The new Hindi language television channel Epic hopes to conquer the future by firing over the shoulders of kings, queens, spies and historical figures.
Among the shows drawn from Indian history, mythology and folklore that will go on air from November 19 is Siyaasat, a Mughal-era drama that draws from Indu Sundaresan’s novel The Twentieth Wife, Dharmakshetra, which explores the aftermath of the Kurukshetra war towards the end of the Mahabharata epic, and Dariba Diaries, a colonial-era detective show.
History will be rendered through a fictional lens. Take Siyaasat, which is the story of how Emperor Jehangir’s consort, Nur Jehan, consolidated her position in the Mughal court. “Salim’s pathway to becoming Jahangir is fraught with all kinds of stories,” said channel head Mahesh Samat. The series will focus on this Game of Thrones-style battle for succession by focusing on other key characters in Jahangir’s court.
In Dharmakshetra, the Mahabharata’s key characters will defend themselves in the aftermath of the disastrous Kurukshetra battle. Dariba Diaries is a detective series set in the pre-Mutiny years. “When we did our research a year ago, we found that one sixth of programming across television channels in India is centred on history and mythology,” Samat said.
No revisionism
Epic is not interested in revisionist or jingoistic accounts, but in stories that are engrossing and lend themselves to the strengths and constraints of Indian television, Samat added. “I think this is a good time to create entertaining stories based on history and mythology,” he said. “I don’t have any delusions of grandeur, but I hope to get people interested in history, especially at a time when we are walking away from liberal arts education towards engineering and science.”
Although Epic’s backers Anand Mahindra and Mukesh Ambani probably didn’t plan it that way, the time is ripe for a channel that looks closely at the men and women who shaped our history and collective imagination. History textbooks are being revised, Indian foundational myths are being rewritten, historical personalities are being knocked off their pedestals and a new monumentalisation is in process.
Epic hopes to avoid pesky litigation and controversies by being curious about the past without being irreverent. “Doing business in India is fraught with these issues, and in a democracy, some checks and balances are great,” Samat said. “Since we are not aiming to be iconoclastic or disrespectful, I don’t expect us to face any more issues than what any [media] organisation would normally face. As businessmen and people in the media and entertainment sectors, we should not shy away from such things. If we had to worry about ifs and buts, nobody would attempt anything.”
The long view
The fact that actor and television show anchor Javed Jaffrey will host a comedy series on Hindi films from the eighties proves that Epic’s definition of history is flexible and contingent on its programming needs. “Our definition of history is from 5,000 yrs ago to 20 years ago if the content is good and there is a story sense,” Samat said.
The 24-hour channel’s mix sounds a bit like HBO, a bit like the History Channel, and a bit like Doordarshan during the eighties and early nineties. There will be limited edition shows of an hour or 30-minute duration on the history of food in India, famous assassinations, well-known spies and abandoned sites across the country such as forts, monasteries and whole villages. Samat doesn’t like the word “period”, but the adjective perfectly suits their production design, content and scope. “Period connotes seventies films, kings and queens,” Samat explained. “We are trying to make historical narratives more approachable, use a different syntax in storytelling.”
For Indian viewers of a certain vintage who watched Doordarshan during its glory years, and who took in such classics as Bharat Ek Khoj, Tamas, Mujrim Hazir and Buniyaad, Epic’s efforts will seem familiar. However, popular taste and narrative styles have vastly changed since the advent of satellite television in the nineties. Epic is, in fact, being launched during a most interesting phase in Hindi language television.
The rise of digital television is helping entertainment networks find viewers through pay channels and subscriptions rather than cable television service providers. Hindi general entertainment channels have already expanding their programming beyond the soaps-reality shows-talent-hunt cocktail, attempting American television-level fiction (the Indian version of 24, the recent Yudh, the on-air Everest).
Audience wants diversity
Some of these shows have fared poorly, but there seems to be some appetite, at least within the television industry, to bring back both viewers disgusted with the poorly written, performed and produced content spewing out of the small screen as well as fans of contemporary American television.
It’s too early to predict the emergence of shows on the lines of Deadwood, a period Western series, or The Knick, about New York City’s Knickerbocker Hospital in the early twentieth century. Epic will make up for its programming by showing historical and mythological movies.
“I don’t want to diss the soaps, they work for a particular segment of the population, but we have a opportunity to look at television differently and talk to a target group that’s probably walking away from television at the moment,” Samat said. “We are also trying to get some respect for television in the film fraternity – in the west it is the other way around.”
