Downton Abbey’s just started airing in India, in the 10 o’clock slot on Star World. Of course, this may be old hat for those who’ve been following it online for the five seasons that it’s been making international tidal waves. But the fact is, it’s going to get millions of new Indian followers now. And here’s why this serial is going to go down a treat with Indian viewers.
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Well for starters, it’s about class and hierarchy. And who knows better about that than us Indians? Don’t we all love stories about aristocratic ‘khandaans': their intrigues, the palatial ‘haveli’ homes they live in, the bankruptcies they try to conceal, the retinues of servants – faithful or spiteful – who wait on them?
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There’s also a whole bunch of fascinating gender questions roiling about: women’s rights to property, “appropriate” behaviour for women, what constitutes a scandal, what occupations women may safely take up. This will resonate beautifully with audiences used to serials like ‘Everest’ and ‘Diya Aur Baati’, where women’s ambitions and goals are in constant friction with what is expected of them as daughters and particularly as wives, mothers and daughters in law.
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Much of Downton Abbey frets over the question of whom to marry, and why. If the arranged marriage has gone out of fashion in other parts of the world, that institution is alive and kicking here in our listen-to-your-motherland!
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The serial is obviously uncomfortable with gayness. The same-sex promiscuity of Thomas the footman and the shady dealings of the closeted gay and money-grubbing suitor are neatly contrasted with the no-nonsense straight wholesomeness of Matthew Crawley, the man who will – as we can all see quite clearly – eventually marry the Earl’s eldest daughter.
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And, oh yes, did I forget the ‘Saas’ factor? Downton Abbey also features that one character that no Indian serial worth its salt could possibly work without: the impossibly bossy mother-in-law.
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Finally, I dare you to find me one English-speaking Indian who isn’t secretly or otherwise hopelessly in love with a plummy Oxbridge accent? We all love English as she is spoke!
