An Analytical Study of Content and Language of Indian Webs Series
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Journal of Xi'an University of Architecture & Technology ISSN No : 1006-7930
An Analytical Study of Content and Language of Indian
Webs Series
Dr. Subhash Kumar
Associate Professor, Department of Journalism & Mass Communication, Manipal University Jaipur, India
Dr. Atanu Kumar Mohapatra
Chairperson, Centre for Diaspora Studies, Central University of Gujrat, Gandhinagar, Gujrat, India
Abstract:
The trend of web series started almost two decades ago but the current viewing trends suggest that
web series are posing a stiff competition to movies and television nowadays. Web series is
becoming the heart of the young generation. Like Netflix, Amazon Prime, TVF, Hotstar and many
more apps are providing the platforms to view web series. It seems that Television serials are
being replaced by the Internet web series, which are becoming the main source of entertainment.
But the content and language of the Hindi web series have become a major concern. The paper is
an attempt to analyze the content and language of web series and its impact on youth. The study
has found that the vulgar content and abusive language used in most of the web series have a
serious impact on youth. The study has used quantitative method by circulating a questionnaire
among the youth. Hence, the paper is an attempt to analysis the various aspects of web series
impact among the young generation of the society.
Key words: web, series, internet, young, television, serials.
I. INTRODUCTION
In the 1990s web series had emerged and popularized more prominent in the year 2000s. “The
Spot, or thespot.com, was the first episodic online story, and the first website to integrate photos,
videos and what later became known as blogs into the story line created by Scott Zakarin in 1995”.
A web series is a series of scripted videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet and
part of the web television, a single instance of a web series program can be called an episode. “The
decades-old, traditional Indian television shows fail to generate interest among the in
contemporary youth of India. Desi web series are now an exciting and emerging form of
entertainment for the youth. They are now gaining in prominence in urban India”. In the year 2016,
“there are a number of awards that have been established to award excellence in web series
production, including the Streamys, Webbys, IAWTV, and Indie Series Awards, there are also
several web series festivals, most notably in Los Angeles and Vancouver. Most major award
ceremonies have also created web series and digital media award categories, including the Emmy
Awards and the Canadian Screen Awards”. Web series are seen replacing movies and television
nowadays. “The dubbing trend in Indian entertainment industry started with the kids’ related
program and the trend was extended to the dubbing of some Hollywood block buster movies in
Hindi which enjoyed a great success in terms of popularity and acceptability among the Indian
Volume XII, Issue V, 2020 Page No: 919
Journal of Xi'an University of Architecture & Technology ISSN No : 1006-7930
audience. The trend was then followed by a number of channels in the light of popularity among
the audience”. [1] Web series is becoming the heart of the young generation. Like Netflix, Amazon
Prime, TVF, Hotstar and many more apps are there which consist of web series. “Nowadays the
trends have provided renaissance to many web series in hindi too due to completely bored with the
daily melodrama serials and situations especially the young generation. Television serials are being
replaced by the Internet web series, which are gaining popularity in India”. [2]
In 2013, “streaming video website Netflix earned the first Primetime Emmy Award nominations
for original online only web television at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards. Three of its web
series, House of Cards, Arrested Development, and Hemlock Grove, earned nominations that
year”. A web series is general in episodic form, and it is a series of scripted or non-scripted videos
released on the Internet. It can be watched on a range of platforms, including desktop, laptops,
mobile phones etc. “Web series offers something that the Television serials just don’t mature
content. Unlike television dramas, web series has taken a different direction. Melodrama has
become a 90’s object. Content is what the viewer is focused on or looking for. Content isn’t the
main reason why web series has been successful they have additionally made it a point to fulfill
our thirst for diverse subject and issues. Such Live in relationships, horror series, documentaries,
stand-up comedies, homosexual love stories, sci-fi thrillers, crime thrillers. These web series
content developers are trying to bring us concepts that televisions wouldn’t dare to touch. Most of
this content in series or movies created by them work because the person viewing is able to relate
the issues they raise”. [3]
In the year 2008 ‘Application software’ we popularly knew as APPS. “This application had
exploded the demand for smart phone, tabs, laptop, computer and other electronics devices. “Apps
emerged from early PDAs (Personal Digital Assistant), through the addictively simple game Snake
on the Nokia 6110 phone”. “The sudden increase in quantity and variation of news apps, owing to
the consumer necessities, takes cemented the way in the formation of an extensive choice of
review, recommendation, blogs”. [4]
Indian Web Series
The Indian film industry and the television industry have been in two different leagues. While
Bollywood has been making waves globally with its content, our television industry has refused
to reinvent itself and remained stuck to the same melodrama which we have been watching for
years. The introduction of Indian web series in the country brought about a fresh wave of new and
innovative content. Creators are not shying away from trying to think and create content that is out
of the box. The biggest motivating factor in this is the lack of censorship. The battle of creators
with the censors has been going on since ages. While the creators feel that their content is actually
putting a mirror on the things that are happening in our society, the censors think otherwise. With
the lack of censorship, creators on the webspace are now free to present their story the way they
actually want to. While the web space in the country is still relatively young, we have got enough
glimpses of the potential of the content which we are able to produce. So, list down some of
our favorite Indian web series as below.
