!-15 Social Change :September 2004 : Vol. 34 No.

Popular culture in Doordarshan

Ranajit Chakrabarty*
Mugdha Sengupta**

Television was initiated in India to promote education and information

and as a means of development communication. It was inspired by Italian
television, the educational programmes of West European countries,
and, a t a later stage, the success of Mexico’s ‘Televisa’, a private
commercial network producing popular melodramatic series with a view
to promoting family planning, adult literacy, health and sanitation. In
the initial phase, the target audiences of Indian television were the
poor, the illiterate, and the deprived masses, but in course of time, that
agenda got eroded. The television industry underwent a massive
transformation, from a tiny monopolised government controlled
propagandistic establishment to a highly market-centric, investment-
oriented one feeding on advertising revenues. This meant that television
programme genres originated from its popularity rating by an ‘audience’
that represented the Indian consumer market. In order to promote
programmes of substance, Doordarshan began to broadcast quality
programming, but most of it catered to the intellectual appetite of a
section of the urban and semi-urban elite and middle class, leaving the
poor and the illiterate, mainly residing in the rural areas, untouched.
Moreover, under the new State policy of privatisation and globalisation,
all the early objectives lost fundamental relevance.
On September 15, 1959, Indian television commenced operations from its
Delhi television centre on an experimental basis ‘to train personnel, and
partly to discover what TV could achieve in community development and
formal education’’. Funded by a UNESCO grant of $20,000 for the
1 Bela Mody: ‘The Commercialization of Indian Television’. Paper presented at ICA
Conference, Orleans, 1988.
* Professor, Department of Business Management, University of Calcutta, Alipur
Campus, I Reformatory Street, Kolkata-700027. <[email protected]>
** Researcher. Department of Business Management. University of Calcutta. Alipore
Campus. 1 Reformatory Street, Kolkata - 700027. <[email protected]>
2 Social Change : September 2004

purchase of community receivers and supported by United States aid of

equipment, it was considered an integrated part of development
communication for illiterate, underdeveloped rural people. TV was expected
to fulfill the following objectives in the country2
Act as a catalyst for social change.
Promote national integration.
Stimulate a scientific temper in the minds of the people.
Disseminate the message of family planning as a means of population

. control and family welfare.

Provide essential information aqd knowledge in order to stimulate

. greater agricultural production.

Promote and help preserve environment and ecological balance.
Highlight the need for social welfare measures including welfare of

..
women, children and less privileged.
Promote interest in games and sports.
Create values of appraisal of art and our cultural heritage.

In August 1965, entertainment and information programmes were

introduced and the medium was re-defined as a source of education,
information and entertainment. In 1976, Doordarshan - ‘Distant Vision’
and Akashvani (All India Radio) were separated, and television became an
independent media unit in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
An all-new medium in this country, TV had to obtain social legitimacy in
an orthodox traditional society, and became geared to promote a nationalistic
outlook. In the same year, from January 1, 1976, advertising on television
(‘commercials’) were introduced.
In 1982, the Asian Games were held in New Delhi. Indian Television
received a boost from this event. National television networks extended
to almost all parts of the country, and colour was introduced. The first
Indian domestic communication satellite was launched. Viewership
increased to a point where national advertisers were forced to consider
this new medium - television as an alternative to print and outdoor media.

The early thematic content

Although television was introduced as a means of development communication
in this country, there was much debate on the issue of developing programme

