Respite from never-ending sagas

"Manasu Plus", a short film series, promises to be interesting and thought-provoking. MALATHI RANGARAJAN writes...

AT LEAST two things about Hansa Vision's latest project, "Manasu Plus" sound very different. For one, each segment of "Manasu Plus" will be a complete short film with a duration of one hour. Secondly, all the films will be issue-based and hence useful. As starters Hansa Vision has planned a whole lot of medical-related problems as themes for the television films.

There seems to be a glut in every television format today, be it talk shows, serials, mega or otherwise, or cinema oriented stuff. Again even among the subjects chosen, the late night (at least for some of us 11 p.m. is rather a late time), crime thrillers, eveningers for kids, and sob tales all through the day, are somehow creating a set, monotonous pattern on television. To break away from the predictable in some way so as to increase and rekindle interest in the viewer, has been the endeavour of those involved in the production of shows. As a fall out of such attempts,the rather new genre that is now slowly coming into the fray is television films. How different it would be from a play or soap on television remains to be seen. But the one obvious difference is that each programme would be a complete whole.

Hansa Vision plans to make the films purposeful too. "We have decided to present only true stories that are positive in approach", is producer Vimala Ramanan's emphatic statement. Around 52 films have been envisaged, 13 have been planned and six are ready for telecast. "Manasu Plus" is being telecast on Sun TV on every Saturday between 12 noon and 1 p.m. Incidentally the inaugural film of the "Manasu Plus" series was telecast just a couple of days ago.

Not many would vie for a noon-time slot as viewership would expectedly be low when compared with the evening time. "Hansa Vision has broken such myths earlier. Our daily soaps in the afternoons have been runaway hits and we are working hard to prove it again with 'Manasu Plus'", says Vimala Ramanan.

Getting back to the themes they plan to handle, initially they have very interesting stories lined up, with medical-related problems as the base. Later they could branch off into social issues too. "One subject that is not on the cards is crime", says Vimala Ramanan. And that is because there are already programmes based on true criminal cases.

Hansa Vision also does not plan to handle true stories that do not offer solutions to the problems faced. The short films shown should motivate people in similar predicaments, make them bold and help them face challenges with fortitude, feels Vimala Ramanan. At the same time the line of sequences, should not in any way try the viewers' patience because all efforts could then go waste with a flick of a button. So Hansa Vision's technicians are working overtime to keep the films alive and interesting.

Jayashree Viswanath helps Hansa identify the true life characters with the help of the concerned doctors and J. Ramesh (of the Moorthy-Ramesh duo) is in charge of the dialogue and direction. To add pep and veracity to the tales, expert doctors will present their views of the case taken up in the film. And if the protagonist himself wishes to appear in the film towards the end and utter a few inspiring words on how he overcame the crisis, there could be nothing like it.

The films canned already, include cases that deal with epilepsy, plastic surgery, polio, organ donation, meningitis and vasectomy.

"Viewers can also come up with their experiences that would help others. Such cases would be assessed and taken up as the subject for our "Manasu Plus" series if we find them worthwhile", is Vimala Ramanan's enthusiastic suggestion. After all, the success and viability of such ventures depends solely on viewers and their feedback.

So all the television buffs out there could gear themselves up to watch Sun on Saturdays at 12 noon, because going by what Hansa Vision promises, a solid hour of entertainment that inspires and instructs, awaits you.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Entertainment
Previous : Only a few for labourers