Time changes everything and everyone.
Except our beloved daily soaps.

Most of us are already aware of the problem I'm about to target through this petition. I'm sure many similar complaints have been made in the past but I believe that they were not covered under the guidelines formulated by the Government of India like national interest, violence and crime, defamation, gambling etc (I'll probably be able to fit this one under national interest, yes).

When was the last time you sat down and watched a Hindi daily soap that didn't involve any of these clichéd (I know this is too soft a word to be used here) saas-bahu drama, portrayal of black magic, the dead characters that everyone assumed were dead--returned with a different face or an out of nowhere memory loss? Supernatural elements are glorified in many of the shows that air on our television.

I am using this petition as a medium to create awareness about how badly this problem needs to be looked into. It really calls for some action from the authorities involved. Some sort of check is required. It's high time the producers started caring a bit about the quality!

Here is a list of some of the TV shows that are currently being aired and what's wrong with them:

1. Sasural Simar Ka: What's wrong with this serial? Everything. From the stupid saas-bahu stuff to black magic, they've surprised everyone with their ability to make the most infamous TV show of all time. A look at the show's cast will make my point. The most recent development in the show was how the protagonist, Simar, was turned into a 'fly/makkhi'.
2. Ashoka: Undoubtedly a brilliant TV show from which I still have a lot of expectations. But what should be condemned is how a decent historical drama is being mocked by addition of black magic and vishkanya (read more here). There are also many factual inaccuracies in the show and even the chronological consistency has been toyed with. For example, in the show it was shown that Ashoka never met his grandfather, Chandragupta Maurya, who was actually the ruler of Magadh at the time of his birth. Also, Ashoka's birthplace was the palace and not the countryside as wrongfully depicted in the show.
3. Balika Vadhu: This one is a great example of how a beautiful show which succeeded in generating awareness on an important social issue was completely ruined. What this show has turned into is a nightmare. The show started in July 2008 and completed 2210 episodes, as of 19th July 2016. Apparently, Anandi's whole family was massacred. You can tune in and watch another 5000 episodes to know what will happen next.
4. Santoshi Maa: When this show started I was expecting something that would aim towards the important 'values in life' or even a good mythological theme would have done too. But all it turned out to be was how some bad gods create obstacles in everyday life of the protagonist, Santoshi, and good gods defend her. I mean, come on!

5. Yeh Kahan Aa Gaye Hum: The male lead of the show is shown as a popular singer who is also a part-time tiger and some sort of demon is sent to kill him. Okay.

6. Thapki Pyaar Ki: Again I had expectations from this show. I was expecting the struggles of a person who stutters will be portrayed which many people need to be shown. Unnecessary drama completely spoiled it. Interestingly, a gorilla is going to fall in love with Thapki.

7. Saath Nibhana Saathiya: 'Rishta wahi, soch nayi' is the tagline of this channel. But what is the 'nayi soch' here? This show has completed more than 1780 episodes and I still don't have any idea what was the purpose of making this show.

8. Naagin and Vishkanya: Glorification of black magic and supernatural content that parts of India still believe in. Such shows make the case worse.

There are many, many more similar shows which bring nothing but shame to Indian Television. There have been similar shows in the past and there will be similar shows in the future if no action is taken now.

It can be concluded that much more is wrong with these daily soaps than what's right. I wonder how they even get the authority to present this much content of extremely poor quality. There's absolutely no creativity, logic, story or originality. Many a time it seems that zero thoughts were spared towards the making of a show. In many cases inaccurate information is shown to the masses.

Only a handful of shows meet the viewers' expectations and rest just show crass and vacuous content. These few good shows often fail to attract audience because of the ocean full of crap and it becomes hard to spot one.

Many of us don't even have a choice. Most of the English-speaking audience will find an alternative in English TV shows. But what about the rest? What about those who don't speak English or those who can't afford to subscribe to Netflix or a decent internet connection? They are stuck with nothing but this (and eternal commercials).

 Here is a list of ways of how this issue can be tackled:

1. I think the main problem with these daily soaps is the undefined no. of episodes. The creators of a show just try to drag it for as long as technologically possible. If the no. of episodes are fixed then the plot would also be fixed. No unnecessary drama.
2. We can also learn a lot from the English TV shows and improve the condition of our television. The concept of 'daily soaps' that is followed here is flawed. The writers here obviously don't get enough time to come up with a good plot because the show has to be aired five times a week. Unlike in the West, where only one episode is aired per week.
3. The audience needs to stop watching these daily soaps. Watch the good ones. Watch the shows which follow a definite plot, have talented actors and don't support unnecessary supernatural content. Many good shows have ended because they didn't get the desired TRP. Watch the shows that don't just suck your precious time but have something to offer. You need entertainment, not torture.

Hailed as the queen of Indian daily soaps, Ekta Kapoor, recently said something which might put this petition to shame: As a producer, I feel supernatural territory is still unexplored in TV. We don’t see many shows coming up on those lines,” Ekta told PTI. She recently backed popular fantasy show “Naagin” and is all set with her next, “Kawach..Kaali Shaktiyon se”. “Today we watch American shows like ‘Game of Thrones’, movies like ‘Harry Potter’ and even animated films where Hollywood has embraced the magic realism,” she said.  (Source: The Indian Express)

It's your call now. Sign this petition and hope for change or sit back and relish the so-called television.