Cliches in Indian Tv

8/3/2019 Cliches in Indian Tv

1/4

Clichs in Bollywood: In 80s

Everybody knows it, everyone recognizes it, but very few write about it.. The eighties is supposed to be

the silver age for Bollywood movies, where the new blood of producers and directors created some

staggering scripts, which basically allowed the nineties to be more experimental, and finally the twenty

first century changed everything about Bollywood. However, though the movies were quite different inscript, there were some cookie cutter concepts that were a staple in all movies. Here are five of the most

famous and common Bollywood movie clichs from the eighties.

1) The Dead/Separated Family:

This one was almost the framework on ninety percent of Bollywood movies in the seventies and the

nineties. It would be basically a script where the hero or the heroine would be separated from their

families, or would have their parents killed or dead in the first few reels. The rest of the movie would be

about all the hardships that the protagonists suffered because of a missing family. In the case of the

separated family clich, half the movie would be dedicated to how the family is rejoined. If we go to make

a list of all the movies that had this clich, we think we would need to open another site just to set up the

data. Suffice it to say that almost every movie in the eighties had this plotline somewhere in the script.

2) Separated Brother/Sister:

If the separated family was not enough, we had the separated sibling of either gender, and that would be

the crux of the story. Many a times, one of the separated siblings would become a police officer, and the

other would become a thief or a don. In the end, the two would come together and defeat evil. This one

was one of the most common clichs around in the eighties and the nineties, and was actually the bread

and butter of script writers back then.

3) The Family Heirloom:

The family heirloom was another staple in the Bollywood movies of the eighties and the nineties. The

heirloom could be anything, it could be a tattoo on the bicep, or it could be a pendant, or even a song thatthe family was taught. This family heirloom would come into play when the separated brothers or family

would meet, and they would finally rejoin each other, thanks to the heirloom. The family heirloom was

always big, valuable and instantly recognizable.

4) The Evil Uncle/Aunt:

The evil uncle or the evil aunt was the villain of many a social drama in the seventies, eighties and to a

certain extent, even in the nineties. Of course, what the evil uncle would do changed through the

decades. In the seventies, he would just loot the hero or the heroines father of all his money, in t he

eighties, the evil uncle would do the aforementioned, then kill the parents, and maybe sell the sister to a

brothel.

5) The Good Uncle/Aunt:

All family was not evil during these decades. Where the evil aunt and uncles were around, so were the

good aunts and uncles. The good aunts and uncles would be the guardians of the hero and the heroine,

and would help them find whatever they want to in lifewhether it is about the killers of their parents, or

whether it a soul mate. It was all available with the good uncle. The good uncle/aunt would sometimes

even be comic relief in the movie.


2/4

6) The Sidekick:

This would most probably the most irritating of clichs in the movies of the sixties, seventies and the

eighties. Inspired from the traditional nautanki, which had a character just for comedy, many Bollywood

movies had a sidekick, who was around for nothing else, than to add some comic relief in the movie.

Most of these comic reliefs were finally relegated to nothingness, with movie stars taking up comedy

themselves. However, these individuals had a popularity of their own. Also, without them we would nothave Ajay Devgn or Akshay Kumar trying their hand at comedy.

7) The Love Triangle:

The love triangle was the quintessential storyline in love stories and dramas in the eighties and the

nineties. The love triangle could be between anyone three people in the same college, three people

living in the same area, or even three people who belong to families that know each other. The love

triangle would routinely be solved with the death of one of the two men, while if the love triangle had two

women, one of the women would realize what is going on and would live the city or the country forever.

Clichs in Daily Soaps:

Indian serials are often stereotypical, both in storylines and in characters. The ideals of the quintessential

Indian Family are often given fanatical attention to, which lines being written in grand, melodramatic

tones, drawing in references to events in theMahabharataand theRamayana, the typical Indian Woman,

and other similar themes.

1) The Mother-in-Law was once the Daughter-in-Law relations.

2) The storylines are loosely parallel, though the writers continually attempt to shock their

audiences with sex, extramarital affairs, murders, conspiracies, and kidnappingsin all serials,

though at different points in time

3) A standard feature now is the 20-year-jump, where one epoch in the series ends at a stalemate

and continues in the next episode with all the characters and surroundings twenty years older, the

effects of ageing being shown by white dye in strands in the hair of the women of the family, and

not-so-subtle hints of grey around the gentlemens moustaches and sideboards.

4) Another slightly unreal aspect of the Indian serial is Plastic surgery: A typical scenario is one

wherein an accident happens to one of the protagonists, with him/her waking up in hospital with a

new face, one that is most often the result of the antagonist scheming with an evil plastic surgeon

who creates an entirely new face for the hapless hero(ine)

5) The Nasty Vamp: A daily soap can hardly do without a vamp. Otherwise how would the

scheming, plotting and planning (staple diet of soaps) be complete? She needs put on cakes of

loud makeup on her face, coloured lenses, artificial eyelashes, stylized bindis, dark kohl and

eyeliner, weird hairdos, flasy red lipstick etc. She too doesn't need to act. A unique style of

dialogue delivery and show of a cunning mind (otherwise, how would she come up with fool-proof
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahabharatahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahabharatahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahabharatahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramayanahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramayanahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramayanahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramayanahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahabharata


3/4

plans) is a must. The dialogue writer would be her best friend in the set up as he gives her the

choicest phrases that would outdo even the mom-in-law from hell.