2 Doordarshan - 1997, New Delhi Audience Research U n i t , Director General,

Doordarshan
3 Social Change : September 2004

content. A large amount of research was conducted to decide programme

genre on Doordarshan. The Chanda Commission took a close look at the
functioningof the Italian television system, and identified a class of programme
that was instructional in nature. This provided the basis for the development
of similar programmes on Doordarshan. It was the first trend in development
of programmes in India, wherein a particular type of programme of west
European television was adopted for Indiantelevi~ion~ . The second tendency
of genre development was in the adaptation of ‘educational programmes’, a
term that was already familiar in western television, and were considered as
an integral part of Doordarshan4.The Chanda Commission held that ‘television
was to be a medium of education and any other programmes were relatively
unimportant within the future plans of television’s. The more common form
of educational programme was a classroom-like presentation in which a
discussion by one or more experts was staged on issues like farming,
agriculture, hygiene and family planning. One weekly rural programme of
duration 20 minutes, fiishi Darshan for farmers started in January 1967
with the help of the Department of Atomic Energy, the Indian Agricultural
Research Institute, the Delhi Administration and the State Government of
Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Similarly, programmes for urban and rural
workers, such as Amchi Mati Amchi Manse, Kamgar Vishwa became regular
weekly programmes.
Besides emphasising rural programming, television in India was directly
involved in expansion of education over the years. Delhi TV, initiated in
196 1, broadcast curriculum-based lessons primarily on science subjects
to impart better education at the secondary level. School Television (STV)
was launched in 1965. The Verghese Committee set up in 1978 strongly
recommended granting broadcast franchisee to educational institutions.
Consequently, the UGC Higher Education Project (HETV), known as
Country Wide Classroom, was launched in 1984. Syllabus-based
programmes for the students of Indira Gandhi National Open University
were also introduced. However, in this regard Doordarshan was considered
as a ‘tool’ rather than a media to facilitate secondary and higher education.
When television was still in its infancy in India, there was a need to
supplement educational broadcasts with other programmes that would
provide a lighter mood for the television v i e w e d . Film and film-based

3 Encyclopedia of Mass Communication: Volume 111. Ed. B y K. P. Yadav

4 Ibid.
5 Mitra. 1993 PP-14
6 Luthra. 1986
4 Social Change : September 2004

programmes were the easiest way to achieve this objective. However,

entertainment was a low priority in Doordarshan and the major emphasis
was on educational programmes. Weekend Hindi and regional language
films, film-based programmes, quiz programme and talk shows related to
social issues were the major areas of programme genre. The only soap
operas or sitcoms shown on Doordarshan were borrowed from foreign
television, such as American popular shows like I Love Lucy, Star Trek,
British shows like To the Manor Born, Sorry or Some Mothers Do Love
‘Em, or German television game shows Tele Matches and detective serials
like The Fox. Indian programmes that proved popular were quiz shows
like What 5 the Good Word?, talk shows by Kamleshwar and Tabassun
(Phool Khile Hai Gulsan Gulsan) and sports programmes. As the
entertainment based programmes increased, a polarisation of educational
and entertainment programmes occurred. Doordarshan programmes had
been classified by audience, industrialists and even by Doordarshan
authorities as educational and entertainment. As a result, staging of a
discussion programme meant promoting education and showing a feature
film meant entertainment. It was not considered that a talk show that
could entertain or a feature film that could educate. It took 25 years for
Doordarshan to conceive that education and entertainment might be
converge in development communication. In 1984, it came up with first
Indian soap opera Humlog.

Humlog: The First Indian soap opera

‘Humlog’is considered a milestone in Indian television for many reasons.
Soap opera did not enter into Indian television as a means of commerce
i.e., to earn revenue. The prime objective was to handle social issues
related to development communication. Indian television was inspired by
the success of Mexico’s ‘Televisa ’, a private commercial network
producing popular melodramatic series such as ‘Yen Conmigo’ (Come
with me), which aimed to promote family planning, adult literacy, health
and sanitation. In 1983, on initiative of David Poindexter, the President of
the Centre for Population Communication International, New York, who
played an important role in popularising the experience of Mexico’s
development oriented soap opera, officials from India, Egypt, Nigeria,
Kenya and Brazil visited Mexico city to confer with Miguel Sabido, the
producer. S . S . Gill, Secretary in the Ministry of Information and
Broadcasting, later appointed as the first Chief Executive Officer of
Broadcasting Corporation of India (Prasar Bharati), led the Indian
delegation. Returning to India, Gill selected a group of professionals - a
5 Social Change : September 2004

