Hats Off To Hats Off!

In the era of saas-bahu sagas, shows from ‘Hats Off Productions’ are like a cool breeze. There are no far-from-real characters, or baseless and TRP-oriented plots. These shows are as close as it can get to real life; real life of ordinary people like you and me.

One can identify with the characters. They don’t seem unreal; rather, they are much like people we encounter in our day-to-day life. Be it the simple and straightforward Arvind (Baa Bahu Aur Baby) or the pakka businessman Shailesh (Jassuben Jayantilal Joshi Ki Joint Family); ziddi Baby (BBB) or ever-so-cooperating Aarti (JJJKJF); arrogant socialite Maya (Sarabhai vs Sarabhai) or char-chopdi fail Godavari (BBB); and the list goes on and on..we've been or at least seen some of them at some point in our life.

The factor that makes these shows special is the honesty and realism of the characters. They are not people born with golden spoons in their mouths, with a readymade family business, which runs by itself, (well, people in typical daily soaps usually spend all their time and effort in sorting out their overly complex personal life, and hardly seem to have any time left for making money..and yet they seem to have a never ending supply of it!). But, be it BBB, JJJKJF, EPU (Ek Packet Umeed), or SVS (Sarabhai), or any other hats off show, characters are like real people with real jobs. They have genuine and close-to-life problems, which are not limited to a troublesome saas, a vamp (usually a jethani or devrani), or an external troublemaker saut. Since the characters are so close to actuality, one tends to get involved in their family and day-to-day activites, their joys and their sorrows.

Here are some of my hats off favorites:

Top 5 hats off shows: (in this order)

1. Ek Packet Umeed (EPU)
2. Baa Bahu Aur Baby (BBB)
3. Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai (SVS)
4. Khichadi
5. Jassuben Jayantilal Joshi Ki Joint Family (JJJKJF)

Top 5 male characters: (no particular order)

1. Praful (Khichadi)
2. Rosesh (SVS)
3. Pravin (BBB)
4. Babuji (Khichadi)
5. Arvind (BBB)

Top 10 Female Characters: (Could not narrow down to top 5!) (no particular order)

1. Meenakshi (BBB)
2. Maya (SVS)
3. Baby (BBB)
4. Paroma (EPU)
5. Hansa (Khichadi)
6. Monisha (SVS)
7. Pravina (BBB)
8. Jayshree (Khichadi)
9. Sundari (EPU)
10. Pankor Baa (JJJKJF)

I used to be a big-time tv watcher when I was in India. With time, my filtering system became more powerful, and now, all I watch is hats off shows. They have all the elements necessary for a full package of entertainment; a perfect blend of drama, comedy, joy, and sorrow.

In conclusion, the only thing I would like to say is “three cheers to hats off”. As Aamir Khan said in Dil Chahta Hain, “Perfection ko improve karna mushkil hota hai”…but I’m pretty sure that at the rate that hats off is going, it will keep giving us fans better and better quality of television.