(A column on TV trends, personalities and a bit of history)
This column hopes to trace the advent of soaps on Indian television, with special reference to Tamil TV. So, you will learn a bit of history vis-à-vis the first TV serial, Vizhudhugal, you will read about people who made a deep impact on how soaps were perceived and trends, be it in terms of theme, costume or reality shows.
It’s interesting how the term ‘soap opera’ came about. Serialised shows used to be aired on the radio. As the target audience was female and the main sponsors were soap manufacturers, the title stuck!
So, let’s start at the beginning… when TV serials began with the Hindi saga, ‘Hum Log’ in 1984. Remember that by the mid-1970s, the metro TV stations were operational. Post the Asian Games-1982, colour TV made its entry into living rooms. Doordarshan exercised a monopoly for almost a decade before satellite channels (STAR, Zee and Sun) took over by the early 1990s.
‘Hum Log’ with Ashok Kumar as the narrator, initially focussed on family planning and other issues. Then came ‘Buniyaad,’ (remember Masterji and Lajoji?), ‘Hum Raahi,’ ‘Nukkad’ and many more. In terms of subject matter, ‘Khandaan’ would probably fit the bill. The first time an Indian serial was telecast on all weekdays (both morning and evening) was Vizhudhugal (means ‘the aerial roots of the Banyan’). Starting November 6, 1995, it was telecast on DD Metro in the evening with a repeat telecast next morning on DD 1. The serial ran to 378 episodes.
Spearheading this pioneering work for Tamil TV was Vimala Ramanan of HansaVision. Daughter of advertising icon, R.K. Swamy, she wanted to produce a serial that would be telecast daily and focus on the interconnected lives of many families with a central figure and plot. She says, “It all started with an idea: How do five people born at the same time in the same place, end up having such different lives? One is a beggar and the other, a Millionaire?” When Vimla discussed this with her team, they suggested a slight modification to suit the soap opera formula.
Writer Ramaneeyan came on board with the story (albeit a modified version of the Sivaji Ganesan classic, ‘Paar Magale Paar' on a father’s search for his true heir). Recalls Vimala, “We spent months going to Delhi, to convince the authorities in Doordarshan to give us permission for a daily soap. In the end, we were successful.”
Gopi Bhimsingh, son of the legendary A. Bhimsigh, was roped in to don the director’s hat. A pilot was shot with Major Sundarrajan as the millionaire, but was later dropped. The role then went to Malayalam actor, Pratap Chandran. Supporting him were actors such as Mounica, Latha, Kannan, Bharat Kalyan and ‘Poovilangu’ Mohan. And then there was the executive producer, ‘Ponds’ Bala.
The serials surely caught the eyeballs. So much so, two of the actors, Kannan and Santhanam, acquired the suffix‘Vizhudhugal’ before their name. Kannan recalls, “We were all like one big family, with Bala sir as the father figure. I have no regrets of giving up a budding film career in films for TV. In fact, when I took the plunge, I had no idea what a serial was, let alone a mega. But I am glad to be here.” HansaVision brought in Ramani Bharadwaj from Delhi to compose the music. A princely sum of Rs. 2 lakhs was spent for a full orchestra. So successful was the theme song that music director Gangai Amaren asked Gopi Bhimsingh for its copy as he got frequent requests to play it at his live concerts!
Shooting happened at one episode over two days and later, an episode a day. Actors were paid a monthly salary irrespective of whether they worked for one day or seven.
Vimala says modestly, “The first 100 episodes were commercially a failure. However, the ratings, advertisements and the rates picked up and we managed to get a decent return on our investments, and were hailed as innovators.”
Gopi Bhimsingh remembers, “There were five sub-plots in the storyline. Actors from each branch would present a recap to assist those who joined in late. As the point of revealing the true heir came, we would get calls from VIPs to find out who the real heir was! When Doordarshan extended the serial, we added more twists with the patriarch splitting his wealth. So successful was the format that satellite channels followed our lead.” The entire production was planned by ‘Ponds’ Bala, another major contributor to the manner in which soaps are shot today. Here, special mention must be made about T.S. Baalachandran, aka ‘Ponds’ Bala. A lover of the fine arts and a dramatist himself, he started a cultural organisation ‘Navarasa’ when he was working for Ponds. Writer-director and Bala’s close friend, Mouli, recalls, “Bala had a unique approach to everything he did, on and off stage. In fact, he is probably the only man I know who employed a driver for his Scooter!”
Bala shifted from stage to television and got to work on ‘Vizhudhugal.’ He later went on to produce many serials and earned the goodwill of many actors and technicians all of whom he generously helped. He passed away in 2001 at the age of 61.
Today, there are scores of channels and many more soaps, employing so many cast and crew. I think we owe a debt of gratitude to the vision of HansaVision and the planning of ‘Ponds’ Bala.
We are truly their ‘vizhudhugal!”
(The writer is a TV and film actor)
