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TV serial producers are up in arms against the telecast of dubbed serials by channels in Tamil Nadu. With more and more Tamil satellite channels opting to air dubbed versions of Hindi mega serials, the future looks bleak for them, they say. Our survival is threatened, say members of the Federation of Small Screen Technicians (FESST) of Tamil Nadu. Those in Andhra Pradesh have already expressed their protest against the inroads made by dubbed serials.
The association, which comprises producers, actors, directors and other technicians from the small screen, are worried about the fact that dubbed serials will eat into the market and squeeze them out of the scenario.
Popular Hindi serials are dubbed straight away into Tamil. And thus, none of the people employed in the 23 aspects of the craft of making a mega serial get work — except for those in the dubbing studios, they allege. When a mega soap is made in Tamil more than 100 people, including producers, the director with assistants, the story writer, cameraman with assistants, actors and actresses, production manager, catering service etc are involved in its making. When a dubbed serial is aired on a channel, thousands of employees are left jobless.
Solairaja, a mega serial producer, notes that today almost all the channels telecast dubbed serials which occupy almost 50 per cent of some channels’ programming while some even run their TV channels by virtue of 100 per cent dubbed serials alone. “We have spoken to the heads of television channels to stop them. We are hopeful of a favourable reply,” he said.
Leading actor Radha Ravi, who is also the President of the Dubbing Union, says, “These serials are against our culture. It is time that we resisted airing them. Though I represent the Dubbing Union, whose members are benefited by the invasion of these dubbed serials, I feel that this trend is not healthy and will be a threat to the survival of the industry,” the veteran actor pointed out.
A top serial producer who preferred to remain unnamed said that certain channels were adamant on not suspending dubbed serials despite the representation they had made to them. “They turned down the request, stating that the channel was making better revenue through the dubbed content. They also pointed out that dubbed content gave the channel better TRPs,” he said.
The association members pointed out that established channels too ought to be open to new ideas, and give opportunities to newer entrants in the field instead of working with only a handful of producers and making long-term contracts with them. This was why the newer producers had found their calling in dubbing studios. They purchase Hindi mega serials for a song and dub them, thereby avoiding the tensions of dealing with local production houses and other attendant hassles.
The economic realities of this are straightforward enough. Mala Manyan, an individual television producer and former COO of Raj TV, at first felt irked on seeing Sindhu Bhairavi (a dubbed version of the Hindi soap Uttaran) appear on Raj TV. “I used to ask them, do we have a dearth of talent locally. Later, I realised that the dubbed serials were economically viable. Besides, audiences fancied such grandeur in terms of rich costumes, grand sets and location etc, and were glued to even dubbed serials on TV,” she conceded.
The industry does understand the concerns afoot, and there are those who are prepared to come halfway. Sriram, General Manager of Vijay TV said, “95 per cent of our content is original. Only 5 per cent consists of dubbed serials, which are actually used as fillers. If the industry and broadcaster come together and resolve not to air any dubbed serials on Tamil TV channels, we are ready to abide by this.” But, he added quickly, “This condition should not come in the way of our dubbed films. Almost all the channels are telecasting dubbed films from other languages, including Telugu, Malayalam, and more so, English.”
Regardless of what the industry members think and irrespective of which segment is affected most by the practice, TV viewers spoken to corroborated that Tamil audiences were no strangers to dubbed serials. Hindi mega-soaps that used to be aired on Doordarshan in decades past inevitably found their way on to the screens in the southern states. “We watched Pidivatham, the dubbed version of Junoon on Doordarshan in the early 1990s,” pointed out Susheela Balaraman, 70, an avid TV viewer. “After all, we all grew up watching serials like Nukkad, Hum Log, Fauji and Circus. Though we used to joke about the way they pronounced their Tamil, the same holding true in reverse format too, and complained about the poor quality of dubbing, we still watched them. There was a time when the term ‘Junoon Tamil’ became a fad and people used to speak also in a similar fashion. I think those days are back now, with many Hindi serials being dubbed and aired on a few channels,” she added.