producer (Sobha Doctor), a director (P. Kumar Vasudev), an Executive

Producer (Satish Garg), and a Scriptwriter (Monohar Shyam Joshi), to
make India’s first indigenous Soap Opera, Humlog. It was shown in 156
episodes telecast twice a week, from July 7, 1984 to December 1 7, 1985’.
Humlog was the first honest and partially successful attempt to
communicate development messages through entertainment. It was based
on a story of ups and downs of a north-Indian middle class family with
agrarian roots, emphasising issues related to political corruption,
underworld activities, Indian joint family values, women’s problems,
unemployment and smuggling, and family planning. Producer Sobha
Doctor, who was from an advertising background and had a fair degree
of knowledge in promotion management, prompted the idea of sponsorship.
Doctor’s Concept Advertising originated the concept of sponsored serials,
beginningwith Humlog. Maggi Noodles, a product of the Nestle subsidiary,
Food Specialities Limited, and launched in the Indian market in 1983,
sponsored Humlog and became a popular food product in India overnight.
Research indicates that there were many reasons for the success of Maggi
Noodles, for example, its cooking instruction on the pack (‘How to use’
instructions) and the taste maker in a sachet placed inside the noodles
pack to cater to local Indian tastes, the benefits of low time in cooking
(the 2 minute claim), convenience in preparing the meal, etc. In addition
to all of the above, as Dr. Ranjan Saxena, Director of Indian Institute of
Management, Indore, who considers technological changes as one of the
major factors contributing to the development of new product, points out:
‘If Mrs. Indira Gandhi’s Government had not decided to expand the
television network to cover 70% of the Indian population, launched its
own satellite INSAT 1B and started colour telecast in 1982, it is extremely
doubtful if many of today’s products would have seen the light of day in
the Indian market. As an example, Maggi Noodles wouldn’t have been so
successful’*.
With Maggi noodles highly successful in establishing its brand through its
sponsoring of the indigenous soap opera Humlog, Maggi, from a brand
name of noodles, became a brand name for Nestle, serving as a springboard
for it to launch its other food products. The fact that Humlog contributed
significantly to the success of Maggi Noodles opened the eyes of Indian
advertisers to the potential of promotional communication. Prior to Humlog,
Indian advertisers were not much convinced about television as an
7 Kumar and Chunawala 2002
8 Saxena 2002 2 2 7 .
6 Social Change : September 2004

advertising medium - but soon after, advertisers rushed for ‘commercial

slots’ and very often, the waiting time was as long as ten months. Ironically,
in this process, the inspiring experienc-e of Mexico’s Television in
development communication, which was the inspiration for Humlog, ended
in market communication. Although this popular soap opera is still
popularly known as Monohar Shyam Joshi’s Humlog, many changes and
revisions were made on the basis of feedback from viewers who made
suggestions on the advancementof story and characterisation. As a result,
it lost its central idea (family planning) after the thirteenth episode, and
after completion of the seventeen month long serial, most of its social
messages had been diluted, and drowned in an ocean of melodrama. As in
the case of product marketing, where a vigorous market research is
conducted to identify what the consumer wants, in developing the plot of
Humlog, it was kept thoroughly abreast of what viewers wanted to see.
This paid off - Humlog turned out to be a brand, a ‘serial’ that was not to
be missed. Moreover, Humlog made ‘serials’ a best selling brand for Indian
television industry by establishing itself among the viewers as a most
popular programme in prime time. The revenue from advertising of
Doordarshan soared. In 1982-83, before Humlog was telecast,
Doordarshan revenue was Rs. 15, 88,74,060. This doubled in 1984-85
(Rs.3 1,43,45,326) during the Humlog telecast, and further shot up to Rs.
136,30,00,000 in 1987-88, after Humlog, an Indian indigenous soap opera,
displayed its immense strength to reach the Indian audience9.

The ‘serial’ as a best selling brand

Humlog opened the floodgate for sponsored indigenous soap operas and
sitcoms, heralding the coming of age of the ‘serial’, which, for the Indian
audience mean both soap opera and sitcom. Doordarshan increased its
advertising rate by 150% in three years after Humlog. Advertising revenue
grew by an average of 62.5% over a period of eight years, to Rs. 361
crores in 1992-93.
Many private television production companies emerged in the areas of
producing popular programme. Advertising agencies like Lintas, entered
into show business. By 1987, more than 40 serials had been telecasted,
such as Buniyad, Khandan, Yeh Jo Hain Jindegi, etc. On an average, two
were shown every evening at prime time. The best brand out classed all
other television genres. As a result, in Doordarshan, the volume of film

