What do Kaun Banegi Shikharwati, Tribhanga (2021), Family Man, Pagglait (2021), Gehraiyaan, Ramprasad Ki Thervi (2019) and Meenaxi Sundereshwar (2021) have in common? They are realistic family dramas about dysfunctional families. While there are some genres that hook audiences, some of the truly entertaining slices are derived from conflict-driven drama. And stories of dysfunctional families are not just relatable but also connect with audiences across the globe.
Dysfunctional families represent the reality of the families world over- whether depicted in drama, thriller, comedy or crime or other genres. What is interesting is that be it comedies like Gullak, Schitt’s Creek, Mind the Malhotras, and Metro Park, or dramas like Mirzapur The Crown, Succession, Tandav and Human among others, plots about fractured relationship find their way into almost every genre. Even if the genre of the show/project is drama, crime, thriller, romance, sitcom, a broken family adds a nice tadka to the show propelling it forward. While some shows and films lean towards a slice of life treatment others go all the way with a commercial treatment of subjects. So, what’s about them that makes it a ‘must-have’ in most stories?
Actor Jameel Khan of Gullak fame, who watched Succession recently, a complicated story about complicated families, shares his viewpoint. He says, “There’s no relationship in the world doesn’t have conflicts. But how one utilises the differences in characters matters. Many stories start off as dysfunctional but often at the end come together for a united goal. These tracks have high emotional quotient.”
Director of Pagglait, Umesh Bist, who enjoyed the OTT show Bandish Bandits, a story about a musician’s family, which “showcased family issues in a unique manner”, says, “I feel as Indians, we are so connected to our families and the representation of a true Indian family is a universe, which is relatable and that’s why our stories are from that world. A lot of us who are writing now, we have spent a lot of time in big families, and so stories about family equations will keep cropping up as a subplot or the main track. Every family has characters with quirks, style and entitlement too and those forces dictate the relationships. And that’s what gives the audience an immediate connect and leads to them internalising it.”
Renuka Shahane wrote and directed Tribhanga, which was about a mother-daughter’s fractured relationship and their unconventional choices. The OTT film garnered a good response. Many people wrote to her sharing their personal experiences which she feels “is a privilege”.
She says, “There is no such thing as a normal family anymore. The kind of things that makes stories interesting is showing imperfections. Moreover, we are taught not to talk about our problems and issues. The normalcy of a family shown in The Great Indian Kitchen (2021) blew me away. One saw a family structure passed on for generations and the rigor for the woman in the house to do things over and over. So when we see the conflicts in a fictional form, you relate to it and it is like a catharsis. That’s why dysfunctional family story plots pop up in most genres. Also when we show a life’s journey in a few hours, so picking aspects of a mundane life with something extra gives it a special touch. Audience feels it happens with everyone.”
Director of Human, filmmaker Vipul A Shah remarks the clash, fights and relationship issues if depicted well, adds layers to characters and makes content richer. “A dysfunctional family angle is predominantly used in subplots as it helps adds additional drama to a character’s journey. It works because it is most relatable. We represent some reality in any show or film and every character in a project has some kind of family, which helps create drama or gives reason as to why they are behaving in a certain way,” says Shah who feels that the mother-daughter relationship in Delhi Crime was depicted very well.
According to Shah, at times, when characters are not so heroic, showing their roots helps explain their personality behaviour. He adds, “Everyone’s lives are decided in their childhood and family plays a big part in what one becomes. In Human, we threw light on why a well-intentioned, noble doctor feels the need to lie. Being closet gay and the way she handles her parents added a dimension to the character. Then there was Shefali (Shah) and Ram’s (Kapoor) character’s dysfunctional family and how she was oppressed as a poor kid which turned her into a devil. Relationships within the family are not driven by love but ambition and grief too.”
Khan says, “I feel, the OTT clientele is primarily urban and modern families in cities and with our society getting corrupt, the gap between have and have-nots, showing such conflicts in OTT content works. Nothing is black and white anymore, everything is grey and because as our society is such, so our content.”