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Among the shows drawn from Indian history, mythology and folklore that will go on air from November 19 is Siyaasat, a Mughal-era drama that draws from Indu Sundaresan’s novel The Twentieth Wife, Dharmakshetra, which explores the aftermath of the Kurukshetra war towards the end of the Mahabharata epic, and Dariba Diaries, a colonial-era detective show.
History will be rendered through a fictional lens. Take Siyaasat, which is the story of how Emperor Jehangir’s consort, Nur Jehan, consolidated her position in the Mughal court. “Salim’s pathway to becoming Jahangir is fraught with all kinds of stories,” said channel head Mahesh Samat. The series will focus on this Game of Thrones-style battle for succession by focusing on other key characters in Jahangir’s court.
In Dharmakshetra, the Mahabharata’s key characters will defend themselves in the aftermath of the disastrous Kurukshetra battle. Dariba Diaries is a detective series set in the pre-Mutiny years. “When we did our research a year ago, we found that one sixth of programming across television channels in India is centred on history and mythology,” Samat said.
No revisionism
Epic is not interested in revisionist or jingoistic accounts, but in stories that are engrossing and lend themselves to the strengths and constraints of Indian television, Samat added. “I think this is a good time to create entertaining stories based on history and mythology,” he said. “I don’t have any delusions of grandeur, but I hope to get people interested in history, especially at a time when we are walking away from liberal arts education towards engineering and science.”
Although Epic’s backers Anand Mahindra and Mukesh Ambani probably didn’t plan it that way, the time is ripe for a channel that looks closely at the men and women who shaped our history and collective imagination. History textbooks are being revised, Indian foundational myths are being rewritten, historical personalities are being knocked off their pedestals and a new monumentalisation is in process.
Epic hopes to avoid pesky litigation and controversies by being curious about the past without being irreverent. “Doing business in India is fraught with these issues, and in a democracy, some checks and balances are great,” Samat said. “Since we are not aiming to be iconoclastic or disrespectful, I don’t expect us to face any more issues than what any [media] organisation would normally face. As businessmen and people in the media and entertainment sectors, we should not shy away from such things. If we had to worry about ifs and buts, nobody would attempt anything.”
The long view
The fact that actor and television show anchor Javed Jaffrey will host a comedy series on Hindi films from the eighties proves that Epic’s definition of history is flexible and contingent on its programming needs. “Our definition of history is from 5,000 yrs ago to 20 years ago if the content is good and there is a story sense,” Samat said.
The 24-hour channel’s mix sounds a bit like HBO, a bit like the History Channel, and a bit like Doordarshan during the eighties and early nineties. There will be limited edition shows of an hour or 30-minute duration on the history of food in India, famous assassinations, well-known spies and abandoned sites across the country such as forts, monasteries and whole villages. Samat doesn’t like the word “period”, but the adjective perfectly suits their production design, content and scope. “Period connotes seventies films, kings and queens,” Samat explained. “We are trying to make historical narratives more approachable, use a different syntax in storytelling.”
For Indian viewers of a certain vintage who watched Doordarshan during its glory years, and who took in such classics as Bharat Ek Khoj, Tamas, Mujrim Hazir and Buniyaad, Epic’s efforts will seem familiar. However, popular taste and narrative styles have vastly changed since the advent of satellite television in the nineties. Epic is, in fact, being launched during a most interesting phase in Hindi language television.
The rise of digital television is helping entertainment networks find viewers through pay channels and subscriptions rather than cable television service providers. Hindi general entertainment channels have already expanding their programming beyond the soaps-reality shows-talent-hunt cocktail, attempting American television-level fiction (the Indian version of 24, the recent Yudh, the on-air Everest).
Audience wants diversity
Some of these shows have fared poorly, but there seems to be some appetite, at least within the television industry, to bring back both viewers disgusted with the poorly written, performed and produced content spewing out of the small screen as well as fans of contemporary American television.
It’s too early to predict the emergence of shows on the lines of Deadwood, a period Western series, or The Knick, about New York City’s Knickerbocker Hospital in the early twentieth century. Epic will make up for its programming by showing historical and mythological movies.
“I don’t want to diss the soaps, they work for a particular segment of the population, but we have a opportunity to look at television differently and talk to a target group that’s probably walking away from television at the moment,” Samat said. “We are also trying to get some respect for television in the film fraternity – in the west it is the other way around.”