Kolangal Kolangal...

[Pic Courtesy Sun TV]

Tamil megaserials are usually treated with derision by everyone other than the people who watch them.But from what I've seen during my trips to India, it cannot be argued that they have had a major impact on the TV landscape back home. Serial viewers are glued to the TV from 7 to 10. Even household chores are moved around/discarded to accomodate the serials and guests/phone calls are not welcome during those hours(not that there are too many guests since there are serial watchers among them too!). Characters from the serials have become part of an extended family in homes and their actions are hotly debated.

The only megaserial I've watched quite a bit off is Kolangal on Sun TV. There were two main reasons why I started watching it. One, I was curious about the popularity of megaserials and wanted to try one out. And two, it was telecast at a convenient time(6pm) that didn't intrude much upon the tasks at home.

For those who've never watched it, here's a short primer. Kolangal's troubled protagonist is Devayani, who married a money-hungry husband soon after the serial started. Her mother-in-law(Nalini) too was equally money-hungry and the only person on Devayani's side was her father-in-law. At home, she has a sister who eloped, another sister whose marriage has been cancelled and a brother who is unemployed. She is now divorced and her husband is on the verge of marrying a rich divorcee he works with.

All the oft-heard complaints about megaserials hold true for Kolangal too. It is almost eternally drenched in sorrow as Devayani and her sisters encounter one problem after another(I havent kept track but I think every episode features atleast 1 character crying). Most characters behave unrealistically and are stereotyped(for eg. a married woman's parent must bend over backwards to satisfy the whims of their son-in-law and sammandhis). It is very slow and there are entire episodes where the story does not move forward even a bit. And there is mamiyar-marumagal friction with the mamiyar portrayed as the devil incarnate.

Inspite of all this, Kolangal did have me hooked for a while. It had a female protagonist who was quite strong and though going through several problems, didn't take them all lying down. It had many characters, each with separate storylines, that allowed the serial to keep moving by jumping between the different storylines. It had a few twists regarding Devayani's past and some suspense as to when she would know about it. Most importantly, it had something to look forward to i.e. the time when the balance would finally tilt in Devayani's favor. Ofcourse, it helped that missing a few episodes didn't matter since the story moved so slowly that it was easy to catch up!

But the slow pace eventually got to me and I began losing interest. The fact that the telecast time moved to 5.30pm didn't help either. But the director gave the serial a nice jolt last week by killing of Devayani's ex-husband's fiance on the eve of their marriage. So the serial's turned into a whodunnit, which as readers know is one of my favorite genres. The 5.30 time is still a hassle but I'm gonna try checking in on Kolangal atleast a couple of times a week.

PS: Metti Oli, probably the most popular megaserial currently, is finally wrapping up on Saturday. Looks like they're gonna have an extended finale and also have the actors chat with fans on the phone. I've never caught an episode of it but my mom and both my in-laws watch it regularly. I guess I know what they're gonna be doing this Saturday afternoon :-)