9 Source Annual Reports. Ministry of Information and Broadcastmg, Doordarshan, 1997

7 Social Change : September 2004

based programme, talk shows, quiz programme, and foreign soap operas
declined. Most importantly, by this time the basic objective of introducing
television in this country was forgotten.
In 1985, a working group on programming for Doordarshan headed by
P.C. Joshi, an economist and sociologist, was set up. The Joshi Committee
report clearly argued that the audiovisual mode of communication had the
potential of serving as the most powerful promoter of growth with equity
in an illiteracy and inequity stricken society. The committee warned the
urban middle class not to monopolise the medium, which was originally
meant for the illiterate, underdeveloped rural people, and projected
possibilities of the medium becoming a propaganda tool for the short-
term gain of politicians.
Ironically, popular soap operas like Rajani, Kakaji Kahin or Nukkad proved
that the electronic medium could easily be the mouthpiece of common
people. Basu Chattrerjee’s Rajani, where Priya Tendulkar played the lead
role, became a popular soap. Rajani was an outspoken middle class woman,
very straightforward, who always spoke of her mind and stood for the
right things. Priya, the actress who played Rajani, said in interviews that
she was called Rajani even on the street. Many people approached her to
appreciate ‘her’ (Rajani’s) boldness. Some of them approached her with
their personal problems (so that she could intervene and solve them).
Rajani became a brand personality symbolising social justice in television.
Similarly, in Nukkczd, it was shown that the ‘citizens’ of a slum called
Nukkad, represented only a working class, irrespective of any caste or
religion, and had to stand united to fight for their survival, as they shared
similar interests. These serials were the indications of the great potentiality
of Doordarshan in bringing a change in people’s attitude, creating an
environment for development, and arousing a consciousness among the
deprived population. But, as the Joshi Committee observed, Doordarshan
ignored this ground reality and promoted a non-development corpus of
commercialised programme in the area of entertainment.
As the number of soap operas increased, the plot, set, characterisation
and story became more diversified. DD2, the Metro Channel started in the
mid-eighties. Viewers became more selective and fragmented. With
advertising costs eroding the advertiser’s budget, they became more
demanding and wanted their every penny’s worth. A salient development
occurred at this point. NRS IVYconducted jointly by the Indian Market
Research Bureau (IMRB) and MARG, was published in I991 and television
8 Social Change : September 2004

viewership data was made available in this survey. The Television Rating
Point (TRP) of IMRB was the first attempt at TV viewership monitoring.
Indian advertisers became more dependent on TRP for their media planning
as they could readily grasp the TV viewing habits of people by glancing
through the TRP. Therefore, all the TV serial producers tried their utmost
to climb up the TRP chart. As this competition emerged in Indian television,
Doordarshan shifted from being a best selling brand serial to a best selling
branded serial.

Mythological serials
As Indian advertisers grid their loins for the battle of the brands, vying
with each other to climb the TRP chart, there emerged the concept of
‘mega serial’, with the big commercial box-office filmmakers of the
Mumbai film industry, who recognised the revenue potential of the small
screen, jumping into the fray. Ramanand Sagar and B.R. Chopra produced
religious serials on Indian mythology, the Ramayan and the Mahabharat
respectively, towards the end of eighties. Ramananda Sagar’s Ramayana
ignited religious emotion among millions of Hindus. The serial projected
Ram (Arun Govil) as an ‘Avtar’ and ‘Sita’ (Dipika) as ‘Sari’. Reports
published in newspapers showed that many villagers worshiped and offered
‘Pujas’ (prayer) to television sets while the programme was on the air.
Arun Govil became a branded Ram, and Dipika became a branded Sita for
many Hindus. This time, not the businessmen, but politicians and Hindu
fundamentalists took advantage of such branding. Arun and Dipika dressed
in Ram and Sita costumes participated in political rallies and campaigned
for a political party with close ties to Hindu fundamental groups.
B. R. Chopra produced Mahabharat in the same religious packaging, but
more refined, to some extent. Mahabharat became such a super hit branded
mega serial that streets were deserted on Sunday mornings when the
programme was aired. It scored the highest audience rating among all
other television programme till 1990. In his contextual analysis of how
the Mahabharat fit into Indian popular culture in 1993, Ananda Mitra
mentions that nearly 92% of total television viewers had watched the
serial, according to a newspaper poll in July 1990. Many replica of arms
and weapons of ancient India, as shown in Ramayana and Mahabharata,
appeared in children toy stores at street corners. Monkey masks, crowns
of kings, teeth of rakshasas (demons), posters, stickers, Mahabharat diaries
and other specialty items were brought into the market. The word Maha
9 Social Change : September 2004

