Review: Channel V's The Serial

Channel V’s The Serial which is co produced by Vikas Gupta’s Lost Boy Productions and Balaji Telefilms (ALT Entertainment) went on air yesterday (26 November 2012). The promos did catch a lot of attention and expectation level touched sky high. And why not? After all, television industry’s big and renowned faces were to be seen at their candid best. Who are we talking about? Well…Karan Kundra, Soumya Seth, Sara Khan, Vikrant Massey, Pooja Gor, Raj Singh Arora, amongst others. All this sounds really cool and happening on paper…but did the creatives manage to balance idea formulation with execution? Let’s find out… The episode primarily focused on a young aspiring actor who wants to become famous on television like Karan Kundra. He wants to feature in the show Gumrah…and tries all means to touch his dreams. He is shown reaching the Balaji premise for an audition wherein he meets Jeetandra who wishes him all the best. Okay, some star appeal…so far so good. The story moves on with the boy meeting Abigail Jain on the sets of Humse Hai Liife and apparently they are friends and she invites her to accompany her to Karan Kundra’s party. Yes, the first episode was all about everyone going ga-ga over Kundra’s party. Cut to the next scene wherein Raj Singh Arora is shown being forced by Soumya Seth to announce his birthday party (which Karan Kundra will throw on his behalf and Soumya will arrange all the necessities). It is also shown that Raj is living in with a journalist. Then one thing leads to another and everyone seems to be gearing up for the party. Karan’s intro shot is that of him sleeping in a big house all alone and his opening dialogue is, “Bina milk ke milk shake chahiye.” Okay… Cut to the party scene where lot of TV actors come in, talk to the media, Sara Khan flaunts her curvaceous body in a bikini, Karan gets angry on Kritika (Kamra) turning up at the do (later vanishing) and later breaks up television sets and all. Does all this sound a little confusing? Well…because the first episode of The Serial was indeed wrapped in perplexity. As a critic and a lover of TV shows, we must admit that The Serial did prove to be a disappointment for the viewers. There is not an iota of doubt that the concept is a noble and striking one, but flaws were galore at the execution level. The editing was so fast that it gave a feeling as if one was taking a roller coaster ride. One sequence to other jumped in a jiffy…without being able to hold on to the central thematic thread. Furthermore, the makers went on to direct the episode with an opinion that the masses already know the entire inside masala of the TV industry. As in who is whose friend, who is dating whom, who broke up with whom et al… But then one can argue that the project is meant for a niche audience that have in and out info of the TV industry. Point taken. Immediately after watching the show, a TV lover wrote to us, “I have no idea what really happened. Whose party was it anyway? Raj Singh Arora’s or Karan Kundra’s? Why did things move so fast? And why is Karan so miffed with Kritika? Furthermore, the episode clearly aims to put Karan into the limelight and project him as a big star…but I don’t think an average teenager in today’s time dreams to become like him…he is no Shah Rukh Khan…and not even Ronit Roy or Ram Kapoor. I just hope coming episodes are better handled.” Yes, confusion did prevail and there were indeed too many unnecessary shaky camera movements. The plot and the purpose could have been further lost if the characters were not introduced at all. Thanks a lot that the makers did think of throwing in a little know-how in terms of screens flashing details like Karan Kundra, popularly known as Princess and has worked in such such shows. The creatives need to keep an eye on continuity and minute details as well…Sara Khan dips in the pool wearing a dress and comes out in a bikini (how). Anyways, the sequence could have been dealt more aesthetically. When it comes to actors, Raj Singh Srora did impress a bit. Karan looked a tad lazy, Saumya Seth was disappointing and Pooja Gor must hit the gym immediately. Sadly, Vikrant Massey had too little to do. All in all…The Serial seems to be have been made in an utter hurry, flouting minor but essential details. Direction needs to be better and the production value must also go up. Another major folly is the thin line between reality and fiction getting smudged. What is the genre? What is real and what is scripted? Wow...it's like being in a state of limbo...something like in the movie Inception (wink wink) The show indeed has an awesome plot. Kudos to that! But if it is not dealt with properly, Indian television will see a great loss for if the project does not succeed due to execution flaws then more such endeavors will get restricted in the future. The hodge-podge of a plot and editing should be more streamlined and every character should get a proper exposition. Keep it slow and simple folks…stick to the basics and let the show rock. The concept is a smiling baby; it just needs to get nurtured well. Here’s hoping and wishing that The Serial will indeed prove to be a game changer in the coming days.