Why there are no political-dramas on TV?

If all that the words ���political drama��� remind you of, are the Parliament and trust votes, we understand.
After all, none of the TV serials currently on air would fit that format. Politics may be our most preferred topic of debate and discussion, but it hasn���t quite got viewers��� votes as primetime material. After Sarrkkar, the Shobhaa De-scripted series inspired by the Gandhi family, which was on air in 2005-���06, political dramas haven���t really been on the agenda of channels.
Farooq Shaikh, who was part of Ji Mantriji, the desi take-off from the British satire Yes Minister, which was aired around the same time as the Ketan Mehta-directed Pradhan Mantri, explains why.
���There is plenty of material for a serial on politics, but there has to be complete freedom from the government to say what you want. The problem is, politicians and bureaucrats lend themselves to satire very well, but they also lack a sense of humour.��� That is why the script of Sarrkkar, too, had to be tweaked whenever something potentially ���inflammatory��� surfaced. ���We had to rearrange the words and refrain from naming anyone. Who wants to spend the next few months arguing, explaining or apologizing?��� asks Divya Seth Shah, who played a starched-up neta in the show.
For scriptwriter Padmanabha Dasgupta, it is the impossibility of taking sides or showing a neutral politico, that comes in the way of an engrossing politics-oriented serial: ���The show can���t name any party. It cannot have the politician belong to the ruling party or the Opposition, because then, the channel stands the risk of getting stamped, or losing viewers who owe allegiance to a camp different from the one shown. A politician, by definition, must believe in an ���ism��� ��� what orientation does one show, then?���
Again, viewers of a soap may not necessarily be interested in an ���ism���. Says Divya, ���People might be politically conscious, but they are not concerned about the process of politics. Our TRPs would fall whenever governance would be discussed. So, we had to resort to emotions and drama to put the ratings back on track.��� No wonder reality shows and family dramas have been ruling primetime slots. ���Producers are interested in mass viewership,��� points out Rohit Roy, who played the flamboyant Karan Pratap Singh in Sarrkkar. So, wouldn���t the fact that political dramas draw men into the viewers��� circle, help? ���Men form a minuscule segment of soap watchers. The target audience comprises women, so there will always be takers for kitchen sink politics,��� Rohit clarifies.
And would such a series not foster greater public involvement in the country���s political machinery? ���Only if done intelligently, over a sustained period of time,��� answers Shaikh. A political soap, then, could work up just the right lather of instruction and entertainment. But the way it is received, needs to change, and Dasgupta has just the prescription: ���Few things can afford as much drama and unpredictability as politics. For this potential to be exploited on the small screen, we need to be more transparent and accepting of depictions.��� And with the elections on, the time couldn���t be more perfect to make a start. Vote say?