also came to be incorporated into the linguistic orthodoxy of Indian

advertising. Products were labeled as Maha, for example, Maha Strong
(Amrutanjan Balm), Maha cola (Coca-Cola), Maha Shakti (Rin), Maha
Coil (Mortain) along with many ‘Muhu Chut’, ‘Muhu Chad’, ‘Muhu Offer ’
or ‘Muhu Puck,’ ‘Muhu Movies’, and so on. One must admit that
Muhubharut influenced people’s lives in a Maha (great) way. Children,
imitating the laughter of the great heroes of Indian mythology (as shown
in TV), jumped on each other, maces in hand, and subjected themselves
to physical damage. Their seniors did likewise. The only difference was
that they jumped on top of a historical monument on December 6 1992
and demolished it, hurting the pride of religious harmony of the nation.
In winter, 1991, in the wake of the Gulf War, Cable News Network
(CNN) of Atlanta, Georgia made its presence felt in India through its
telecast of the air attack in Iraq. This particular coverage made such
a difference in the attitude among viewers towards the news channel
that it inspired other news companies to enter Indian market. BBC,
the British Broadcasting Company, was incorporated in Star TV on
October 14, 1991 as the news channel of star network. These two
global giants in international news services and the closest competitors
too, received immense acceptance among Indian viewers due to their
technical and professional superiority in news presentation and
coverage. However, both the CNN and BBC channels came under severe
criticism from the Government of India and other political leaders
over the Babri Masjid issue. On December 6, 1992, when Hindu
fundamentalists demolished the Babri Masjid, a historical mosque in
Ajodhya, the news broke out in foreign news channels in the evening
and the whole country was stunned and traumatised. This was followed
by violence and riots all over for a week. BBC first transmitted the
news of the attack on the mosque at 3.30 p.m. and telecasted detail
news of mosque demolition at 7.30 p.m. It showed footage of the
‘crusade’ next morning at 7 am. However CNN was first to show the
footage of demolition of one dome of the mosque. Many Central and
State ministers including Defense Minister Sharad Pawar and Chief
Minister of West Bengal, Jyoti Basu criticised BBC and CNN for
provocation of violence in the country through irresponsible journalism.
It was argued that, according to the BBC report, the mosque was
demolished by ‘Hindus’. Further, photographs of the incident shown
repeatedly in both the channels demoralised the country. Sidhartha
Roy, then the head of Star TV in India, acknowledged that although
10 Social Change September 2004
’

the term ‘Hindu Karsevak’ was mentioned in initial news bulletin, later,
the mosque attackers were described as ‘terrorists’ o r
‘fundamentalists’. Ashish Roy, South Asia Bureau Chief of CNN, on
the other hand, claimed that they reported from the beginning that
Hindu fundamentalists demolished the mosque.
Following this incident, the unilateral flow of information on India from
the electronic media organisations of the West became a concern for many.
Public broadcasting institutions such as the BBC were under particular
obligations to be neutral and balanced. However, one of the most significant
developments in 1990s regarding the journalist’s role in society emerged
from a reassessment o f the ‘neutral’ verses ‘participant’ dichotomy.
‘Karsevak’, ‘Hindu karsevake’, ‘Hindu fundamentalist’ or ‘fundamentalist’
could not have the same connotation for different segments of the society.
At time when Indian society appeared to be most fragile in the face of
religious hatreds whipped up by unscrupulous political interests,
authenticity demanded to go beyond fact-finding - to be more faithful to
the social flux than to the professional craft. This was a take off point for
indigenous news channels in India with a perceived identity - the active
participatory Indian news channel.
The most relevant question in this context, which remained untouched in
most of the discussions that took place relating to the Babri Masjid issue,
was the role played by Doordarshan in promoting religious bias in the
mind of common Hindus. The Ramayan fueled Hindutva during a period
when ‘RamJanma Bhumi’ was a burning issue in Indian politics. Ramayan
and Mahabharat, in final analysis, definitely contributed substantially in
developing fanatic religious sentiment in a section of Hindu community.
Hindu fundamentalists capitalised on the demand for a Ram Mandir at
Ajodhya, to make it a national issue. Doordarshan, the most powerful
electronic medium, promoted a religious fanfare through the serials like
Ramayan and Mahabharat’o.

