India TV shows continue to be regressive in today’s world. These shows back in the 90s were way ahead of their time, portraying stories that were meaningful, leading to the expectations of people increasing in terms of the quality of the content they will create in the future, however, from that point onwards everything regarding Indian TV shows changed for the worse.
India TV shows despite being very problematic continue to run for years and are somehow able to maintain their viewership. Some of the examples of problematic TV shows which were in fact very famous at their time are, Tarak Mehta ka Ooltah Chashmah which portrayed patriarchal values and stereotypical beliefs in the name of humor. Another example is Naagin, which got released in 2015 and was a mockery of science. Moreover, this drama romanticized toxic relationships. Susral Simar ka is another example, clips of which have made its way to social media several times due to how absurd the content of the show is. From the main lead actress changing her avatars, to her suddenly gaining superpowers, the show continues to get regressive with time.
There are several other examples which prove that Indian TV shows continue to be a disappointment. The same storylines are repeated with no consideration of the fact the world has progressed a lot in the past years. Moreover, there are simply no take-aways from these dramas, as all of them continue to show patriarchal values. Female characters fail to represent the reality of the women in today’s world. They are still portrayed using the binary of good and a bad woman, where a good woman is defined as someone who obliges to the orders of the men in her life.
It is important that the makers realize that they need to move away from the content that they have been creating for years and create room for stories that matter as television is the most powerful mass media in India and continues to influence the worldview of people.
I do agree with your take on Indian TV shows just becoming weaker and weaker in their portrayal of solid plotlines with absurd characters and including often hilarious versions of the fantasy genre which is ironic to how the same media industry has productions such as Veere di Wedding, Ek Ladki ko Dekha tou Aisa laga that dig deeper into multifaceted issues of society, Bollywood TV Dramas lose the growth race to Bollywood films. Although these TV dramas had risen to popularity in the South-Asian community with "Eik Saas Bhi Kabhi bahu thi" ever since then reality has taken a back seat and has set the precedent for any other TV Drama, the shift of viewership is seen more towards progressive shows as Masaba Masaba on Netflix, which does have its fair share of problematic representations still garners some sense of reliability and unique perspectives on daily life problems. Tv Dramas in Pakistan even have a growing online viewership rather than on-air viewership which can be attributed to the evolution of several creatively- freeing and uncensored show streaming sites.