To adapt or not to adapt: The dilemma of Indian dramas that take inspiration from international shows

The Hindi film industry has long been accused of lacking originality and relying heavily on movie plots from the West for inspiration, resulting in many box office failures. However, it seems that television is not far behind either. Either it offers the staple saas-bahu dramas, or offer the Indian versions of already successful shows. With the ongoing show Tere Pyaar Mein Ghayal becoming the target of trolls for blatantly copying Vampire Diaries, we talk to the industry insider to discuss the extent to which Indian television has been influenced by international shows and if the practice is unhealthy for the industry as a whole.

Filmmaker Lalit Mohan points out how we are not even copying the west with such shows but levelling down the quality and standards of the original show. “Agar ek student copy karega toh 100 nahi toh 98 toh le aaega. But what the industry is doing, is showing their incompetency with such bad adaptations and remakes. The visual presentation is so weak that you are bound to criticise,” Mohan shares.

But actor Kishwer Merchant believes that success and failure comes much later, and one needs to keep experimenting. “If we are giving them an adaptation and it is being made well, then there is no problem in it. My show Pyaar Ki Ye Ek Kahaani was not really a copy. It was inspired from The Vampire Diaries and Twilight, and it did really well. They also made the characters very Indian so that people could relate to it,” says the actor, adding, “But some shows work and some don’t. We (Indian TV) are giving the original shows as well but simultaneously, we are trying to experiment, and that’s what’s important.”

But do we really need a remake or an adaptation, instead of working on some original ideas? Answering the same, Namit Das, whose show Sumit Sambhal Lega was an official adaptation of English show, Everyone Loves Raymond says, “There are certain stories that have a universal nature to them and they need to be told in different languages and adapted in different settings.”

Giving example of his own show, Das explains how the core of Sumit Sambhal Lega was very universal. “It’s about a man who is trying to balance his act between his wife and mother in law. When Everybody Loves Raymond was made in America, they were looking at families but things eventually changed there. However, it’s very much the same in India and that’s why Sumit Sambhal Lega worked very well and people still love it’s re-runs. So, if there is story that has really worked in a certain setting, and it needs to be reached to a larger audience, why can’t we look at the story, change the setting of it accordingly and take it to a larger audience,” he questions.

Having said that, Das points out how no story in this world in original. “They that say don’t go cliche but I believe in what a famous filmmaker once said – the cliche well done is not a cliche. We say that Shakespeare wrote all forms of stories and we have been reproducing it ever since. But I can say that what he wrote was inspired from Kalidas’s writing. So, we don’t really know what’s original in this world,” he remarks.

On that note, Merchant also discusses out the audience watching the adaptations on Indian TV have obviously not seen the original shows, therefore there is no harm in making remakes for the Indian audience. “For them, it’s something new. For example, I had seen the original 24 starring Jack Bauer. But when I saw it’s Indian version, I could not relate to it, despite the fact that Anil Kapoor is a fantastic actor and he really did well in the show. But people who had not seen the original one really loved it,” says Merchant.

Mohan, however believes that there is no point to work on remakes now as there is no audience for it. “OTT is offering such diverse content, including the original shows, so making such adaptations is a waste of time and resources. The audience for which these shows is being made will not sit in front of the television set to watch it at a fixed time. TV ki jo audience hai, unki ek habit hai – to sit in front of the TV to watch the shows at a fixed time. They have a taste in shows that they have developed over 30 years and they won’t watch these youth centric shows,” says Mohan.

But contradicting to Mohan’s views, actor-director Deven Bhojani mentions several examples of the shows to prove that Indian television audience has always been excited and welcoming towards experimentation. “There are shows like Daayan and Naagin, or shows that I have worked on either as an actor or director such as Sara Bhai Vs Sara Bhai, Intant Khichdi, Baa Bahu Aur Baby, which were not adaptations or remakes or for that matter the saas-bahu dramas. These shows worked very well, thereby proving the Indian TV audience is willing to watch something different, given that it’s good,” he wraps up.