Indian Summers | British TV Serial On Indian Canvas | Personal Views

“Indian Summers” is one of the latest historical fiction series produced in UK that started airing worldwide on TV this year. Thanks to the stupendous budget and effective advertising campaign, it was one of the highly anticipated dramas of the year. Based in the Simla of 1932, this historical fiction series follows lives of British socialites in the era when India was a British Colony. As we know, Simla used to be the summer capital of colonial India as the ruling Britishers could not handle the heat of Delhi in Summer.

Written by Paul Rutman and directed by David Moore and Anand Tucker, the series does have an interesting cast comprising of some veteran Indian actors. I was quite happily surprised to see Roshan Seth (Bharat Ek Khoj fame – which is based on “Discovery of India”) as Darius Dalal.

Since it is a British production, the protagonist is Ralph Whelan (played by Henry Lloyd-Hughes). We meet Ralph and his entourage while they are on their annual move to Simla at onset of the Summer. Soon we have a murder, a few rallies, a journalist who is bent on finding the truth, but what we prominently follow is the daily routine of the British socialites and their domestic lives, with the Indians in the background. The “family and friends” have the right mix including a powerful matriarch, beautiful doe-eyed, adorable ladies, love and hate and “mixnmatch of the relationships”, etc. that hold a promise of an endless series that could go on and on with so many entangled stories, probably until 1947.

The series has received mixed responses worldwide but in our opinion, the Indian audiences will find it lacking in substance. It joins the genre of western adventures set-up in India, that end-up full of clichés. The Indian characters sound off-key and out of place as the aim of the series is to portray the life of the Britishers, with more of “Downtown Abbey” flavour to it. While shooting in Penang should provide the required exoticness to the Western eye, it does not have the feel of native India. Just touches of classical music do not make background music.

And hello, it is about time they stopped calling Indian freedom fighters “Terrorists”.

So, what is your take about this TV Serial? Did you watch it Or are you going to watch it? Do let us know your remarks via comments.