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The season of finding `Lost'
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American serials have a huge following in the city and fans are giving DVD rental stores enough reason to cheer. SUDHISH KAMATH reports
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MAKING IT BIG The third season of "Lost" begins in October and Wentworth Miller a.k.a. Michael Scotfield, the star of "Prison Break"
Regular TV does not turn them on. So, they don't turn on the TV. They turn to the Internet, raid DVD stores, invest in set-top boxes or DTH to get their daily dose of entertainment. If they had a choice, they would be serial-killers, cleansing the small screen of the soppy saas-bahus. . Because they don't, they do the next best thing. They tune into alternative programming and source the best of TV shows from around the world. They are a cult by themselves. And a growing one at that.
Every one out of four members in Cinema Paradiso is bitten by the bug. About 15 per cent of members of RIC Video Library are hooked to TV series made in America.
Seasons, to them, are not about climatic changes. They are occasions to celebrate the arrival or mourn the death of a successful TV show that will return after a break with an all-new twist.
Though the 10-season-lasting `Friends' has been the most sought-after TV series, TV buffs are getting increasingly intrigued by the two-season old `Lost' and the one-season old `Prison Break.'
Dose of mystery
While `Lost', this year's Golden Globe winner for best TV series, created by J. J. Abrams (who went on to direct `Mission Impossible 3') stumps you with its highly inventive story-telling and dose of mystery surrounding a remote island and the survivors of a plane crash, the racy thriller `Prison Break,' made as a tribute to `Shawshank Redemption' and `The Great Escape,' keeps you on the edge of your couch with its slick production values.
"Wentworth Miller is a hottie," Swathi Raghuraaman, filmmaker, writer and producer, says of the leading man of `Prison Break,' the guy who plays Michael Scofield, who gets into prison, just to get his innocent brother facing execution, out of it. He has a plan of course, completely tattooed on his body. "The second season has just started and I can't wait for next week."
Sushil Jethwani, 24-year-old businessman, got himself a `Scofield' haircut after his wife Anushka became a `Prison Break' addict too. "Initially, she didn't know what I was up to staying up every night. And then one day, she asked me about it. Once she started watching, she couldn't stop. She finished watching the entire season in three days. And made me cut my hair like him too," he laughs. Now, his sister Monica is addicted too.
Most TV addicts finish watching an entire season (usually consisting of about 24 episodes of 40 minutes each) within 2-3 days. As Nirupama Santhosh of Cinema Paradiso notes, "I don't know how they make the time. There was this family which took 3 seasons of `Friends' just to watch over a weekend. It amazes me. It's mostly our younger members who are into TV shows."
Sushil started following American shows with `Smallville' and `Lost.' "I liked `Pimp my Ride,' and then I started watching `CSI' and then went on to finish all five seasons of `24'. I download something or the other every night. It's all available online if you have the patience."
"It's probably because of the software boom. Guys go to the United States, get hooked on to TV series when they have the access. And when they come back here, they pick up the DVDs and spread the word around. It's largely word-of-mouth that's responsible," says Nirupama of Cinema Paradiso.
"We stock multiple sets of most TV shows because of the demand," says Mulchand Golchha, proprietor, RIC Video. "Each season costs about Rs.5,000- Rs. 6,000. But we're able to recover costs easily. There is a growing demand," he adds. RIC charges Rs.60 per disc for every old TV series and Rs.70 for the new ones.
Movie-buff Darshan Dayal, has been convinced that the small screen was capable of providing compelling entertainment. He recalls how `Cheers' and `Wonder Years' caught our fancy before they were replaced by older TV shows.
Though he was put off with the advent of soap-programming, soon enough got introduced to `Dharma & Greg,' `Just shoot me,' `Everybody loves Raymond,' and `Friends' and there were the British shows like `The Office.'
"Fabulous sitcoms," he says. "Even if you missed an episode, it didn't really matter. But then came the drama series. `The Practice,' `Boston Public,' `Six feet Under,' `The Sopranos,' `Grey's Anatomy,' `24,' `Alias,' `Lost' and now `Prison Break.' The productions are slick, the presentation innovative, the writing is good, the drama is riveting... Imagine the challenge of making the viewer come back to watch the next episode, all within a 40-minute episode. I was blown."
After nearly a decade of watching TV, 25-year-old Darshan is determined to break new ground in Indian TV. "TV in India has not grown beyond crazy mother-in-laws, revenge-based plots, family courts and unheard of traditions. I would love to just prove a point and say, `We can grow up'."
While Sushil catches up with `Nip/Tuck', Darshan has taken to `Vanished' and Swathi is making sure all her friends catch up with the first two seasons of `Lost.' The third season beginning in October is what all TV-series buffs are waiting for. Since the DVD of a season is usually out only before the start of the next season and TV addicts do not have that sort of patience, they turn to the Internet for downloads.
"`Lost' is just the best TV series I've seen. We have had elaborate discussions and speculated for hours about how they will possibly explain every single mystery, after every few episodes and yet, it manages to surprise us every single time," says filmmaker Vijay Prabakaran. "Of course, there are some who cheat by checking out spoilers online," he laughs.
Spoilerfix.com, for instance, is a site dedicated to letting out spoiler information of their favourite shows. Also, there are online forums and communities that give them a chance to speculate and share their excitement with the rest of their world.
The cult is growing. Maybe it's time for local TV to take note. Or be ignored.
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What's hot
Available at city video
libraries
Friends (All 10 seasons)
24 (4 seasons)
Orange County (3 seasons)
Lost (2 seasons)
Desperate Housewives (2
seasons)
Sex and the City (6 seasons)
Prison Break (first season)
The Office - 3 seasons
Michael Moore's The Awful
Truths (4 seasons)
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