Do male characters lack substance on TV?

While this year was filled with chatter around OTT generating better projects, television slogged in terms of content. What was also noticed was the egregiously snubbing of the male characters on TV. Actor Sharad Malhotra firmly believes, “Television has been for women.” Producer of Bhabiji Ghar Par Hain Binaiferr Kohli seconds his thought, saying, “None of the soaps are male-centric. I’ve never seen a soap named after any man, there has been Kumkum, Imlie, Anupama, and more.”

Actor Jay Soni, who is currently seen on the show Sasuraal Genda Phool 2, says male characters on TV are limited to a certain genre: “There are rare shows like mythological dramas with male central characters. Otherwise there’s not much change.”

Take TV show Vidrohi for instance: While it is based on freedom fighter Bakshi Jagabandhu, the storyline is enrapt by his domestic matters. Malhotra, who plays the historical character, says, “Yes, it is from the female protagonist, Kalyani’s perspective, as TV is predominantly from a woman’s point of view.”

In the past, TV gave us iconic male characters like Shaktimaan, Chacha Chaudhary, Karamchand, etc. The trend continued until two decades ago, too. But scroll through the past decade and you won’t find such strong parts written for men. Kohli says, “The Hindi serial-watching audience is primarily women who relate to saas bahus.”

Does that imply networks are not comfortable with serials revolving around men? Malhotra defends, “It all boils down to one thing; the channel and marketing geniuses know that TV primarily revolves around women. And I think they’re right. There’s no harm or ego in accepting that.”

Soni, who was away from TV for the last four years, admits to being offered characters that were mere props. “I used to be like, what will I do with it? It (his part) will not add anything to my growth as an actor,” he shares.

Actor Avinesh Rekhi, who plays Devraj in the show Tere Bina Jiya Jaye Na, has a contrasting view. He says he finds no disparity. “I remember in the lockdown, I received so many compliments for my previous show from a lot of male viewers. These were men who were educated and from the Army and other backgrounds. Today, people watch good content, no matter which platform,” he explains, adding, “All the shows I’ve done have had good writing. They were substantial to the storyline.”

Kohli agrees that things are slowly getting better. “Of late, people have started writing better characters for men. Even if they are peripheral, they are better written. But realistically, male characters need more visibility,” she shares.

Actor Rajeev Khandelwal, who used to be a heartthrob on TV around two decades ago, stopped taking on daily soaps many years ago. While he says he doesn’t “look down upon TV,” he says that the characters offered to him “have not been sensible enough to take on”.

The dearth of strong characters for men could be the reason behind the exodus of many talented actors from the telly. “We drifted away from TV because we wanted to do exciting projects. We want some amount of satisfaction as actors. I never left TV for films. I just wanted to do good projects,” Khandelwal says, as Malhotra adds, “If I feel I’m not getting enough screen space or better character, I might also move to a different medium.”