Shailja Kejriwal, Creative Director, Content & Communication, STAR India

Four years at the top and still not shaken. STAR India knows exactly how to address masses. Most of the channel’s success should be credited to its programming team consisting of people like Shailja Kejriwal, Creative Director, Content and Communication, who decide what Tulsi and Parvathi would do that particular evening.

In conversation with Noor Fathima Warsia, Kejriwal speaks about STAR’s constant need for more, its definition of programming and how the leader operates to keep luring the masses.

Q. Coming to your role, how do you and the creative director of a production house work together in taking the story forward and make changes in the serial?

Television, more than anything else, is a complete collaborative work, be it the production house, writer, director or whoever, it has to be in complete collaboration. No single person can take the onus of the success or failure of anything. The production houses we work with understand that. They understand the value of our inputs, we understand their importance and so far it is a very happy coexistence.

Q. Tell us more about these brainstorming sessions…are there times when it is difficult to come to a consensus?

Every time. They are absolute battles. And anyone can be agreeing or disagreeing with anyone. I could agree with the writer, disagree with my EP or my EP and writer could see a point and try and convince me. Many times, when we just don’t reach a point of agreement, we take the discussion to the next day. That way people think about it and we eventually find the healthiest way of story telling. Largely everyone sees the point because the target is the same for all--the betterment of the show.

Q. Now with the coming of ‘Hatim’ and ‘Koie Jaane Na’, it appears that STAR is adding variety…

You know I am amazed at this perception of STAR bringing in variety now. We have provided maximum variety, always. We have soaps, format shows, kids programming, cookery shows, travel shows, mythos – everything. And look at these programmes – ‘Sshh Koi Hai’, ‘Shararat’, ‘Khichdi’, all paying off big time. We have experimented with programmes like ‘Josh’ and ‘Kashmir’. Tell me one genre that we don’t have and tell me one channel that gives you all this. How can you even say that we were ever deprived of variety? And shows like ‘Hatim’ give us our share of fun. You should see Deepak’s face when he is sitting on it.

Q. How do you identify problems in a show in case of TRP decline?

Our problem identification process never really stops. We are still identifying problems with ‘Kyunki…’. We do it on a day-to-day basis. I am not saying that we have achieved perfection but there is a little that you can improve everyday. Every scene is observed to see what wasn’t a smart move. We are rarely taken by surprise.

Q. How do you go about identifying problems?

We try every route. We try the route of strategy, data analysis and our own gut. We go back to the drawing board and examine the story completely. We see if there is a problem in communicating the programme or the content. Have we put it in a difficult slot? We look at all that…

Q. And if it still doesn’t click? Then we bid it a tearful farewell

Q. But one might think that these too are really protagonist-driven?

Every programme has a protagonist that plays a more important role than any other character in that serial. But look at a ‘Kahiin…’, the plot line is clear, a daughter-in-law taking revenge. But in a ‘Kyunki…’ and ‘Kahaani…’, what is the plot line? Nothing. The story is about the people in the families of Tulsi and Parvathi and everything that happens around them. You can’t define the story here and so it is concept-driven.

Q. … If you can’t put another twist, it will come to an end…

…exactly, which is not the case with ‘Kyunki…’ or ‘Kahaani…’. They are like the story of life, which goes on. And in many cases, that is where the problem comes up. People end up thinking that the daily soaps can go on forever. They have to realise the difference in what drives the story, concept or plot and then have a strong enough concept to take the serial forward forever.

Q. But how does it work, how do concepts flow, ideas exchange and then how do you implement them?

It can happen both ways. If they feel this is the next change that should come in the serial, they tell it to us. If we feel that we must take the serial another way, we tell it to them. Whoever comes up with an idea tells it to the others and then we have a brainstorming session where the ideas get discussed, necessary inputs are given and we arrive at a consensus. Only after everyone is convinced that we leave the room and the decision gets implemented thereafter.

Q. Apart from TAM, what are the other measures that indicate the success of a programme?

You have to be satisfied. You have to know that you have given it all and you are happy. Sometimes that matters more than TAM figures. Feedback is also important but that is just an indication. If I feel something is not working, even if the whole world called me up to say that it is good, I think, ‘Thank God they feel so because I still don’t’. The good thing about television is that you can improve what you have done. Of course, it is also very scary when you are at the top and you have to be there.

