04 December 2012, 11:31 AM IST
The idiocy of the 'idiot box', commonly known as a 'TeeVee', or TV without pressing the tongue, wasn't of this magnitude then. I am talking about the era or rather the decade when television was in its 'senses'. The period when the traditionalism of Hum Log and Buniyaad took a backseat and the clones of Tulsi and Parvati were yet to fill our households. I may even take the liberty of calling it the golden 90s of the television industry.
The inane content that has filled our screens now is hard to fathom in terms of its levels of senselessness. What we mustn't ignore is that the 'idiot box' should be smart enough to comprehend that it is a weapon of mass reach and coverage and hence should depict characters and events responsibly.
I got thinking a few days back when I stumbled upon an old TV series called 'Hip Hip Hurray' on Youtube that was aired on Zee TV in the late nineties. From drug addiction, heart aches, parent – child relationship and parent–teacher relationship, the show dealt with all the problems faced by the youth sans the online woes that only our generation is perturbed about. The sensitivity and subtlety in the way the problems were portrayed was a pleasant deviation from the crude display of machismo that we are witness to most of the time.A couple of shows on Channel V and UTV Bindass are a gross misinterpretation of the youth and are completely out of line. They only portray youth as love-smitten, ready to go to war at the slightest provocation and devoid of any sense of right or wrong. I am sure we are way better than this and carry a lot of depth in our character than the fumbling teens shown in these senseless shows.
Another question that crops up instantly if we do an analysis is that we are a nation or society that still sees man as the sole breadwinner of the family or the one that believes housewives are supposed to be child bearers and little else. Such shallow portrayal of women is misguiding audiences and encouraging misconceptions. While also keeping in mind that these shows cater to an audience comprising both the sexes and hence in whatever little way they do leave an impact which is set to become a stumbling block in our progress.The homogeneity of content and its delivery baffles me. Are we so irresponsible as to typecast the women of our society in such narrow light. The portrayal of women in the 90s was in an avatar like never before and seems to have turned obsolete in today's soaps. They were independent, took their own decisions, were comfortable in live-in relationships with their men and were even single mothers. All of this was aired at a time when traditional shows like the Ramayana, Jai Shri Krishna and Mahabharata had immense viewership and were almost revered by the masses.
Most of us would remember Shanti in 1994 that got Mandira Bedi stupendous fame before her noodle straps and cricket commentary magnified her reputation. She was a journalist much in vogue. Shanti's character as a journalist challenging two tough looking men in the form of Kamesh Mahadevan and Raj 'G.J' Singh and how she fights her way around them forms the storyline. The very fact that the soap was named after the female protagonist says it all. Anybody who has heard the unforgettable omnipotent title track would agree with me.While Shanti dealt with power issues, Saans and Swabhimaan were women centric in a very conventional sense. We had an 'S factor' rather than a 'K factor' that overpowered it a few years later.
Saans, born out of Neena Gupta's own thinking hat stole the show and was a hit prime time drama. She is shown as a separated single mother whose husband breaks the marital chords and chooses to walk out of the marriage leaving her to fight the society and bring up two questioning teenagers.
She is not seen withering apart and braves the situation with a lot of poise and dignity, a rarity in todays soaps where women are shown scheming to forfeit their husbands from the other woman's grasp putting to use all 'fair' and 'unfair' means.
In the same league was Tara, a serial which dealt with the tribulations in the life of urban women. The serial was a major hit and is known to be the first ever show on contemporary Indian women and ran for about five straight years.
Hubahu, the story of two look-alike sisters performed by Sandhya Mridul with inimitable ease and elan showed one of the sisters in a live-in relationship at a time when they were considered a big no no and frequent debates regarding the western influences were put forth. Ananya's (Sandhya Mridul's) character was relatable for the working women of today. Hope the makers of today's television soaps take a leisure walk down the memory lane and come up with something meaningful, mature and relevant instead of making a mockery of the women of substance. We certainly are worthy of better portrayal 'onscreen' and 'offscreen'.
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