-Pop genre and films like Parasite and shows like Squid Games have allowed for a bigger interest in Korean culture and television, no such boost has happened for Indian culture and television. One aspect that makes Indian shows less accessible to the world is the type of stories told. Most of the serials made in India are targeted toward children and middle-class housewives, with storylines that portray themes of adultery, class divides, family drama, and anti-feminist plotlines. Most of the shows that are made are usually low-budget and with poor-quality sound and visual effects. These serials often go on for years, with more than 2000 episodes making it difficult for intentional channels to pick them up. However, despite international reception, the television market in India continues to make millions in revenue annually. 

With the rise of streaming across the globe, India introduced its first streaming platform BIGFlix in 2008, the platform allowed users to stream and download movies at any time, the platform offered films in nine languages, and was available across television, smartphones, and tablets. As the streaming phenomenon began to take hold in India, more streaming platforms were launched across the country. One of the biggest was VOOT before the introduction of Netflix India in 2016. 

Netflix India and Amazon Prime, which a banned in China, are the most dominant streaming platforms within India, making it difficult for local online streaming sites. The different streaming platforms have made television and film in India more accessible to a larger audience, now with streaming on demand. Audiences can watch television shows on the go. The demand for content has resulted in more television content being produced across India. Unlike Netflix and Amazon Prime, India’s most popular streaming platform is Disney-owned Hotstar. Disney acquired the platform as part of its acquisition of 21st Century Fox. Hotstar has over 300 million monthly users. To keep competing with international streaming platforms, production companies are seeking to create more television and film content with relatable plots set in more regional languages. 

Despite the growing competition for streaming, television viewership in India continues to remain stable. The Broadcast Audience Research Council of India reported 937 billion viewing minutes. Television makers are trying to move their shows toward more progressive and educational themes.