Is your TV soap killing you?

A 68 year-old woman suffers a heart attack while watching her favourite soap. Her family claims it was the content of the episode that led to her death. FYI finds out whether the line separating reel from real has blurred

On April 10, 68 year-old Chhaya Prakash Chauhan collapses while watching a re-run of popular TV soap Sapna Babul Ka ufffd Bidaai. She never wakes up again.

"She was busy making plans on how to spend more time with my children during the summer vacation and was with me from 5.30 pm to 7.30 pm that day," says Chhaya's daughter Kishori Shetye.
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"She only had a slight BP problem," adds Kishori.



Serial killer?

At 7.30 pm, Chhaya left from the beauty parlour that Kishori runs to get back to her elder son's home in Ghansoli, Navi Mumbai, approximately 20 minutes away.

When Chhaya returned home, an episode of Bidaai, which had originally aired on April 9, was playing on TV. In the episode Vasundhara, the mother-in-law, suffers a heart attack after a showdown with her husband.

As the camera dizzyingly spins around Vasundhara to portray her failing health, Chhaya too started showing signs of a heart attack.

But while Vasundhara pretends to suffer a heart attack, with the sole intention of being reconciled with her two sons, Chhaya's heart attack proved fatal.

"My bhabhi was the only one in the house with her at that time. She tells us that my mother was reacting the same way as the character on TV. By the time we could do anything she was no more," recalls Kishori.
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No warning signs

Chhaya's family claims she suffered from no major illnesses that could have resulted in a heart attack and blame the makers of Bidaai for her death.

Kishori says, "Those who are making these serials should understand that the audience gets emotionally involved with the characters on TV. They should be more careful with the kind of things they show."

Rajan Shahi, of Director's Kut, the production house that makes Bidaai says that he is aware of their responsibility towards their audience.

"Viewers are impressionable so, we are always careful about our content," says Rajan. "This incident appears to be a coincidence, something that has happened completely out of the blue," adds Rajan.

Heavy toll

Watching TV soaps is becoming so stressful these days that audiences either switch off or turn to lighter, entertainment shows.

A case in point is the steadily growing popularity of "comedy soaps" on channels like SAB.

Anooj Kapoor, business head, SAB, claims his channel has seen a growth of 300% ever since they switched to "comedies with linear storylines for the entire family" two years ago.

"We felt it was time for TV to impact society in a positive way, and so decided to show that through our serials.

In fact, we are the only general entertainment channel (GEC) in the world to be doing comedy soaps on a daily basis," says Kapoor.

Shahi too talks about positive TV with equal gusto. He believes his serials portray a positive aspect of joint families such as values or sanskaars and the relevance of keeping the family together.
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"Even in the current track, the two daughter-in-laws are trying to unite their mother-in-law and father-in-law, who have major issues with each other," he says, adding, "We always show the positive side of Indian families in our serials, but we base them in reality and there are certain negative things that happen that can't be swept under the carpet."

Can TV kill you?

Psychologist Varkha Chulani says there is a reason why people get so emotional while watching TV.

"Sometimes there is such a fuzzy line between reality and TV that some people turn to TV as a defence mechanism to cope with the harsh realities of life. TV allows them to easily escape into a fantasy world," she says.

Speaking specifically about Chhaya's case, she explains that whatever was happening on TV must have been of such emotional intensity that it created more pressure on the heart.
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"Emotional intensity augments weak muscles, which is to say that certain muscles react to stress. That is why people suffer from backaches, migraines and stomachaches when they are under stress.

People have different sensitive areas, which are put under pressure because of stress," Chulani explains. She adds that in such cases an awareness of one's weak points and prevention are the only cures.



The story of Bidaai

When it began nearly two years ago, Sapna Babul Ka ufffdBidaai was about two sisters Sadhana and Ragini.

Sadhana, the adopted child in the family, is prettier than Ragini and therefore has better prospects of marriage.
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Initially, the serial focussed on whether the two sister's looks would determine their happiness.

Now that the girls are married, the serial is more about their marital woes and their equations with the extended family.