Yudh – An average fare

There is a cardinal rule that governs each and every successful Indian fiction show on television since time immemorial – ‘Your story needs to engage the great Indian family.’ Amitabh Bachchan and Anurag Kashyap seem to have not really got it right in their endeavour to give Indian television a brand new revolution through Yudh on Sony Entertainment Television. Let’s analyze why.

The opening sequence shows Big B in his night clothes waking up alone in his bed with a start. One can see beads of sweat rolling down his face indicating that he has had a possible nightmare. He inexplicably looks at his toes and around before wandering out of the room looking utterly lost. A lady sleeping in the adjacent room reminds him to have his badam mixed milk before leaving while Amitabh continues looking disoriented. Amitabh at his vulnerable best was not how one envisaged the superstar to make his highly billed TV fiction debut.

Cut to scene two, Amitabh sports a new suit and a new facial expression this time, that of being gloomy, despondent and forlorn and continues wearing the same for most of the episode. Other characters like the corrupt commissioner (Kay Kay Menon), Amitabh’s right hand man (Zakir Hussain) and his PRO (Mona Wasu) are introduced here in such a manner that one is left to infer through the dialogues the exact role of these new actors.

While it is still early days for Yudh, we feel the makers may have just lost the plot by laying bare all their cards. For we all know that Amitabh is suffering from a debilitating disease. The fact that he has two wives and kids from each of them is also not a secret anymore. Both these revelations could have been made at the opportune moment as twists to keep the audience gripped. The snail pace at which Yudh moved was a bit too tough to contend with. In today’s era, T20 is what keeps one entertained rather than a placid test match. If you don’t create a virtual explosion on your channel right from the word ‘go’, it won’t take a nano-second for the viewer to flip across to a competitor’s channel. Yudh seems to be treading a slippery slope in this regard for its drama heavy plot may not keep today’s audience engaged for too long given that we all have extremely short retention spans. Will Yudh give audience a chance to be remote-free for 60 minutes? Only time will tell.

The biggest conundrum to tackle here is who exactly is Yudh’s target audience? Will a morose looking Amitabh, batting health and professional problems, pull in greater TRPs. Television, especially in India, thrives on sensationalism, interesting plot twists and simple story. Content is surely the king and all that viewers want after a hard day’s work is lay back and pamper themselves with a product that goes easy on their senses and is lucid enough to fathom easily. Ekta Kapoor mastered the art of giving audience exactly what they want and has always emerged triumphant. Her soaps have been uber popular not just in the cosmopolitan cities of India but also in the far flung rural hamlets where a saas-bahu drama always ends up becoming a major draw.

That is not to say Yudh should have been a weepy saas-bahu saga. But would the story of an ailing builder from Ghaziabad battling corruption enamour the Indian audience? Will this fiction franchise be the game changer that television today desperately needs? While Colors had pulled in all stops for publicizing 24, Sony seems to have gone a tad slow this time as far as promotions of Yudh are concerned. Also, one couldn’t help noticing striking similarities between Yudh and Kelsey Grammer’s television show, Boss. Well, perhaps this one too has been inspired from the West.

The biggest plus is the stellar star cast. A powerhouse of talented actors from Kay Kay Menon, Sarika, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Zakir Hussain among others is sure to keep viewers interested. But will the plot be as entertaining enough. History is replete with examples of how preachy movies targeting the corrupt establishment have failed to set the cash registers ringing. Amitabh’s last two outings against corruption in Satyagraha and Bhoothnath Returns couldn’t exactly be labeled as blockbusters.

Yudh right now seems to be carrying the flavor of those trademark Anurag Kashyap movies that are high on critical appreciation but low on commercial acclaim. Will the coming episodes reverse the trend? Only time will tell.