Ever wondered about serial killers? The psychology behind them? What makes them do it? Is it because they were abused as children? Or, are they a reflection of the dilapidated dog-eat-dog society that we have become? Well, I leave all these questions to the true psychologists and thriller authors (who must be thanking them privately as they make a good subject for best sellers!) – I want to delve behind the psychology of a different kind of ‘serial’ killers – Yes, I am talking about the mega ‘serials’ these TV channels keep churning out everyday.

 

            Ever since the advent of satellite TV, or for that matter our good old Doordarshan era, a silent killer called mega-serials have plagued TV watchers. Remember ‘Junoon’ from the good old DD days and the funny translation in Tamil which gave rise to another dialect of Tamil called Junoon-Tamil! Well, all these so-called mega-serials start out pretty decently, with some kind of interesting plot, but if the TRP ratings (whatever they are!) increase, they don’t want to end it, and they run out of plots, actors quit and get replaced (or get conveniently killed in an accident!) and they are forced to include side plots and new characters – It just can’t get any messier than this! And it meanders on and on and on, like Sindbad, Dinathanthi style!

 

            My own experience with these soaps is probably glimpses caught quite accidentally, or the bits of dialogue heard from the living room, though I should accept that some of the title songs are pretty catchy. I remember singing in my sleep ‘Selvi Selvi’ one day and no doubt, there were awkward questions about who the girl was! As women (mostly middle aged, I guess) form the majority of the viewers for these ‘serial killers’, whenever I don’t get to watch a cricket match on TV because the lady of the house wants to watch ‘Selvi’ or whenever I have this cool movie showing on HBO and I am intently watching an action sequence, but it is rudely interrupted because of a ‘Chithi’ or ‘Periamma’ (seriously I don’t care!), I have taken time to (well, what choice is there, really, I cannot touch the remote for another half hour!) wonder about this phenomenon.

 

            Have you ever wondered - what is with women and mega-serials? What do these women get by watching these soaps and crying, day in and day out? Agreed, most of them are women-centric, right from Chithi of Sun TV fame to the Kyunki genre of Ekta Kapoor’s soaps. Men just seem to be props, both the good guys and bad guys in these soaps are well, not guys, but the fairer sex. Agreed, there may be men also who are addicted to them (I haven’t met one, yet!), but why do women dig these things so much? As if all the problems in their own life is not enough? Is it because of a kind of sadistic idea that there are people with much more problems than themselves?

 

            Have you ever wondered – where they get the ‘imaginative’ and ‘original’ titles for these soaps? I don’t think there exists any ornament that has not had the privilege of featuring in the titles of mega serials. Metti oli, maangalyam, valayal, please give us a break! And, most of the time they’ll have some positive and happy title like ‘Aanandam’ (Joy), ‘Nimmadi’ (Happiness), and you will be left wondering where is the connection between the title and the story, as there won’t be a shred of happiness or joy, but only loads of glycerin-induced tears!

 

            Have you ever wondered – How amidst all the bombings in Iraq, or the foiled terror plots), or the chaos in Afganisthan, or the rising prices back home, Smriti Irani leaving Kyonki saan bhi kabhi bahu thi grabs the headlines in national news? What do they do for causing such a mass hysteria over soap? Are there any ‘sublime messages’ beamed in these serials for hypnotizing the masses? (Sorry, I read a lot of thrillers – all kinds of conspiracy theories, couldn’t help myself with that one!)

 

            Have you ever wondered – at least those of you who watch Tamil serials on sun TV (other channels are somewhat experimenting with game shows or reality shows or so-called comedy shows, which make you cry more than the serials anyway), why is it always the ‘good’ protagonist in the soap are traditional looking (nice sarees sponsored by some famous shop in T-Nagar), with loads of flowers, bangles and the works, and the vamp is portrayed as quite modern (short hair, loads of make up and jeans)?

 

            Well, I can go on and on, I find the whole phenomenon puzzling to say the least, but if I don’t go grab the remote right now, I’ll not get it for another 2 hours, so for all of you out there who can’t stand 1 minute of these soaps, join the club, maybe we can start a support group for ourselves, the victims of ‘serial killers’!