There was a time when daily soaps introduced every actor by name during the theme song. Here is how Indian TV quietly killed off iconic opening title tracks.
Remember the good old days of Indian television? You would sink into the sofa with a plate of pakodas, and the theme song would instantly transform the living room into a mini theatre. The credits were a glamorous parade. The terrifying mother-in-law who rolled her eyes like a villain was revealed to be a puppy rescuer in real life. The brooding hero, who looked like he carried the weight of the world, turned out to have a name as ordinary as the guy next door.
That tradition was sacred in the 90s and early 2000s. Shows like Swabhimaan, Sanskar, Ajnabi, and Hum Paanch introduced their cast like royalty. You had smash hits such as Heena, Ek Mahal Ho Sapna Ka, and Amanat who treated credits like a star-studded roll call. The actor names stood proudly beside their characters, and every household tuned in as if it were a daily ritual.
Fast forward to today, and that magic has been completely erased. Earlier this week, actor Kanwar Dhillon (Sachin from Udne Ki Aasha) took to his Instagram stories to remind us how credit boards featuring actors’ name have vanished into thin air over the years.
Somewhere along the way, executives decided that giving actors their due was an expensive indulgence. The bigger casualty, though, is the title track itself. Back then, intros were full-blown musical masterpieces, sung by legendary playback singers and composed with care. People hummed them all day long. They were such mood-setters. Today, that buildup has been bulldozed. Modern ITV shows skip the anthem entirely, and throw us straight into the episodes. At best, we get a two-second sting and a title card.
Why did this tradition vanish? No official explanation has ever surfaced, so we’re left to speculate. Maybe executives live in fear of the remote control, convinced viewers will flee if a song lasts longer than a sneeze. Maybe it boils down to pure, cold cash. After all, ninety seconds of credits could be sold to hawk a detergent brand, oil brand, or life insurance. In that battle, the soap bar always wins. Or perhaps it’s the channel’s paranoia where they hide real names so actors don’t get too famous, too demanding, or too hard to replace. After all, these days, characters are swapped faster than smartphone batteries.
The streaming culture hasn’t helped either. OTT platforms gave us the “Skip Intro” button, and TV networks decided to skip it for us. Add to that the absolute circus of daily soap schedules, where characters get rewritten, killed off, or magically reincarnated. Keeping credits updated probably feels like an editing nightmare. And then there’s the “Just Google It” excuse. If you care enough, executives figure you’ll stalk the actor on Instagram anyway. Why print names on screen when the algorithm can do the heavy lifting for free?
Whatever secret pact led to this trend, the actors seem to be taking the hit. They slog through fourteen-hour shoots under blistering lights, only to be recognized in public as “that xyz character from xyz show” Without credit boards, they’re trapped in character limbo, robbed of their real identity until a fan account tags them online.
To be honest, we feel bringing back credits and title tracks wouldn’t hurt anyone. Instead, it would give modern actors the spotlight they deserve. It would save the audience from endless guessing games. Most importantly, it would restore the musical charm that set the stage before the family drama explodes on our screens.
So, dear TV networks, whatever your secret reasons are, dust off those anthems and roll those names again. We promise not to switch to channel. Just give us back the songs, and those golden times!
