How naagins and daayans ruled the small screen?

While shows about kitchen politics and romance failed to garner ratings, those that gave us the chills ruled the ratings charts as well as the audience’s hearts. Is the supernatural here to stay?
It certainly looks like TV producers got tired of the regular saas-bahu drama this year, and decided to add some supernatural elements to help with TV ratings.Looking back at 2015, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that the year belonged to naagins, vishkanyas, daayans and bhoots. Be it through tracks on their shows, or through stand-alone horror shows like 'Darr Sabko Lagta Hai' and 'Fear Files', producers were definitely out to spook you. And for the real horror aficionados, who thought that the these fictional shows didn’t satisfy their daily dose of all things spooky, even reality and comedy shows went in for a scary makeover this year. And this horror and occult content didn’t escape the eye of the BCCC (Broadcasting Content Complaints Council) as they recently issued an advisory to channels to exercise caution and restraint while airing such shows.
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Part of our folk tradition
Industry experts say that stories about naagins and demons have been part of our folk tradition and most of us have grown up hearing them. Pawan Kumar, director of 'Sasural Simar Ka (SSK)', says, “Saas-bahu se sab pareshaan ho gaye hain. What next? Aaj kal TV ki audience paanch saal mein change ho jaati hai. Aur jo audience waapis aati hai, woh waali audience hai jo TV paanch saal pehle dekhti thi. People somewhere believe in the co-existence of Gods and bhoot-pret. India mein jo itne baba hain unmein log believe karte hain. Waise hi log bhoot aur naag-naagin par bhi believe karte hain. The TV-watching audience enjoys it, so every producer is following it now.”
Arjun Bijlani, the lead actor of 'Naagin', says, “There is a limited number of subjects on which you can make shows. People love such shows because they take you into a world of fantasy and fiction. Just the thought that naagins might exist sounds very cool.”
Sensational content for viewers
Another reason cited by creators of such shows, is that it’s quicker and easier to incorporate horror elements, as opposed to bringing alive romance on screen. Gorky Max, producer of 'Qubool Hai' and 'Adhuri Kahani Humari', says, “We wanted to add a twist to the storyline in 'Qubool Hai'. The conventional daayan is supposed to look quite scary, but we cast a beautiful girl like Additi for the role and somehow, it seemed to work. I don’t think anybody expected this kind of programming to be so popular. It takes time for people to connect with love stories, and they are usually slow-paced. Everybody’s surprised that Naagin’s ratings have gone through the roof. Within the industry, there was talk about doing subtle and classy programming, that is oriented towards urban viewers, but that has taken a backseat now. Also, shows aren’t being given much time to establish themselves, and grabbing eyeballs through sensationalism can only happen if you are doing something supernatural. That’s why we picked up the trend now. I think people are invested in the characters of long-running shows like 'Diya Aur Baati Hum', but for new shows, it takes time. In 'Qubool Hai', the marriage of the lead actors Asad and Zoya, at the Taj Mahal, was supposed to be the high point, but it didn’t generate good ratings. However, when the daayan track was introduced, ratings jumped. We believe in fairytales, that’s why even mythological shows have worked with audiences.”
Bhoots and Naagins for every genre
It isn’t just the fiction shows that have been bitten by the bhoot bug, even comedy, crime and reality shows are fascinated with horror. For instance, comedy show 'Bhabhiji Ghar Par Hai' (BGPH) recently had a track where a spirit was shown falling in love with one of the male protagonists. The current season of 'Bigg Boss' had a task called ‘Bhoot Bangla’ where contestants were supposed to dress up and scare each other. Sanjay Kohli, producer of BGPH, says, “We try and find new dimensions to comedy. The aatma wasn’t shown as a permanent character and that track ended within five days. The way it was treated was funny. We showed people possessed by the aatma doing things that made people laugh.”
'Zindagi Abhi Baaki Hai Mere Ghost' (ZABHMG) portrays the relationship an orphan shares with a family of ghosts. Rakesh Kumar, director of ZABHMG, says, “Ghost stories were only restricted to horror shows earlier. The supernatural element didn’t enter the comedy or drama space.”
Lack of Clarity in Stories
Purnendu Shekhar, producer of 'Satrangi Sasural', says, “Adding such elements means that there is a lack of confidence in the storyline. What happens is that all channels are marketing-driven and raking in the numbers is of prime importance. Agar numbers nahi aate, toh woh aisi cheezein daalne ki koshish karte hain.Unfortunately, shows that are reigning now, like SSK and Naagin (Naagin is the numero uno show across all channels) strengthen this belief that shows which incorporate horror do get the numbers. Though I’m not writing Satrangi... anymore, I can say that whatever is being shown as black magic on the show now will eventually turn out to be something else completely. The channel told us to incorporate such elements, but we told them that there would be no coming out of it. Also, I think viewers are to be blamed. Aise elements waale shows itne zyada chal rahe hain kyunki log dekh rahe hain unhe.”
We’re not promoting superstition
The BCCC recently took note of such shows and issued an advisory to all channels asking them to exercise restraint while showing such content. However, the people associated with these shows agree to disagree with the BCCC. According to them, the channel runs a disclaimer when such tracks are being shown. Kumar stresses, “We run a disclaimer during the show that we aren’t promoting superstition. Even our news channels went overboard when they covered Radhe Maa because people want to see such things. Aaj romance dekhne waali audience nahi hai. Youngsters don’t watch TV, most of our viewers consist of homemakers. Do per cent log aage badh gaye hain, par 98% toh abhi bhi dabe huye hain. Hum us 98% audience ko entertain karne ke liye show banate hain. Kuch na kuch karna hota hai, aur yeh chal gaya. We don’t put scary elements in our shows. Hamaari chudail bhi Balika Vadhu (referring to Pratyusha Banerjee) thi. Even our witches are beautiful. Rather than getting scared, people are entertained. We don’t show bloodshed.”
Divyanka Tripathi, who pretended to be possessed by a ghost in 'Ye Hai Mohabbatein', says, “When I was told that Shagun’s spirit will enter my body, I was very shocked because our show had always kept everything very real. But then in the end, it was revealed that my character was just acting in order to save the life of her husband, whose murder was being plotted. We’ve never promoted superstition or the concept of black magic. In fact, when a tantrik baba came to ‘cure’ my character while she was possessed, we showed how they put chemicals in the fire so that it changes colour.”
But Shekhar, who is also the writer of 'Balika Vadhu', says, “Such tracks promote wrong perceptions, so makers should desist from including such tracks. Long back, I got a suggestion from the channel to incorporate supernatural elements in 'Balika Vadhu', but I rejected that suggestion. I’m also writing a horror show, but it’s absolutely fictional and not based on reality. I’m not against horror as a genre, but I’m against incorporating them in daily soaps. Making an out-and-out horror show and treating it that way is fine, but I have an issue with such tracks being incorporated into family dramas.”
When Fiction got spooky