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Stories by Rabindranath Tagore
A standout factor of Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore’s literary work is that he mainly focused
on relationships that were tainted by the weaknesses and idiosyncrasies of human nature. Another
interesting fact is that female characters were more often than not the protagonists in these tales.
He portrayed women as a strong and dynamic figure in his stories which differs from the
conservative mindset that existed in the country at the time. While each story has a different
concept, the feel of that era has been captured well in almost every story. The web series features a
bunch of talented actors like Radhika Apte, Sumeet Vyas, Rohan Shah and Amrita Puri amongst
others.
Sacred Games
“When the first scene in the show is of a dog falling from the height of a skyscraper, you know
that this Indian web series isn’t going for subtlety. In fact, it’s the level of brutality the marks
the cornerstone of this web series in the Sacred Games”. Sacred Games was the first web
series produced by Netflix in India and with a duo of talented directors like Anurag Kashyap and
Vikramaditya Motwane pulling the strings, people naturally expected big things. Since it is Netflix,
obviously they weren’t holding back as along with getting ace directors on-board, they also went
all out with the casting of this Indian web series. Having stars like Saif Ali Khan, Nawazuddin
Siddiqui and Radhika Apte is an Indian web series that proves that even Bollywood stars are
realising the massive potential of the platform. Scared Games is based on Vikram Chandra’s 2006
novel of the same title. While the storyline won’t be termed as extraordinary, it is the visual
craftsmanship of the directors that distinguishes Sacred Games from following the footsteps of
other crime dramas. The acting by the cast too is absolutely spot on. Saif Ali Khan is convincing
as a Sikh police officer and even nails his Punjabi accent while he is at it. It seems that playing a
ruthless gangster can come to Nawaz even in his sleep as like his past performances he fits this
role like a glove. Radhika Apte delivers an impactful performance as a RAW agent. Another
standout performance in the Indian web series is by Kubra Sait, who plays a transgender singer
and dancer Kukoo. She mesmerises the audience and Gaitonde.
Mirzapur
Mirzapur is a typical gang war drama in which people are ready to go to any extent for securing
power. Right from the first scene itself, this seemingly lawless land is ruled by Akhanda Tripathi
aka Kaleen Bhaiya (Pankaj Tripathi). Carrying out a carpet business as a cover, Kaleen Bhaiya
carries out every illegal activity imaginable like dealing in desi kattas (guns), drugs and blackmail
to name a few. His son Munna, played by Divyendu Sharma, is extremely hungry for power and
wishes to take over control from his father as soon as possible. In walk two brothers Guddu (Ali
Fazal) and Bablu Pandit (Vikrant Massey), who join Kaleen’s business activities as they catch his
attention thanks to their impressive hustling skills. This doesn’t sit too well with Munna as he
considers them to be an obstacle in his way of securing power. Even though the plot in this Indian
web series is wafer-thin, the exceptional performances by the cast of the show prove to be the
saving grace. Pankaj Tripathi absolutely nails his act as the local don. Be it his nuances, mannerism
or the way he delivers lines, it's hard to not be in awe of him. Vikrant Massey is his usual reliable
Volume XII, Issue V, 2020 Page No: 921Journal of Xi'an University of Architecture & Technology ISSN No : 1006-7930
self as he delivers an impressive performance. Ali Fazal does a commendable job as an all brawn
and no brain. Divyendu Sharma, however, comes as the surprise package with his portrayal of
Munna in the Indian web series. It's good to see him play an extremely negative character for the
first time and nail it.