10 In many newspapers published during the ~ O ’ S , DD was criticised for promoting

‘hindi-hindu’ hegemony through religious serials. It was argued that Doordarshan
presented ‘the image of India as Bharat where the rule o f dharma, as embodied in the
Mahabharaaf and Ramayana, were reproduced as natural, unequivocal and preferred.
This was articulated with the emerging Hindu reawakening, wherein the notion of a
non-secular Hindu State was becoming increasingly predominant’ (‘Enclyclopedia of
Mass Communication’ edited by K P Yadav. 1998. Institute for Environment
Development. Lucknow. Sarup & Sons, New Delhi)
11 Social Change : September 2004

Film based programmes

Film. based programmes, particularly programmes on Hindi film songs
have been much popular from the very beginning of Indian television till
today. From January 1, 1976, when advertising on television (the
‘commercial’) was introduced, for a decade, Hindi films and film-based
programme dominated Indian television. Even after the success of the
soap opera Humlog, which opened the floodgates for serials, film-song
based programmes remained one of the most popular shows for the Indian
audience. The film song in television was in fact a desi version of the
music video of the west. One film-based programme that held its brand
equity substantially over more than a decade was Chitrahar. No other
television programme has remained so popular for such a long period of
time. It retained a large segment of television viewers in spite of many
similar competitive programmes in the Metro Channel. The closest
competitor of Chitrahar was Superhit Muqabla, which eroded part of its
brand share. Finally, IMRB’s ratings revealed that Superhit Muqabla scored
higher points than the old favourite, Chitrahar, in three out of the four
metro cities. Superhit Muqabla had a tally of 50 TRP against Chitrahar’s
40 TRP.
As the number of channels increased after satellite TV invaded this country,
there emerged immense competition among all television channels in India.
In the nineties, Doordarshan, failing to provide quality entertainment
programmes, lost its crown to the satellite channels. In response,
Doordarshan went by the old adage: ‘If you can’t beat them, join them’.
Doordarshan pushed forward DD metro and other original channels - it
aired more film-based entertaining programme, such as House Full, Hello
Bombay, and Mirch Masala and the TRP of the metro channel went up
again. Further, the advertising rates for regional channels were trimmed,
and discounts were offered depending on the slots and the numbers of
times the same advertisement was shown. Thus, in the face of competition,
Doordarshan promoted more film song-based programmes. This was
criticised by the Joshi Committee, on the ground that primary objectives
were lost sight of.

Children’s Programmes
Doordarshan was never much successful in popularising children’s
programmes. Children’s programmes like cartoon shows and puppet shows
were borrowed from foreign television. Some of the serials for children
that generated a comparatively good response were Bikram Aur Baital,
12 Social Chacge : September 2004

Stories from the Pancha Tantra, Ek Do Tin Char, and Shaktiman. By

comparison, children’s magazines like Amar Chitra Katha (ACK) and
Chandamama were phenomenal successes. Nagi Reddi in 1947 founded
Chandamama and Anant Pai founded ACK in 1967. Both the magazines
reached their zenith in the eighties - circulating monthly nine lakhs and
five lakhs copies respectively. However their circulations dropped
drastically in the nineties. Of the many reasons, a major one was
competition from television. ACK tried to jump on to the TV bandwagon
in 1987, extending the brand to TV, which had not really taken off. Later
in 1998, ACK sold its TV rights to UTV for a flat royalty fee of Rs.
25,000/- per episode. UTV produced and aired fifty half-hour episodes on
DD, which UTV director Zarina Mehta claimed enjoyed good TRPs -
between 5 and 10. This way, a brand of print media made an entry to
television.
The most popular children’s programme ever made on Doordarshan was
the serial Shaktiman. Shaktiman is a super hero with a double identity -
normally masquerading behind a persona of a worthless, funny, buck-
toothed photographer and at times of emergency, transforming into the
most powerful man on earth, in steel colour archetypal dress with his
logo on the chest - a hero who is credited with having saved the world
from disastrous evil. Shaktiman, an excellent branding of a children’s
hero, or, should we say, an excellent blending of super heroes of the West
such as Superman with the Indian imagination, was developed through
computer generated special effects and camera tricks. Mukhesh Khanna,
famed for his role of Bhisma in Mahabharat played the role of Shaktiman
and this character made him more popular than any other role he played in
his entire acting career. The serial fascinated children and many of them
subjected themselves to extreme danger by imitating the stunts and actions
of Shaktiman. This lead to a critical question of ethics of producing
programme likes Shaktiman, which caused physical and psychological
injuries to the most fragile section of the population - the children.
Shaktiman, the power brand of childrens Super Hero, appeared in other
product categories also, for example, the logo of Shaktiman printed on T-
shirts, Shaktiman dress for kids, Shaktiman masks, toys etc. Funny
looking Shaktiman masks with spectacles and long teeth are still available
with vendors of toys and other children items.
One obvious question that comes to mind is that of why Indian
television seems to be hesitant to develop children’s programmes other
than a few quiz shows. Since the eighties, in Doordarshan and later in
13 Social Change : September 2004