Q. Speaking more generally now, what is your opinion on in–programme advertising?

I think, going forward in-programme advertising will be big. But it matters how creatively you can use it. Once it is accepted as an inevitable reality, one would have to start planning at the story stage itself. Then it is a part of the narrative. In in-programme advertising, you have to bring together the advertiser, channel, writer and everyone for it to be effective.

Q. Is there are a particular kind of programming that faces more problems than others?

Well programming is also of two kinds. One is when you are trying to break the mould, you are doing something different. Then in that case, there is a substantial lot of trial and error. The second kind of programming is the regular kind of programming. The chances of problems there are lesser than the first.

Apart from these, sometimes there are various factors involved when you know that things can go wrong. One case can be in the difference of the shooting and airing period. I could have made something six months back when India was not so shining and if I were to put it in current times, when the mood has completely changed, the programme will face problems. So, looking at things like that you know somewhere what would work and what won’t.

Q. Let’s begin with the making of a serial. What, according to you, are the basic requirements of a good serial?

There are quite a few ingredients. It begins with good writing and then goes on to direction, editing, cinematography, and good looking actors; all this topped with effective communication, PR and marketing. That is why we at STAR call it content and communication and not programming.

Also, the way you package is very important, I mean the buzz and hype that you create around the serial. What are you trying to tell the audience? Why should he come and sample your programme?

Q. What do these brainstorming sessions largely revolve around?

Largely around characterisation. After a point, in any story when you deal with a character it has its own life. By and large, in a serial, after a while, the writer ceases to be the author of the character. Because when you shape a character and he has a life, there isn’t much you can do with the character. The story after that takes on mostly what the characters can or can’t do.

Q. But even when everyone is convinced, isn’t there a risk of whether the idea will click or not?

That is where your strategies also come into play – the science of creativity, which is outside of storytelling. You cannot eliminate risk, but you can minimise it. So, there are many things that are done there--you observe, you do your research – qualitative and quantitative, you get an inkling of what is going around from the newspapers and magazines, you see the kind of books and movies that are made, an idea of the prevalent social conditions and, of course, TAM plays a role here too. So you have a sense of direction. You can never really say it’s going to be a success but you can hope it will work.

Q. What is the key to be there?

We are never satisfied. I will give you an example. When we started with afternoon, the highest ratings that came then were around 3. We were hell bent to get 4 and when we did get it, we were excited but the target changed to 5. And currently we are rating at 13 plus and we are trying for a 15.

Q. But then you do in retrospect, you do change your shows to the saas bahu or love triangle formats when they don’t seem to work. Like in the case of ‘Sanjivani’ and ‘Saara Aakaash’.

See the episodes of last two months. It is complete hospital drama now. You have to understand that in a show you have to establish the premise of the show and introduce the people first. We started with all that. The next phase is when you tell more about the lives of these people – why is their nature like this, what are their problems. Then once this phase is established, you start identifying that ‘Ok, if she is behaving like this today, there must be something that happened at her place’. That is the humanising and sensitising of the drama. Then you come back to your premise in phase three. That is the same format we followed in ‘Saara Aaakash’. It is easy to say, it difficult to analyse and one must look at these holistically.

Q. What is the current scene of in-programme advertising in India?

It is at a very nascent stage. May be just two per cent. But in future, it can be very important. There is also a possibility that in future you can have programmes that are designed for certain products. Changes like these should come in.

Q. And what else is happening on STAR? Loads. Just give it some time and there is loads coming…

Q. Television is the longest form of programming. What is the trick involved in delivering a quality product?

The basic trick is not to begin with a plot. Begin with a concept. To explain that, take the example of ‘Kyunki…’. Here you can’t say that the plot is such and such. It is a concept about the relations between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law. It can be good, it can be bad, it can be ugly. If you take ‘Kahaani…’, that is also a concept, a microcosm of what can happen in various households.

But, take the example of ‘Kumkum’, ‘Bhabhi’, ‘Kabhie Aaye Na Judaai’ or ‘Kahiin Kissi Roz’. These are not concept-driven programmes. These are plot-driven or protagonist-driven programmes. These are necessarily finite but a ‘Kyunki…’ or a ‘Kahaani…’ can go on forever.

Q. But then even the plot-driven programmes appear to go on forever on STAR.

They can go on for a long time but not forever. That is the fun of story telling. How you can put in the twists and turns. But these will come to a logical end. In ‘Kahiin…’, it is like all right she has taken her revenge, now what…