Taking a step backward

And yet, they seem content in these compartments. In fact, apart from serials like Saans, Heena and Kora Kagaz, the women are content in their marriages and the tension lines stretch between them: mother (Babul…), mother-in-law (Kyunki…), sister-in-law (Kahani…). The characters are often one-dimensional, sketched in colours of good, bad and ugly. And this attitude is carried forth in the issues that are referred to: pop music vs bhajans, English vs Hindi, super-rich vs not-so-rich, son vs daughter. Thus even in unusual circumstances, one can almost predict how the plot will move. So a soon-to-be great-grandma has to turn into an internationally renowned fashion designer (Kyunki…). A rejected wife has to marry her husband’s best friend (Heena). A divorced women has to get back with her husband, instead of the rather sensitive ‘other man’ (Saans).

While the situations may veer from the mundane (household chores) to the incredible (the return of a long-forgotten illegitimate daughter Kanyadaan), the dialogues remain cliched and completely unimaginative. Do we really need to be told that a woman without a man’s protection always appears available; or that a woman’s lot is full of sorrow; or that a wife is never beaten if she refrains from arguing with her husband! And a hilarious peculiarity of Kyunki… is its regular plugging of STAR Plus and the channel’s serials (like KBC).

What is most ironic, is that these serials which centre around and target women are strangely insensitive to their problems. The mother-in-law’s insecurity about the new bahu, the wife’s suspicions about the attractive secretary, or the young girl’s doubts about her fiance. Tiny irritants may be blown out of proportion, yet vulnerability is scoffed upon or exploited.

So as we enter into the real millennium, one can only wonder at the directions television soaps are taking. Definitely not pathbreaking, they are only taking a step backward in time and tradition.