all other television channels, programme content was strongly

dominated by market forces. Interestingly, children, like the youth,
have become a clearly defined target segment for Indian marketers,
but still, children’s programmes, both in quality and quantity, are in
short supply. One reason, as Unninkrishnan and Bajpai had shown in
their research titled ‘The Impact of Advertising on Children’ (1996),
is that most Indian children watch adult programming. Further the in-
house audience research of Channel V revealed that the children (teens)
had no control over programme selection during 7.00pm. to 10.00pm.
These hours are considered as family prime time. Children, being a
part in the family, consist a significant audience segment of the ‘family
programme’ i.e., the adult programme section, by default. As a result,
advertisers never face difficulty in reaching their target audience. Thus,
Maggi Noodles, focusing primarily on the children market, achieved
remarkable success through sponsoring the family soap - HumZog.
Another mega brand in the Indian soft drink market, Rasna, tagged
along the TV viewing habits of the Indian family in developing its
creative and media strategy. Mudra Communication Limited, appointed
as the advertising agency by the manufacturer, Pioma Industries,
recognised the relevance of television as a ‘family medium’ to position
Rasna as family product, hence 50% of the budget allocated to the
audio-visual medium was used in TV as early as 1984, when this
medium was in its infancy. In creating a distinct brand personality, a
brand that was a member of the family - warm, reassuring and worth
showing off - a child was considered to be the best ‘route’ to take.
Thus, the child mascot, Ankita, was born. Rasna also took advantage
of sponsorship of very relevant children programmes such as
Spiderman, Ek Do Teen Char and quiz shows to further strengthen
brand personality.

Promoting art and culture

Doordarshan, in order to promote programming of substance, invited
a handful of eminent filmmakers to make television productions.
Satyajit Ray (Sadgari), Shyam Benegal (Bharat Ek Khoj), Govind
Nihalini (Tamas), Sayeed Mrja (Nukkad), Basu Chatterjee (Rajani)
were the names of some of the respected filmmakers who helped
Doordarshan to build up its image as a medium of art (and commerce).
Doordarshan also produced some of the classics such as R.K.
Narayan’s Malgudi Days, televised adaptations of Indian and foreign
short stories, directed by well known filmmakers such as Satyajit
14 Social Change : September 2004

Ray, Shyam Benegal, political satires like Kukuji Kahin acted by Om

Puri, and F l o p S h o w , Jaspal Bhatti’s sitcom on tainted public
administration. Such an association o f directors o f art film and
alternative cinema and literary classics brought esteem and honor to
Doordarshan. Apart from that, Doordarshan also aired programmes
on classical music late at night. The most eminent personalities of
Indian classical music and dance made their debut through t h e
electronic medium o f Doordarshan.
The problem was that most of these programmes fulfilled the intellectual
appetite of a section of the urban and semi-urban elite and middle class,
leaving the larger section of the population, the poor and the illiterate,
mainly residing in the rural areas,,untouched. For the poor and the backward
sections of the population, film and film-based programmes, serials like
the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, remained most popular. Programmes
on classical music and dance remained a classy affair of the urban elite.
There was no special drive to popularise such programmes among the
common audience. In that sense, once again, it revealed the monopolistic
control over the medium by the urban people.

Conclusions
The development of major areas of programme genres of Doordarshan
can be viewed in the light of increasing influence of the market mechanism
in India. Apparently, this is a normal development of the media market.
The very objective of using the electronic medium in this country as an
instrument of development communication got overwhelmed in the ocean
of promotional communication of Indian business. Further, commercial
rewards out of such market demand, cherished by the Doordarshan
authority during a period of absolute monopoly over this medium, had
grossly undermined the much-valued religious unity. Instead of promoting
a scientific attitude among the people and taking a proper social accounting
of the children of a developing nation, Indian television prompted medieval
social values as well as western urban culture. In the nineties, after the
satellite channels invaded the country, Doordarshan, in the face of stiff
competition, concentrated on the market share through generating popular
mass culture along the lines of privately owned cable channels. Further,
under a new State policy of privatisation and globalisation, all its early
objectives to support development communication lost fundamental
relevance. 0
1S Social Change : September 2004

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