Baat Hamari Pakki Hai
Monday to Thursday,8.30 pm,Sony TV
After watching the first few episodes of Baat Hamari Pakki Hai,its a little difficult to digest the fact that its a Deeya-Tony Singh product,considering they had made the iconic Banegi Apni Baat. The makers had given us a progressive youth soap over a decade ago. It had a single mother (not the abla naari types but a with-it mum) raising three daughters,each with a unique personality and a mind of their own.
And now you have in Baat Hamari Pakki,Mona Ambegaonkar as protagonist Saanchis maami who lets the other party (read the grooms parents) get away with anything that goes on in the name of an arranged match. Like for instance,the grooms mother (Jayati Bhatia,superbly wicked) makes the girl strip to ensure she doesnt have any daag on her body and is saaf suthri enough for her son! Excuse me,how appalling is that? Thats not all,she even has the girl examined by a gynaecologist to ensure shes taking home a virgin! But when its time to show off her son,our man turns out to be a mammas boy,a pansy whose hands go everywhere. Reason enough for the girl to just flee from the arranged match.
Thankfully,there is the male protagonist Shravans father who finds the reason his son has been rejecting girls because use dekhte hi ghanti nahin baji inexcusable.
You dont know what to make of this show which is probably showing whats still happening in large parts of our country in the name of an arranged match but we wish the makers had exercised a little restraint (I mean why poke fun at effeminate men or make girls go through the embarrassment in the name of prime time entertainment). Its disgusting to say the least,especially,when you dont show the girl being assertive or giving the grooms mother an earful for the hard time she had to go through. Why cant our prime time female protagonists have a strong voice? Why must they always be shown as meek lambs which everyone is happily kicking around? And it upsets,because the show comes from the Singhs.
Grievances apart,the performances are decent. Mona as Usha maami tends to get overboard with her expressions yet she brings out the I-know-it-is-not-right-but-I-have-to-marry-off-my-niece dilemma very well. Vivek Mushran,as the sometimes helpless mama is the perfect foil to Usha. Ankita Sharma (Saanchi) is fresh and a decent actress while Barun Sobti (Shravan) is a natural. Sai Deodhar as Shravans bhabhi is just smiling; maybe in the forthcoming episodes,she will have a bigger role to play. And we also hope the show gets more progressive.
Verdict:
It can put girls off the idea of an arranged match forever.