“Indian television content has been under fire in the past few years, due to its overly dramatic content,” says Nivedita Basu. The audience has started to move away from it, labeling it as ‘regressive’. A few producers who do try bringing in fresher perspectives get lost in oblivion, while the fittest survive. In such a scenario, what happens to producers and content creators who want to create fresh content yet want the ratings, and want to survive in the industry?
Nivedita Basu has been one of the most known content creators in the Indian television industry. Having worked with Balaji Telefilms for over 15 years and having done over 85 daily soaps with Ekta Kapoor, she knows the industry in and out.
When she turned producer this year, a new journey was awaiting her. The House of Originals, launched its first project Meri Awaaaz Hi Pehchaan Hai in early 2016. With tremendously talented actors like Deepti Naval, Amrita Rao, Bhanu Uday, Pallavi Joshi and Aditi Vasudev among others and a fabulous storyline, it seemed like a perfect production debut. However, it didn’t do really well in the TRP game.
Nivedita, who is currently working on her second show “Ek Vivaah Aisa Bhi” is caught in a fix between ‘real content’ and ‘content that works!’
“After having worked in a commercial setup for so long, you want to taste commercial success too. Real’ works on digital, where the audience is young and urban. However, on television, the drama and masala sells. The active TV audience across all the GECs wants the same thing – edginess, drama, and a grand experience. As a producer, I loved Meri Aawaz Hi Pehchaan Hai but sadly, it didn’t work that well. On digital, we have a free hand at what we want to serve but on TV, we have to offer what the audience wants.”
Nivedita’s upcoming show Ek Vivaah Aisa Bhi, is going on air in January 2017 on &TV, and stars Abhishek Malik, Sonali Nikam, Himani Shivpuri, Tassnim Sheikh, among many others.
