Tired of cantankerous women crying their heart out ever so oftenIJ Worry not. It’s the hot dudes who are taking over now. They sob, connive and even grovel, much to the delight of viewers who consider these cry babies the real TRP drivers. DEEBASHREE MOHANTY speaks with these emotional alphas who have no qualms admitting mard ko bhi dard hota hai
He cried at the Dargah to save his ‘mohabbat’ and the TRP escalated to 4.7. He sobbed inconsolably holding Jodha Begum’s hand declaring his love and haq on her and again Jodha Akbar shot up the ladder emerging the top serial in the soap dish. (JA pipped Veera and Diya Aur Bati Hum for the first time). This happened to Zee TV’s flagship epic saga not so long ago and creative writers took the new cue to success: make the male lead emotional on screen and garner ratings.
“I think, the audience is bored with the women doing all the melodrama. Give our men a chance and they will stand out. Previously, scriptwriters made special tearjerkers with women using up the glycerine but nowadays, mard ko dard hota hai, and they don’t mind that at all,” TV critic Gautam Rangaswamy who manages televisionscope.com, says.
The male leads no longer have problems in doing over the top scenes, most even enjoying it. “I am an actor and it’s my responsibility to make sure that the character looks real on screen. Ab bahut ho gaya yeh bahu ka rona dhona, even we can make an emotional statement. In an episode of Sapne..., my director wanted me to shed a few tears when I was giving an emotional speech but I didn’t need glycerine for that. The tears came naturally. At the end of the scene, I was crying inconsolably. As Piyush, I was really touched,” Piyush Sahadev who plays a no-nonsense guy in Sapne Suhaane ladakpan Ke on Zee, tells you.
According to him, men being TRP drivers is a welcome trend which is here to stay. “I keep joking that in my show, Ankit and I are the heroines and the female leads are the heroes,” he says laughingly. But is he fine with the image of a cry baby on TVIJ “Crying out loud when a scene demands it is not being a cry baby. OTT machoism is not going to get us anywhere. If the show does well when I cry, I don’t see where the problem isIJ” he retorts. The TRP for the week when Kabir had a heart breaking moment and his world almost came crumbling down was at 3.7, considered a healthy jump by TV critics.
But Mohit Malik is riding on his image of being a spoilt brat and is happy that his quasi negative image on the show is a rage. As for TV viewership, even Malik is aware that when he loses his temper, TRP aunties have a party. “It’s an irony that even though Doli Armaano Ki is about the life and struggles of the biwi, the audience is thrilled to see Samrat go about his evil plans and mutter those hurting words. May be, it’s just shock value that clicks with them, but as long as the show continues to get good ratings, who cares,” Malik says, adding that he is nothing like his on-screen character in real life.
But, when Samrat finally reaches his point of redemption, will he hold back his tears given that he portrays an arrogant personIJ “Absolutely not. He is a guy who lives in extremes. If he can be super rude and arrogant, I am sure he can be super broken too. Something big has to rattle his emotional side and I am sure even Samrat will open the floodgates,” Malik tells you. At the moment though, it is his bad manners that are grabbing all the eyeballs.
Another lead on another channel feels, men baring their hearts out is a sureshot catalyst to success. “Because we normally don’t emote on the screen and are the perpetual trouble givers, the audience is more than happy to see a role reversal. Almost 80 per cent of our viewers are women and they like it better when the man bows down, accepts his mistake and grovels. As an actor, I am willing to do anything on screen to make my role look real. I am not a pseudo chauvinist,” declares Shashank Vyas of Balika Vadhu. His character Jagya has been crying over issues of the heart for the past three years and there is no respite. “It is but natural that you cry when you fail in love. I have been third time lucky and I hope nothing separates Ganga from Jagya, otherwise another tear fest awaits,” Vyas warns jokingly. In BV, leading ladies have come, bawled and gone but what holds the show together is Jagya and his perpetual melancholy.
So, with men leading the tear duct race how are the heroine copingIJ “They are still the focus of any serial. What has changed is that now they have healthy competition from men. It makes things spicier,” Rangaswamy points out. While the viewers are happy to see a male leading the melodrama, they feel somewhere the creative heads need to draw the line.
“Shehenshah Jalal-ud-Din has been crying incessantly for the past three months, ever since the Sujamal fiasco in Jodha Akbar. It was okay to see him cry when he was pining for his love and pleading for forgiveness but nowadays there is no end to his tears. We are scared Agra will be flooded,” Ankita Goswami, an avid viewer, says. Rajat Tokas, meanwhile, wants to maintain a safe distance from the media.
Then there is Iqbal Khan from Tumhari Pakhi on life Ok who goes through mood swings like none else. But that is what makes Anshuman (his role) a rage with the audience. “Earlier, the male protagonists were just supporting actors. But now they are leading from the front. They are getting a canvas where they can pour out their emotions. No actor feels bad about going OTT with drama. It is a part and parcel about being in the industry. If SRK can cry and make moviegoers weak in their knees, why can’t we,” queries Khan who is, at present, suffering from a setback in his show and crying/fighting his way out of all troubles. For the dashing Gautam Rode who plays the title role in Saraswatichandra on Star Plus, men can carry off an emotional role without inhibition. “Emotional scenes always need a connect with the audience. And if the male protagonist is crying, our viewers are shocked, paralysed and feel awful — hence the robust TRPs. Who’s complaining,” he asks.
No one, I guess.