To dub or not to dub? | Deccan Chronicle
.
The association, which comprises producers, actors, directors and other technicians from the small screen, are worried about the fact that dubbed serials will eat into the market and squeeze them out of the scenario.
Popular Hindi serials are dubbed straight away into Tamil. And thus, none of the people employed in the 23 aspects of the craft of making a mega serial get work — except for those in the dubbing studios, they allege. When a mega soap is made in Tamil more than 100 people, including producers, the director with assistants, the story writer, cameraman with assistants, actors and actresses, production manager, catering service etc are involved in its making. When a dubbed serial is aired on a channel, thousands of employees are left jobless.
Solairaja, a mega serial producer, notes that today almost all the channels telecast dubbed serials which occupy almost 50 per cent of some channels’ programming while some even run their TV channels by virtue of 100 per cent dubbed serials alone. “We have spoken to the heads of television channels to stop them. We are hopeful of a favourable reply,” he said.
Leading actor Radha Ravi, who is also the President of the Dubbing Union, says, “These serials are against our culture. It is time that we resisted airing them. Though I represent the Dubbing Union, whose members are benefited by the invasion of these dubbed serials, I feel that this trend is not healthy and will be a threat to the survival of the industry,” the veteran actor pointed out.
A top serial producer who preferred to remain unnamed said that certain channels were adamant on not suspending dubbed serials despite the representation they had made to them. “They turned down the request, stating that the channel was making better revenue through the dubbed content. They also pointed out that dubbed content gave the channel better TRPs,” he said.
The association members pointed out that established channels too ought to be open to new ideas, and give opportunities to newer entrants in the field instead of working with only a handful of producers and making long-term contracts with them. This was why the newer producers had found their calling in dubbing studios. They purchase Hindi mega serials for a song and dub them, thereby avoiding the tensions of dealing with local production houses and other attendant hassles.
The economic realities of this are straightforward enough. Mala Manyan, an individual television producer and former COO of Raj TV, at first felt irked on seeing Sindhu Bhairavi (a dubbed version of the Hindi soap Uttaran) appear on Raj TV. “I used to ask them, do we have a dearth of talent locally. Later, I realised that the dubbed serials were economically viable. Besides, audiences fancied such grandeur in terms of rich costumes, grand sets and location etc, and were glued to even dubbed serials on TV,” she conceded.
The industry does understand the concerns afoot, and there are those who are prepared to come halfway. Sriram, General Manager of Vijay TV said, “95 per cent of our content is original. Only 5 per cent consists of dubbed serials, which are actually used as fillers. If the industry and broadcaster come together and resolve not to air any dubbed serials on Tamil TV channels, we are ready to abide by this.” But, he added quickly, “This condition should not come in the way of our dubbed films. Almost all the channels are telecasting dubbed films from other languages, including Telugu, Malayalam, and more so, English.”
Regardless of what the industry members think and irrespective of which segment is affected most by the practice, TV viewers spoken to corroborated that Tamil audiences were no strangers to dubbed serials. Hindi mega-soaps that used to be aired on Doordarshan in decades past inevitably found their way on to the screens in the southern states. “We watched Pidivatham, the dubbed version of Junoon on Doordarshan in the early 1990s,” pointed out Susheela Balaraman, 70, an avid TV viewer. “After all, we all grew up watching serials like Nukkad, Hum Log, Fauji and Circus. Though we used to joke about the way they pronounced their Tamil, the same holding true in reverse format too, and complained about the poor quality of dubbing, we still watched them. There was a time when the term ‘Junoon Tamil’ became a fad and people used to speak also in a similar fashion. I think those days are back now, with many Hindi serials being dubbed and aired on a few channels,” she added.
To dub or not to dub? | Deccan Chronicle
.
