The Social Network

The TV series, which carries the central theme of “entertainment education”, has been produced by Population Foundation of India (PFI). The drama series is based on the main character Dr Sneha Mathur, a doctor from small town India, who works in Mumbai. True to her principles, she supports her younger sister who stays with her in-laws in her hometown of Pratapur.

Season 2 takes off where the last episode concluded — Sneha leaves her job at the local hospital. “The show carries forward the journey of Dr Sneha who wants to treat the locals by reaching out to them in villages. This time, besides just looking at the health of women, we wanted to focus on how men can change their attitude towards women by using contraceptives,” says Khan, who travelled across the country for research, since October last year. After his meetings with medical practitioners, Khan wanted to relay their message through sub-plots in the serial.

His serial comes at a time when the country is sensitised over concerns of women’s safety and protests over the banned documentary India’s Daughter. But he has deliberately kept out women’s security from the series. “We don’t want the show to become about everything. Our brief is simple — the health of women, their education and male responsibility,” says Khan, who prefers to keep his social work restricted to working on television. “It is one thing when you go out and preach about social causes. I prefer to do it through my work,” he says.

While his last film was Dekh Tamasha Dekh starring Satish Kaushik, Khan has put aside film commitments for now. He is keen on getting back to the stage after this project. “For me, this is it. I enjoyed doing TV. But it is very different from what I do. Theatre is my place. I’m very clear that television will have to be about social engagement, cinema will be about entertainment and theatre about whatever else I want to do,” says Khan, who is developing two new stage productions which will be showcased in November.