A spoilt viewer

Star India, last week, aired its most expensive television show. Anchored by actor Aamir Khan, Satyamev Jayate, slotted in the Sunday morning band at 11 am and telecast in six regional languages, is, surprisingly, hardly what television channels spend giant pots of money on. At the heart of the show is a social cause — there is no promise of money or stardom, no uncovering of talent and no faking life with a set of strangers. And yet, the debut had millions of Indians glued to their television sets. If the show sustains its initial traction, at the very least, it will force Indian television networks to rethink their chat show formats and distribution, and invest a bit more in well-researched programming.

For a start, the show has hijacked a spot that was mostly shoddily occupied by news channels. Translated as “Truth will prevail”, the show demonstrates that it is possible to produce programmes that are comparable to the western model, which is where we typically look to for well-rounded shows. But there is a cost — Star spent two years of research and staggering amounts of money on the 13-episode show. The network may barely break even on the show which unconfirmed news reports estimate at around Rs 6 crore per episode.

Compare that with audience-based chat shows that run on most national channels and what you get is a few days of research and a few lakhs per episode. Typically, because news networks tend to spend too much of their time and money chasing everyday news, which India has too much of, resources are thin for extensively-researched shows.

Usually, chat shows tend to be dominated by a key anchor and a babble of voices, including that of the anchor, discussing the issue. Ultimately, though, it ends up a debate, often usurped by television bandits who have an opinion on everything and expertise on nothing. In the process, several networks have let slip the opportunity to become change agents or be taken seriously — which is where all news organisations derive their clout from.

Khan’s show, no doubt helped by his mega star draw, is a study in contrast. It has a first person account of the issue at hand, statistics about the social problem, the sifting of myth from fact, a roll call of experts on the subject, clips from covert operations to spice it up and ultimately an actionable and participative element. It also has the one element that most successful shows have — a success story — to say that the social problem can be tackled.

Then there is Khan, who isn’t really the know-it-all anchor, but one of us. He is as stumped by the statistics as we are. Far from being the anchor showing off his expertise, he is unveiling the facts with the same sense of disbelief as his audience. Khan’s no cynic; he wants change. So as the show airs, the audience participates by voting for the social cause, thus putting them equally in charge of change. He then takes up their cause with the establishment.

Then the timing — an 11 am slot in a country where the heat of summer ensures that most people stay home. It’s an intelligent risk and coming on the heels of a nation-wide mood for change, it couldn’t have been better timed.

Khan’s show risks making existing programmes seem like a limp attempt to take up serious issues. The challenge for rival channels will be to surprise audiences with a more cost-effective and sustainable, but equally robust format. Khan’s giving them little choice — he has spoilt the viewer.

Anjana Menon is a Delhi-based business writer
bsshoptalk@gmail.com