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Now, TRP game has changed everything: Joyoshree Arora
Veteran actor Joyoshree Arora was part of the team that laid the foundation of Indian TV serials with Hum Log (1984) and Buniyaad (1986)
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Veteran actor Joyoshree Arora was part of the team that laid the foundation of Indian TV serials with Hum Log (1984) and Buniyaad (1986). Since then, she has done 213 serials and films in the span of 38 years.
“I am a blessed to have worked with some great directors and writers. When I played Bhagwanti in Hum Log, I was very young but played an elderly woman. Now, at the age of 71, I am playing a young-at-heart granny, who rides a bicycle. I tell young actors that success of those serials started the tradition of daily soaps in Indian television,” says the actor.
Arora was in Lucknow recently for shooting of her new show.
“I feel humbled to be a part of history. It was truly the golden era of Indian television. Shows like Hum Log, Buniyaad, Sanjha Chulha, Dil Dariya, Pratham Pratishruti, Fauji and so on were a real hit at that time. Working with writers such as Manohar Shyam Joshi, Ashapurna Devi and makers like Lekh Tandon, Ramesh Sippy, P Kumar Vasudev, Devender Goswami and Sultan Ahmed was a blessing,” she says.
“I am a Bengali (from Kolkata) married to a Punjabi and used to travel from Delhi to Mumbai for work. It wasn’t easy at that time. I want to thank God for helping me work,” says the Chak De! India actor.
Comparing between then and now, the actor says that there is a lot of difference. “Technology wise things have improved drastically but human touch is missing. I started with low band which upgraded to high-band, beta and now it’s a digital age. I also keep on updating myself with time. Earlier, we used to invest a lot of time on content. Hindi script, too, is now in Roman language,” she says.
Arora feels show rating game is to be blamed for rapid changes. “Nowadays, we get script in our hand at the last moment while we are doing our makeup. Due to TRP game, everything has changed. TRP ne sab gadbar kar diya hai…iskey chalte sabhi shows ek saath bhed chaal main chalne lagte hain. We don’t know when the character we are playing will change overnight. Thankfully, my current show Sab Satrangi director Saurabh (Tewari), who is also a writer, gave us the script in advance and also held practice workshops,” she says.
On shooting in the state capital, she says, “This is my third visit to Lucknow. First, I came here for Bano Begum, then for Tesri Beti and now this one. Interestingly, all of them have been family dramas. I love the city. During my last visits (80s and 90s), I had visited some Bengali families but since my mother is no more so I lost touch with my relatives here.”
