Switch on the TV set you will find out that I am not kidding. All thanks to the umpteen number of TV Channel which are airing endless numbers of women centric shows day in day out. The term Saas-Bahu has become so familiar that this has become synonymous with Tom & Jerry, Ram & Laxman or Laila & Majnu.
If we divert our focus for sometime from the fiction to non-fiction shows then we witness the same thing. You say "Big Boss" and you remember Veena Malik or Dolly Bindra more then you remember Khali or Bindu. You say "SplitsVilla" and you remember Sakshi, Pavitra or Joanna more then you remember Mohit or Siddhartha. We women rule baby!
No one can deny the fact that women rule the small screen kingdom. As soon as you switch on the TV set you enter into a world of saas, bahu, beti, maa, behen, baby, chachi and the list continues. The number of women centric shows on TV is astounding. Do you remember any of the shows which are or were based on men? I seriously don’t remember any and now I am forced to think as why till now there aren’t any public objections for slandering all men on television. Well… don’t you think it’s an insult to the mankind? Now that we have brands selling out men soap and talc why can’t we have a show on TV based on their life? Just think about it.
Anyways, although the woman portrays various roles on TV, they all have almost the same duties and responsibilities in all the show. As a wife/bahu/maa a female is portrayed as being loving, caring and submissive; as a beti/behen she is shown as lively, full of life and restricting herself from any kinda night outs because her family is too conservative or protective. Yeah! I don’t remember whether I have witnessed a single scene in any of the shows (since the time I have became a TV addict) where the daughter of the house goes out for night outs, and parents are cool about it… Most of our urban parents are today cool about daughters going out for parties… Actually, the protagonists’ parents aren’t cool, her friends’ parents are!
Now let’s focus on the sasu maa’s. Well all the saas of the present day shows have undergone a major transformation. They are not acting like the typical saas all of a sudden. By transformation I don’t mean a full transformation but saasu maa’s are suddenly behaving a lot better then what they used to be in the past (atleast on TV). So suddenly we see the saas helping out her bahus in the kitchen in the morning rather than expecting her to prepare a full course breakfast for the entire janta at home. She also accompanies the bahu to the beauty parlour and enjoys having pani-puri with her. The bahus too have stopped nagging against their saasu maa’ and have closed playing the blame game and exaggerating and complaining to their hubby’s about his mother’s behavior.
Remember the days when the female protagonists used wake up with untouched heavy makeup and jewelries. Well I always used to make fun of my mother for watching such unbearable stuff on TV. But this trend has changed all of a sudden. The ladies have started wearing night suits or at least if they are not wearing one then they are minus their lipstick and jewelries, which is acceptable to me as a viewer.
A woman is portrayed differently on TV today. Gone are the days when you used to see women in saree and salwar suits only. If we look at programs like "Gulaal", "Na Aana Iss Desh Meri Laado" or "Balika Vadhu" you will notice a sudden switch from an urbanized look to a more rural one. It’s good to see a change in trend and get away from the monotony. And the best part is we in the cities have taken to wear clothes like our rustic sisters in our shows like "Gulaal". And how proud my grandmom feels when she sees me fully clad… Priceless moment (Psst, little does she know my influence is my new friend TV, and not so much her conservative thought)
But then, having said that - something which concerned me was that all these series speak of many causes. Like for example Balika Vadhu is all about child marriage and Gulaal is about a woman marrying her l’il ten year old dewar. Well… yes, I know what you must be thinking. Are these evil things still practiced in our country? Or is it right to show such content on television? We will talk about this soon in the upcoming blogs for sure.
So it’s the power puff girls everywhere who are stealing the limelight. The females are driving the small screen in India, no doubt about it. I will throw some more light on it on my next blog.
But for now women rule the small screen, for sure!
Until then!
Chalios
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