6) The Weirdo Villain: Next in the list of essential ingredients for a daily soap is a very strange

looking and weird male villain who would be the right hand man to the always-scheming vamp.

He would be sporting the strangest haircuts and the worst wardrobe in the world that probably

looks more in place could make him look more like a cartoon character. He would always be free

(after all, he has no other work) to carry out any of the evil plans of the vamps.

7) Polygamy, love triangles and illegitimate children :These are the most important aspects of serialmaking, without which, the show would never be complete. Love triangles and squares with three

to four people pursuing a single person is common. Polygamy is not just acceptable, it's

encouraged. Re marriages can happen in the family too, like a woman divorcing her husband and

later remarrying his younger brother and staying in the same house etc! The heroine can keep

getting married and separated from her love interests for an unspecified number of times. And in

this scenario can illegitimate children be far behind? Such children can remain scattered across

the globe for years. But, at a crucial juncture, they make a comeback into their protagonistparents' lives and turn them into hell. Sometimes these children's sole purpose in life is to destroy

the parents who didn't hug them enough!

8) Loud Music Director: And no show worth it's salt is complete without the talentless music director.

Who's creative genius stretches from melodramatic 'Aaaaaah Aaaaaah' to 'clanging cymbals'.

The only prerequisite is that the background music should be deafening and uninspiring.

Clichs in Cricket:

It is quite funny reading the expert opinions and predictions leading to the World Cup.

1) Scene of the crime: Some sports channelOne of the experts starts off: India are very strong contenders to win the World Cup. And dont

forget, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Australia can also fancy their chances. Pakistan and West

Indies, though unpredictable, can topple any team on their day. The commentator is not too

different from all those TV astrologers we love to ridicule.

2) Some ex-cricketer joins the fun: I agree India are a very strong side. Especially at home. The

crowd will get behind the team and act as the 12th man. This encouragement should spur them

up

3) Another one (someone whose qualifications for being on the panel are unknown) disagrees:

Indian team has the expectation of a billion fans. They should make sure they dont getpressurized. Since this is a long tournament, they should guard themselves against injuries (I

know there are more than a billion Indians, but I am excluding the smug ones who make

statements like You still follow cricket? I stopped watching in 2003 itself)

4) The ex-cricketer begs to differ: They are professionals. Pressure and injuries are part and parcel

of the game. So it should not matter


4/4

5) Meanwhile, Ravi Shastri will be thinking as to which of these should be the opening lines of the

first presentation ceremony.Today we witnessed a spectacular game of cricket What an absorbing day of play that has been What a cracker of a match we had today Ladies and gentlemen, today more than 650 runs were scored in front of this fantastic crowd.

6) Meanwhile, Ravi Shastri will be thinking as to which of these should be the opening lines of the

first presentation ceremony.Today we witnessed a spectacular game of cricketWhat an absorbing day of play that has been What a cracker of a match we had today Ladies and gentlemen, today more than 650 runs were scored in front of this fantastic crowd.

7) Arun Lal will be wondering which of his lines should qualify for the most obvious statement of the

year:If you hit the ball over the ropes, you are bound to score 6 runs. If you dont lose wickets, keep ticking ones and twos, score boundaries of bad balls, you willeventually win the match.When a throw hits the stumps, if you are outside the crease, you are gonna be declared run out

my friend

8) Commentators will prepare themselves of what they need to say based on the event and the

result.Event: Bowler keeps bowling wicket to wicketResult: He dismisses the batsmanComment: He hardly gave any width. He tied the batsman and made them do something

different. And got his reward for his discipline.

9) Event: Bowler keeps bowling wicket to wicketResult: He does not get a wicket, gives lot of runs Comment: He was predictable and the batsmen cashed in once they got their eye in and got used

to the pitch. Pathetic bowling, the bowler should have mixed it up!

10) Event: Bowler keeps experimentingResult: He does not get a wicket, gives lot of runs Comment:He tried too many things. He did not stick to a plan and did not bowl to his field. He

should have bowled wicket to wicket.

11) Not just these, there will be more. Even with so much crap around, I will read each and every

article about cricket I stumble upon. When a match is on, I wil l refresh the cricinfo page before theauto refresh can kick in. I will run over to the office TV room to catch the glimpse of a wicket or

the 100th run. I will try to get the latest score over my mobile at the traffic signal. Some things will

never change. As I was telling a friend this week, the cricket loving youngster in you never quite

grows up!

Documents

Cliches in Indian Tv