Rangbaaz
Rangbaaz is a web series based on the life of the infamous criminal Shree Prakash Shukla which
is changed to Shiv Prakash Shukla in the series. The story begins in 1992, with a naive twenty-
year-old Shiv Prakash (Saqib Saleem) is shown to be happy in his simple life. Things take a turn
when an eve teaser dares to harass his sister and ends up getting killed by the hands of Shukla. A
local politician Ram Shankar Tiwari (Tigmanshu Dhulia) takes full advantage of the situation and
sends Shukla to Thailand making him assume that he’s protecting him from an imminent arrest.
Later on, Shukla feels obligated to return the favour and begins working as Tiwari’s henchman.
Once Shukla enters the world of crime, he’s unstoppable. He manages to constantly leave the UP
police clueless about his actions with the help of shrewd planning. And as he gains more and more
power, it all gets to his head. In fact, he literally begins to enjoy pumping bullets into the victims.
A few shots are never enough for him as he goes onto empty an entire round of bullets into almost
lifeless bodies. Eventually, Shukla becomes too big for his own shoes and goes against the very
people who introduced him to the underworld. The web series does full justice to the character
transformation of Shukla from being a simpleton to the most wanted man in India. A special
mention must be given to Saqib Saleem, who delivers possibly his career-best performance with
this one. He gets into the skin of his character of the dead gangster and delivers a terrific
performance.
Jamtara
After a few disappointing ventures, it seems like Netflix was losing out on the interest of the Indian
audience. However, after watching this web series we can safely conclude that they’re back in the
game. Creators Trishant Srivastava and Nishank Verma and director Soumendra Padhi present a
gripping story based on a group of boys from Jamtara running a highly lucrative phishing scam.
These activities are planned and executed mainly by two cousins Sunny (Sparsh Shrivastav) and
Rocky (Anshumaan Pushkar). While Sunny enters into it for the money, Rocky’s obsession lies in
power. A cast of mainly fresh faces embrace their roles and manage to do a brilliant job in
portraying their different characters. This Indian web series is in fact inspired by true events
as Jamtara has over the years turned into a hub of sorts for phishing India. They also portray the
impact of aspiration, greed, wealth and power has on a person. Jamtara stands somewhere between
the Anurag Kashyap and Tigmanshu Dhulia universe. Recently, we’ve seen many Indian web
series try out the rural gang mafia but Jamtara is one series that manages to execute it perfectly.
Director Soumendra gets full credit for crafting an exciting story filled with twists and turns in
each episode.
In all these web series the language that used is not permitted in civilized society and the content
shown in these web series are also adult in nature.
Volume XII, Issue V, 2020 Page No: 922Journal of Xi'an University of Architecture & Technology ISSN No : 1006-7930
After the Indian youth was done with their favorite western shows, the web series culture in India
came in at the right time. “Youngsters have stopped watching TV and there is going to be a lot
more to grab on the internet. With shows like ‘Friends’ and ‘How I Met Your Mother’, which are
being watched repeatedly on the internet over the years, web series tend to never go out of fashion
and we intend to serve the ever changing content needs of our audience,” adds Arunabh Kumar.
“The Indian youth is barely tuning into television with the web shows offering ten to fifty minute
episodes, that has become a way of life. Not only these, but many more web series by various
production houses like TVF, Dice Media, Filter Copy and even the famous Bollywood banner
Yash Raj Films (YRF), among others, have entered the business to target the youngsters,
especially, who are bored of the regular reality shows and household stories on the Indian
television channels” a student of Delhi University. [6]
What make these internet series stand out are the new faces in lead roles, a bunch of friends that
you might associate with, characters that speak a mix of Hindi and English and situations with
which the younger generation can connect.
Objective of the study
To understand the popularity of web series among the young generation.
To find out impact of the content and language of webs series among the young generation.
To analyse the content and language of webs series.
II. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The survey was conducted among the students and staff members of Manipal University Jaipur,
Rajasthan, India. Keeping the study objectives in view a questionnaire was developed for data
collection. The questionnaire was administered through a Google form which was distributed
among Undergraduate students and staff members of Manipal University Jaipur. Total respondents
were 104 who responded to the survey correctly and completely.
III. ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
The survey conducted among the students and staff members of Manipal University Jaipur. A total
of 104 students and staff members of Manipal University Jaipur responded to the study correctly
and completely to establishes the popularity of web series and impact of content and language used
in the web series among the young generation of the society. The following chart and data clearly
indicate how web series have become a popular phenomenon and got a prominent place among
the young generation of the society:
Volume XII, Issue V, 2020 Page No: 923Journal of Xi'an University of Architecture & Technology ISSN No : 1006-7930
GENDER
In the above given pie chart, it clearly indicates that total participated of male are 51 percent and
female are 49 percent in the study correctly.
