Thakur
Banned
- Joined
- 30 Aug 2013
- Messages
- 14,856
- Reaction score
- 8,575
Indian cable television has been struggling for
a while now, trying to grasp at a formula after
its blockbuster phase one. It hasn’t found one.
The saas-bahu serials, mythology dramas,
reality shows still do well, but their TRPs are
nothing compared to what the top shows
boasted about 10 years ago. And so, finally, it’s
trying new things. Thank god!
Zee TV recently launched Zindagi with a
handful of Pakistani serials and, Allah ka lakh-
lakh shukr hai, that it’s been doing rather well
across India, especially in Kashmir.
Before that, last year, there was Anil Kapoor’s
24. That adaptation of a firangi hit show was
billed as Indian television’s game changer. And
it does seem to have given programming heads
of our TV channels some himmat to try out
new things.
The big show this year, which began airing on
Monday, is director Ribhu Dasgupta’s Yudh
(Sony), starring Amitabh Bachchan in the title
role.
The serial, which has Anurag Kashyap as the
creative director and Soojit Sarkar as the
creative consultant, took off to a promising
start. Set in Faridabad, Uttar Pradesh, the
show is centred around Yudhisthir Sikarwar, a
construction magnet who is both respected
and feared. The show’s story is nicely
complicated and yet predictable.
It has various strands — there are malevolent
business rivals, bureaucrats and politicians, a
dysfunctional family, another family that gives
him some joy and creeping death because of a
neuropsychological disorder. Obviously, some
inspiration for Amitabh Bachchan’s character
has been taken from AB’s classic films — he
runs Shanti Constructions, the same company
that he ran in Trishul, and we will get glimpses
of the angry Vijay from Deewaar.
The show’s USP are its actors — apart from
Amitabh Bachchan, there’s Sarika, Kay Kay
Menon, Zakir Hussain and Tigmanshu Dhulia
who is really very good. I believe Nawazuddin
Siddiqui will soon join the ensemble.
Amitabh Bachchan was delightfully restrained
in the first episode. I hope he’s able to resist
resorting to his signature hamming throughout.
If he is, Yudh will be remembered for giving us
what we’ve been craving for years —Amitabh
Bachchan as he was when we all fell in love
with him. Finally, something new on TV | Deccan Chronicle
a while now, trying to grasp at a formula after
its blockbuster phase one. It hasn’t found one.
The saas-bahu serials, mythology dramas,
reality shows still do well, but their TRPs are
nothing compared to what the top shows
boasted about 10 years ago. And so, finally, it’s
trying new things. Thank god!
Zee TV recently launched Zindagi with a
handful of Pakistani serials and, Allah ka lakh-
lakh shukr hai, that it’s been doing rather well
across India, especially in Kashmir.
Before that, last year, there was Anil Kapoor’s
24. That adaptation of a firangi hit show was
billed as Indian television’s game changer. And
it does seem to have given programming heads
of our TV channels some himmat to try out
new things.
The big show this year, which began airing on
Monday, is director Ribhu Dasgupta’s Yudh
(Sony), starring Amitabh Bachchan in the title
role.
The serial, which has Anurag Kashyap as the
creative director and Soojit Sarkar as the
creative consultant, took off to a promising
start. Set in Faridabad, Uttar Pradesh, the
show is centred around Yudhisthir Sikarwar, a
construction magnet who is both respected
and feared. The show’s story is nicely
complicated and yet predictable.
It has various strands — there are malevolent
business rivals, bureaucrats and politicians, a
dysfunctional family, another family that gives
him some joy and creeping death because of a
neuropsychological disorder. Obviously, some
inspiration for Amitabh Bachchan’s character
has been taken from AB’s classic films — he
runs Shanti Constructions, the same company
that he ran in Trishul, and we will get glimpses
of the angry Vijay from Deewaar.
The show’s USP are its actors — apart from
Amitabh Bachchan, there’s Sarika, Kay Kay
Menon, Zakir Hussain and Tigmanshu Dhulia
who is really very good. I believe Nawazuddin
Siddiqui will soon join the ensemble.
Amitabh Bachchan was delightfully restrained
in the first episode. I hope he’s able to resist
resorting to his signature hamming throughout.
If he is, Yudh will be remembered for giving us
what we’ve been craving for years —Amitabh
Bachchan as he was when we all fell in love
with him. Finally, something new on TV | Deccan Chronicle
