The House of Cards series premiered in India last week. And Frank Underwood, the series lead played by Kevin Spacey, is yet another brilliant character in the long list of anti-heroes from the West. Sherlock Holmes (Sherlock), Walter White (Breaking Bad), Dexter Morgan (Dexter), Don Draper (Mad Men), Gregory House (House), Hannibal Lecter (Hannibal) and now, Underwood have enthralled audiences. They have taken TV shows to newer heights while riding the antagonist-protagonist wave.

These anti-heroes are misanthropes, drug-addicts, law-breakers, asocial, sadists, murderers, and add or remove a few more negative characteristics. But they continue to be adored by millions and one reason why these characters work is because they don’t occupy either end of the spectrum: black or white, they fall somewhere in the middle. They do evil to get the right stuff done, and sometimes they are evil just for the heck of it. These anti-heroes have so many shades of grey that the viewer never knows which side of the Golden Mean the characters are operating at. The viewers are always in a moral dilemma. Perhaps, this is what makes these characters seem real — because who on earth (or Television) is ever completely good or evil? Well, Indians, at least on Hindi television shows.

Hear me out. In Hindi television soaps I find that even the worst of the villains here are not as bad as the best anti-heroes from the West. It has puzzled me why Hindi TV serials lack anti-heroes or even well-etched antagonists.

Is it because anti-heroes would never work here?

Here, a hero is a HERO— an embodiment of good virtues. He is lovable and anyone who does wrong by him is the devil. And the same goes for the heroine, who is the proverbial sanskaari.

The villain, on the other hand, is pure evil: in intent and deed, and most often, beyond redemption.

When I watch a Hindi serial I am told through ample sound effects and menacing camera angles — who is likeable and who is not. I can never make a choice and little is left to my imagination.

Hindi TV shows, as I see it, prefer black or white with very little chance of grey (in recent times I have seen some mothers-in-law portrayed as strict disciplinarians and few male leads who are all ruff-and-tuff until sense prevails, but even these don’t come anywhere near the antagonist-protagonist). This deficit puts me off. I feel this simplistic characterisation is not only a copout on the part of the producers, but it also underestimates the audience’s intelligence.

By ruling out the idea of a complex character, most of these characters end up seeming miles away from reality.

What is the reason behind such extreme characterisation? Perhaps it’s the fear of being chided for acting as a corrupting influence. Or may be Western audiences are more mature, their production houses more experimental and their ethics and virtues more fluid.

Over the years I have wondered why such a difference exists between TV shows abroad and here. The lack of good content on prime time Hindi TV programmes (from the time I remember watching TV, this would be late nineties) is depressing. I am not saying good content equals anti-heroes or productions from the West. But content that goes beyond the trappings of morality tales is an urgent need. Not the C.I.D or Mandira type but the Sherlock or House or Don Draper type.

Wishful thinking?

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