“When
television is good, nothing is better; when it’s bad, nothing is worse.”
-Newton
N. Minnow
……………………………………
Husband slaps his wife and the camera roles from, one
character to another in order of their importance playing “let’s statue” for
five minutes staring at each other and of course the slapped wife. And after
the slap hangover everyone stands still while the mother and son throw the bahu
out of house. ( Reason- varied and out of the reach of my mind for reference
watch Sasural Simarka)
……………………………………
DIYA AUR BAATI HUM (TV Series)
Sooraj (mithai shop owner) – Sandhya (IPS officer and
Sooraj’s wife) brought Rajkumar (antagonist) to Pushkar from Jaipur today.
(Whole family is stunned)
Bhabho (the disciplinarian saas)- Is this true Sandhya?? Why
didn’t u tell us before?? (Angrily)
(Excuse me Bhabho… Sandhya was not aware that before taking
orders from her seniors she needs to consult sassumaa…..of course glare on her like
anything…afterall she is your bahu)
Sandhya - …………………..(
don’t take it wrong its speechless as usual)
Babasa (sasurji) - What was the need for Sandhya to get into
this matter??
…………………………………………..
Everyone
may not be aware who Smriti Irani is, but everyone surely knows Sandhya Bahu or
Bhabho. Any one sane can easily figure out a striking resemblance between the
former puppet PM and Sandhya bahu who is shown to be as stunned and
expressionless as much as Nargis Fakhri whenever someone lashes on her though
she is an IPS officer. Similarly, is the case with all the Indian TV bahus like
Simar (Sasural Simarka, Colors) who never simmers even when her husband marries
another woman in front of her, Akshara (Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai) is a living
goddess who is always correct and when the entire family was beggared she even
turned into CEO who brought back everything with her strategic management
skills, Gopi bahu (Sath Nibhana Saathiya) who behaves like a gong which can be
stuck by vehement comments from any of the family members but will never ring
or make any sound.
The Great
Indian Soap operas have made a mare’s nest of Indian woman and their roles in
society. The various saasbahu sagas, I would call them saasbahu kahani because
although the central theme would be child marriage or a woman’s aspiration to be an IPS officer or female
foeticide ultimately drama will metamorphose into protagonist getting married
and story thereafter is onset. Mum-in-laws guided by these build a castle of
expectations (altogether forgetting that saas bhi kabhi bahu thi) for their convent
and college educated six figure earning bahus to be like soap opera
daughter-in-laws who only grow up dreaming of getting married to their prince
charming. Just like TV bahus, they should necessarily be docile, intelligent,
wise, sugar coated superwoman, always clad in heavy saris with thick vermilion
on their forehead and airbrush face. She should also be a master chef with
varied culinary skills, Pablo Picasso in matter of art and craft and operate
latest gadgets as well. As if that in not enough, she must be a self-sacrificing
woman whose only aim is to make family happy and preserve sanskars. Also their
bahurani should nothing be like television minx or vamps that pose with smart
and confident look with trendy dresses or backless blouses, who are primarily busy
plotting and aim to peel off layers of clothing along with every shred of
happiness around them. But the entire self build substructure crumbles down
when bahurani is not dumb and soft spoken instead she is vociferous, has mind
of her own, aims and inspires to be successful in her career, loves to wear comfortable
clothes like jeans, skirts and last blow comes when she is nowhere near being
even an average homemaker.
Such an unassertive and backward portrayal of females reinforces gender stereotypes that date back to colonial influence. Who is to be blamed for such a dismal quality of television shows? Producers (who are mainly woman and lead a totally different lives than the characters on TV) or sentimental aamjanta which loves watching females weeping in consternation. TV producers and directors are selling sentiments and its working wonderfully for them while our minds are getting embedded into a perverted social attitude where female role is limited to doing household chores, doing dishes, washing clothes and raising families.
Television
is a mirror to society and reflects the thinking and aspiration of its viewers.
If such is the taste and outlook of our average Indian viewers, certainly it
sounds bell of our intellectual regression. In India of 21st century
females are emerging as challenge for men in every field; we are protesting
against rapes, infanticides, dowry system; where women’s have started fighting for their rights; we clearly ignore the
influence of television on more than 60 crore Indians of all age groups. It’s
really shameful that such a strong powerful medium like TV presents such a
distorted image of woman.
Is
television only responsible for entertainment- entertainment at cost of playing
with sentiment? Isn’t media responsible towards woman who have no access to
education or towards ‘ablanaris’ for whom husbands are bought at a price by
rudimentary fathers?? Why not come up with real issues and against bizarre
traditions? Shouldn’t it teach Indian mom-in-laws that your daughter in law may
be different from them and they should accept them as they are? Can’t it be
shown that woman can be more than a homemaker: a career oriented woman with
dreams and aspiration. Shouldn’t it be revealed that sanskar and respect cannot
be controlled by clothes, it lies in eyes? Altogether is that an arduous task?
No, precisely not. In late 90’s Indian Television was host to various soap
operas like Rajani, Tara, Shanti, Saans, Hasratein, Astitva-ek prem kahani that challenged stereotype image of Indian
Woman. These serial focused on women liberation and dared to talk about rape,
extra marital relationship, divorce and remarriage.
Let’s hope
our producers come up with more realistic television serials that portray a
girl with a strong sense of individualism and aspires to be a career woman
rather than sulking daughter-in-law. And more shows which will deal with real
life issues, evil practises in our society and raise a toast to “mardaani” in
every woman.....!!!!!!
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