A village girl is living an idyllic life; she is in love with her fiance, her family adores her and she likes her work, until, a group of brash, city-bred men rape her and change her life forever. Typical Bollywood story, you’d think, right?
But what if the story was set in Ildir, a coastal village along the Aegean coastline in Turkey? And the characters and the language of the TV show was Turkish (albeit dubbed in Hindi)? Would you still watch it?
Across drawing rooms, the answer to that is increasingly a ‘yes’ as Turkish shows Fatmagul and Feriha continue to win dedicated viewers, while breaking stereotypes along the way.
Singing Mohammed Rafi in Istanbul
When Fatmagul was premiered on Zindagi channel on 30 June 2016, it was a dubbed version that the Indian audiences saw. This was quite unlike Pakistani TV shows, where despite the characters speaking dense Urdu, they would be broadcast exactly as they had been written.
Dubbing of dialogues in Hindi alters the grammar of a work of audio-visual art (whether a TV show or a film) in two crucial ways. Firstly, it brings the non-native audience closer to an unfamiliar culture in a non-threatening cultural vacuum.
For instance, when Feriha, a show which is premised on class differences, is dubbed in Hindi, the nuances of the differences in Turkish spoken by two classes are lost, along with references to popular culture and religion.
However, for the audience of Turkish shows, the lost nuances are irrelevant as compared to the fascinating insight into a foreign culture.
The shows are an opportunity to understand a new culture, especially that of Turkey, which is not as traditional as one would expect. You can see the impact of a European country on a Muslim culture. I hope the dubbing or translation is faithful, though.Sumedha Mishra
Secondly, dubbing imposes ‘our’ cultural and political stereotypes onto ‘their’ lives. So, a character in Fatmagul bursts into a Kishore Kumar song on a happy occasion. And we look at the characters in awe, as nearly all of them are tall, thin and fair; conforming squarely to our standards of beauty.
And maybe that’s at the heart of the popularity of Turkish TV shows. They are foreign, but not so aesthetically foreign that identification is an issue.
Rape, Class Strife and Fissures Within the Family
The themes, however, taken up by Turkish TV shows are uncomfortable: rape, class strife and dysfunctional families.
In Fatmagul, the protagonist is gangraped by four men. The men are rich and influential and manipulate the system in such a way, that she is forced to marry one of the men who were present during the rape. The show focuses on her slow road to self-confidence and how she eventually falls in love with her husband, Karim.
It’s a complex topic and one which requires immense sensitivity in dealing with guilt, accountability, power, corruption and sexuality. And interestingly enough, it is this sensitive portrayal and relative fearlessness to deal with a tabooed topic which are endearing to Indian audiences.
Turkish TV shows deal with tabooed subjects like rape in a sensitive manner, which we would shy away from. The characters are well-fleshed out and not superficial. Even when they are portraying a gangrape victim they don’t blow it out of proportion.Sumedha Mishra
‘Just Like Us’, Minus Tadka
Turkey is a different country, but its values are very similar to India. The society is different, but somewhere down the line, we find them to be just like us. They are modern, but not too complicated. No tadka. Simple story and simple people.Ira Jha
The characters in Turkish TV shows are Muslim. They live in a different country, speak a different language and exist in a different socio-cultural context. Yet, audiences reiterate that when they watch these shows they feel they are ‘just like us.’ At the outset, its an obvious assertion. Love, betrayal, family and tragedy are universal feelings, so of course, we would identify with that.
But at the same time, our identification is with a particular kind of Turkey. Non-political, devoid of religious markers and the political atmosphere of the world. We are attracted to its linear style of storytelling, its simple characters and emotional plots because that is what we choose to see.
Simply, that’s the kind of entertainment we like. Even if it is set in Turkey, miles away from us.
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