'Ye Hai Mohabbatein'- The daily soap turned into a horror show for a few episodes, before it went to being a crime thriller. After Anita Hassanandani’s character was shown committing suicide, Divyanka Tripathi’s character was shown as being possessed by the former’s spirit. Later, it turned out that Anita and Divyanka were just putting on a show to find out who was trying to plot against Divyanka’s family.

'Sasural Simar Ka' -This show has had it all – snakewomen, witches, daayans and bhoots. It’s still difficult to fathom how it went from being a saas-bahu show to a horror show, where the protagonist is shown fighting evil with help from her family.

'Qubool Hai'- In Qubool Hai, the marriage of the lead actors Asad and Zoya, at the Taj Mahal, was supposed to be the high point, but it didn’t generate good ratings. However, when the daayan track was introduced, ratings jumped – Gorky Max, producer of 'Qubool Hai'.
The entry of Additi Gupta on the show not only brought a third angle to the love story between Surbhi Jyoti and Karanvir Bohra, but also a supernatural twist to the separation and reconciliation drama between the leads. After a generation leap, the show has stayed on the daayan trail, with a new daayan now being added to the show.
'Satrangi Sasural'- For once, we saw a good spirit on a show, who was trying to set things right for her husband and his second wife. But then again, it is impossible to have a TV show with only positive characters and situations. So, a black magic track was introduced.
'Badii Devrani'- Though this daily soap might not have been able to generate ratings, it did try every trick in the book to ace the number game, and that meant including a black magic track where a bahu relied on black magic to trouble her in-laws and divide the family.
'Tum aise hi rehna' - The show which went off air earlier this year had Madhura Naik playing the former girlfriend of the male protagonist, who returns as a ghost to wreak havoc in the marital life of her lover.

'Chakravartin Ashoka Samrat'- This historical show, recounting the journey of Ashoka from a brave warrior to a king, recently threw in a black magic track. The characters looked a lot like the ones on Game Of Thrones, and the makers probably thought that the ancient setting was perfect to include photogenic supernatural characters.
Snake charmers
There is no dearth of beautiful shape-shifting women who can transform from a naagin to a damsel in distress on-screen when needed.

'Adhuri Kahani Humari'- Not only does the show deal with punarjanam, but it also has a naagin who, in search of some precious mani, kills the lovers, who are reborn in different places.
'Sasural Simar Ka'- Sara Khan was seen playing the ichhadaari naagin here and probably, the success of this track spurred the makers to include other supernatural elements in the show.
'Neeli Chatri Waale'- Rakshanda Khan made her small screen comeback by taking on the role of a naagin. The naagin takes on the role of a woman while in search of her husband from a previous birth.

'Naagin'- This show will probably prove to be the reason why we might get to see more such shows in the future. 'Naagin' has opened with quite high ratings and has taken the numero uno position on charts. Though the series is a finite one, there have been reports doing the rounds that it might get an extension or come back with a second season.
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