EDUCATION
The pie chart shows that approximately 70 percent of the respondents are graduates.
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AGE
According the above figure, most of the respondents (86.7%) belong to the age group of 19 to 30
years.
DO YOU WATCH WEB SERIES?
Figure above shows that a great majority (79 %) of young respondents are watching web series in
India. This may be due to the fact that there is greater amount of entertainment and information
available on the web series.
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WHICH LANGUAGE WEB SERIES DO YOU WATCH?
In the above figure, the pie chart clearly indicates that there is a greater awareness among youth
about web series of not only of India but also all over the world web series.
HOW MANY HOURS DO YOU SPEND WATCHING WEB SERIES?
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HOW FREQUENTLY DO YOU WATCH WEB SERIES?
The above two graphs show that 50 percent respondents watched web series for two to four hours
almost daily.
DO YOU THINK THESE WEB SERIES INFLUENCE THE SOCIETY?
The data has revealed that 48% of respondents are in favour of watching web series and get
influenced and 52% respondents are in favour to some extent, web series play a very important
role in influencing youth of the society. According to the finding, web series had influenced
around more than 50% of youth, because of percolation of internet facilities and not so expensive
and affordable mobile phone technology availability.
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DID YOU FIND LANGUAGE AND CONTENT OF WEB SERIES OBJECTIONABLE?
DO YOU THINK THE USE OF ABUSING LANGUAGE AND OBJECTIONABLE CONTENT
HAVE A NEGATIVE IMPACT ON THE YOUTH?
In the above two figures, it is evident that most of the respondents think that language and content
used in the web series are objectionable.
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DO YOU THINK THESE WEB SERIES HAVE CHANGED BEHAVIOUR AND LANGUAGE
OF THE YOUTH?
In an analysis about web series have changed behaviour and language of the youth, it was found
that web series have changed behaviour and language of the youth more than 50% as compare to
no effect on the behaviour is only 15.7%. They enjoyed content and language of the web series at
the cost of their culture.
DO YOU THINK WEB SERIES SHOULD BE CENSORED FOR A POSITIVE AND
HEALTHY ENTERTAINMENT?
To a question on the need of censorship on web series for a positive and healthy entertainment, the
respondents reported equally with 35 percent both in favour and against. In spite of that more than
50 percent respondents having no objection in watching language and content of the web series.
Although they consider a change in their behaviour after watching language and content of the
web series.
Volume XII, Issue V, 2020 Page No: 929Journal of Xi'an University of Architecture & Technology ISSN No : 1006-7930
IV.CONCLUSION
Hence, the study has established the fact that web series have become a popular phenomenon
among the youth. Boring Melodrama and formula-based movies have failed to fulfill the
expectations of the youth for entertainment. Meanwhile technological revolution made easy to
access such platforms for entertainment. Although the language and content of the web series is a
matter of concern but surprisingly many youths think that the language and content are not
objectionable and need not to be censored. However, they agree to the fact that these web series
have an impact of youth and changed the behavior of the youth also and language is a matter of
concern, Technology is helping a lot in the rise of web series and also the future of web series is
bright in India among the young generation as the audience.
References
[1] Kumar Subhash, “Growing Popularity of South Indian Dubbed Movies on Hindi Movie Channels: An
Analytical Study”, Journal of Xi’an University of Architecture & Technology, pp 3861 Vol. XII, Issue III,
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[2] Ram S. and Sheth J.N., “Consumer resistance to innovations: the marketing problem and its
solutions”, Journal of Consumer Marketing, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 5–14, (1989).
[3] Gaylord Chris, “The app-driven life: How smartphone apps are changing our lives”, The Christian
Science Monitor, pp. 1-5, (2013).
[4] Singh M.K. and Kumar Subhash, “Increasing Use of News Applications among the Students of
Journalism and Mass Communication, Manipal University Jaipur”, Journal of Xi’an University of
Architecture & Technology, pp 1243 Vol. XII, Issue III, 2020.
[5] Deloitte, “Deloitte's Revolutions 2010 Survey”, PR Newswire, pp. 1-4, (2010).
[6] Mishra Anubha, “A study of cognitive processing and inhibitions of adaptors and non-adopters of
technology based products”, Norton school of family and consumer sciences, p. 210, (2011).
[7] www.en.wikipedia.org, 14-04-(2020).
[8] www.Googleweblight.com, 14-04-(2020).
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