Thriller has suddenly disappeared from the Indian Television Industry and the programming has become very predictable. Every other show on any entertainment channel is either a family saga or a reality show. Amid these you would find a little bit tadka of comedy. But the thriller ingredient is gone missing.

Veteran and versatile actor Pankaj Kapoor has donned the lead character in one of Indian Television's best thriller series, Karamchand.

The actor finds no difference between the makers of television and films. "TV medium has become like the film industry. They (channels and makers) are only interested to make what they feel sells and generates more TRPs. Thrillers can be popular today if the complete packaging is good," Kapoor sarcastically states.

"I think the makers and channels fears to go against the tide. My CID is on air since more than a decade now and people still watch it. The thrill element has successfully been sustained in it for so long and that is why it is still popular. I would love to be a part of more thriller serials but for that they should be made," laughs out actor Shivaji Satam.

Shivaji Satam surely have got a reason to smile as Sony entertainment's CID is the only show which is still continuing its long journey of more then 10 years.

The show maybe ruling the TRP chart of the respective channel but with time even it has surely lost its glory somewhere. Isn't there an opportunity for the entertainment channels to exploit this vacuum and introduce a fresh thrill for its viewers?

Shivaji Satam feels the boredom would soon takeover people if a change in programming doesn't occur soon, "Yes definitely. I think the channels and the makers need to take that risk. People are soon going to be bored by these so called colourful reality shows."

Where in films director is said to be the caption of the ship, television is known to be the writers medium. In the past, writers have scripted unique thriller shows like Karamchand, Tehqiqat, Byomkesh Bakshi et al which proved to be major hits. The finger can also be pointed at the young breed of writers who are failing to churn out spine chilling thrillers.

"It's a buyers market. The sagas are in demand by the channels and we would have to go according to it. It's not like there is a void for thriller writers. The day channel starts buying these kinds of shows, writers would start scripting it," tries to justify, Sampurn Anand, writer of hit television shows like Saat Phere and Kayamat.

Rajat Kapoor, the actor who's still remembered for his brilliant performance in the yesteryears thriller show Byomkesh Bakshi disagrees with the young talented writer Sampurn Anand, "It seems there is a dearth of good writers today so perhaps that is one reason also why less thrillers are being made."

He further suggests the television creative people to get into the world of novels, "Makers should adapt good novels if they are finding it hard to get new thriller stories."

Interestingly, most of the channel heads and successful TV show producers we tried to contact to give their take in this regard shied away from us.

However, a creative head of a recently launched channel on condition of anonymity said, "Today the biggest chunk of TV serial audience comprises of housewives. They prefer to watch emotional melodramas than any thriller series.

Why do you think Ekta Kapoor who once delivered thriller series such as Kya Haadsa Kya Haqeeqat and the long running Kahin Kissi Roz has now stopped tapping this genre further? She knows it well that their shelf life is limited!"

We tried our level best to collect evidences and solve the mystery behind the thriller shows not been aired on our television sets. There seems to be many culprits behind this crime, the topmost been the channel. Viewers would only get to watch what is served in their platter. Any experimental dish which is good and packaged well will surely be appreciated. I hope the culprits take this into notice.