Writer, Producer Agastaya Jain: We Miss The Soul And Connection In The Process Of Faster Storytelling

"Agastaya Jain, the writer, creator, and creative producer of the TV show Bas Itna Sa Khwaab, who has worked on projects like Meri Durga, Tu Chal Pudhe, Radha Krishna, and Qayamat Ki Raat, feels that audiences have become increasingly impatient with long stories, making it challenging to build a connection with them at times."

He said, "Earlier, the audience had much more patience in absorbing the story, but now, due to the explosion of shorter content and OTT, everyone wants things to move at 10x speed, including networks."

"Though it's important to follow market trends, somewhere we miss the soul and connection to the character, especially in the process of telling a faster story, which is why the rate of success is also falling. Definitely, writing has evolved over the years. It's important to have relatable characters and plots rather than the exaggerated ones," he added.

He feels that personal ambition and love stories have taken the center stage these days as the audiences are evolving and they don't want to see the saas-bahu conflict to be the central one. He added, "But surely Saas still has a great role to play. The dynamics, though, have changed; they are more relatable and sometimes shown as positive, unlike before."

Agastaya pointed out that eight out of ten shows don't work on TV because of the similar content shown. "Every other show looks the same or eventually starts looking the same as the story progress which really needs to change. According to me, the best way to do this is to select characters and conflicts which are unique and relevant in todays world" he said.

Agastaya stressed that it's mainly the flaws that the audience relates to and said, "Don't make your leads superheroes because in real life no one is. Audience must feel the character is one of them rather than god who can achieve and do anything. Honestly, content is made with your instinct and gut. TRP is the report card that you get every week, which can be distracting as well as you either willingly or unwillingly take kneejerk decisions that hurt the content and character more than it does good."

He suggested that monthly TRPs are better than weekly ones and said, "Trust me, the success ratio will increase by 25% because you will not be in a hurry to just run with the story but will spend time with the character. Because if I'm not interested in you as a character, I don't care whether you have problems in love life or career."