The biggest challenge that TV faces today is that it lacks INNOVATION - Producer Saurabh Tewari

Saurabh Tewari, with oodles of creative experience sets foot on a new path that is to provide youth-oriented, short and sweet content for the digital space. For this, he has formed a new company that will cater to the taste of the young brigade who prefer watching shows on internet. In addition to this, Tewari will continue to provide the more massy family oriented sagas for TV under his banner Saurabh Tewari Films.

In an exclusive heart-to-heart conversation with Tellychakkar.com, the acclaimed Producer talks about his new company, his vision for the future, and on the recent trends in the television industry..

What has your production house been working on post Badtameez Dil?

Right now we are working on two new shows and one web series. Besides this in my personal capacity, I am working as Story Consultant for Ek Tha Raja Ek Thi Rani.

We have heard that you have formed a new company. Explain.             

Yes, we have formed a new company called PARIN MULTIMEDIA Pvt Ltd, which is a venture of our Singapore based parent company, Tequilla Shot Entertainment. The new company will primarily focus on creating content for Digital Platform.

What according to you are the pros and cons of making digital content?

Digital content though is the future, is still in an evolving stage and is considered as a growing medium. At times everyone is clueless and things run like a headless chicken, but then we are trying to give it a concrete shape. The biggest challenge lies in monetizing the content.
TV too was in this stage 20 years back. Digital space is going to open up the market further.. The biggest plus point is that since the cost of distribution is much cheaper when compared to regular GECs, there will be more opportunities. People will experiment more with content resulting in the flow of fresher ideas.

How did you arrive at this decision?

We had been thinking of venturing into it for the past one year. However, we are already very late. And then one day we started with Badtameez Dil being produced for Hotstar. Though it was not originally conceived for the digital platform, it did reasonably well for all of us. For us as content creators it was a learning experience. We wanted to continue in this direction. So from accidentally entering into it, we have now decided to enter with full force and expand. By 2017, ideally we would like to be one of the biggest content providers in the country in this space.

Coming from a channel background do you think you are at an advantage when you pitch your shows to a broadcaster?

Really you think so.?? Market, content, people working in the channel and now even the rating system changes so frequently. I don't think channel background helps.

How do you look at the future of TV?          

TV audience base is expanding. It's reaching out to the interiors of the country with each passing day. This content is also changing accordingly. There is a huge paradigm shift in the audience base with the younger audience choosing to watch their content on internet. It provides them with the flexibility to view stuff as per their convenience and this is not a new trend.
This division started couple of years back. Wonder why shows like Madhubala, Iss Pyaar Ko kya Naam Doon, Rangrasiya, Manmarziyaan, Badtameez Dil could not become one Baika Vadhu or Yeh Rishta on GEC? They were heavily popular, few like Iss Pyaar and Madhubala managed to get good numbers on GEC, but they couldn't reach the longevity of shows like Saathiya, just because a major chunk of their audience had been sampling the episodes via digital platforms. So now since we have realised this, going forward, youth, love stories, shorter and fresher content will happen on digital space while good, but more massy and non experimental stuff will happen on TV. There will be space for everyone to survive. But besides all this, the biggest challenge which TV faces today is that it lacks INNOVATION. Everyone wants to play safe. We have stopped creating and are just selling recycled stuff.

We are at a phase where shows on TV are forced into an abrupt end in just 2-3 months of its inception. How do you face such decisions?

Obviously for producers these are very difficult business decisions. There is a huge financial loss which one goes through if the show shuts in less than 6 months. Today cases of non payments and defaults are at an all time high, and abrupt shutting of shows is the reason behind it. Problem is today most of the decision makers lack conviction. They first make the product go through the grind of research for months and once everything is cleared by research and the show goes on air and fails to deliver numbers in the first 4 weeks, they start getting jittery and start taking hasty decisions.
Brands like Colors got created because there was no research but only creative conviction and guts to stand by the decision. Today sadly that is not the scenario. We will have to remember that it's the content which creates its viewers.. It's not the viewers who create content. So it's important to go by your instinct and have the courage to stick to it.

You have experienced the same with Badtameez Dil. Where do you think you erred in the making of the show?

I enjoy every story I tell. Duration doesn't matter. Whatever it may be, I will remember 2015 as Badtameez Dil year.
 
We ask again, what according to you is the one important reason why Badtameez Dil did not work?

I can say, it is because of the title of the show. Both Naagin and Swaragini have ‘GIN’ in common. Had I named my show as ‘Badtameez Gin’, maybe it would have worked. (PUN intended).

Having said this, Badtameez Dil created history in being the first show to be aired on HotStar. How was this journey?

It was the first 6 days daily on digital platform and the experience was awesome. It taught us many things; the best art was that we learnt from the few mistakes we made. Besides this it opened up a new avenue for us. I will always be grateful to Mr. Sandeep Jain (Head of Star India commercial) for helping us out with this opportunity and Ajeet Mohan and Vijay Thapa from Hotstar for showing faith on us.

Is it always a win-win situation for producers making TV shows today? Explain.

Not at all.. When a show shuts in 4 months, a producer loses anywhere close to 2 cr. If it works, profits are not as great as it was earlier. It's an open competitive market and every cost is out in market. Margins have declined drastically and will continue further. But creatives are going to flourish because demand of content is increasing.

How do you think a balance can be hit between broadcasters and producers in making the final product?

Clarity of job profile is very important. Today channel EPs are doing the job of Writers. Commercial team wants producers to absorb all cost and behave like a broadcaster. Producers look at the mirror everyday and keep questioning, am I a producer or a line producer. If I am a line producer, then why do I lose money; if I am a producer then why do I not get royalty.. So since he is confused about his own role, he says why I should bother beyond a point, and prefers enjoying coffee more in the channel meetings.
Head of content in channels ask their research team to give them a brief on which show, track and character that will work, and the research team say we don't work over weekends. And over and above all this, there is a giant called FWICE which still believes that Mughal-E-Azam is running in Maratha Mandir. So ya it's chaotic.. We all seem to be playing ringa ringa roses till the time job clarity, onus and rewards are not there.

What is your next big goal as Producer?

To recover all the money I lost in my last two shows.

Why do you think newer experiments have failed to deliver? 

It's not the shows which have failed.. It's the conviction of decision makers which has failed.

How do you like the recent trend of going about doing finite series?

Can you tell me what is the definition of finite.. If it's 26 episodes, then it's working like Naagin. However, it will become infinite very soon because why will the channel shut a show if it's doing so well. And if a show is not doing well, it will become finite by its own merit /de-merit in couple of months. Like today we proudly say Badtameez Dil was a finite show.