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Drama has always been something that has attracted the people of India. And what if that drama helps you to make a living? You definitely serve it fresh, every night, with a pinch of exaggerated misogyny.
Drama has always been something that has attracted and even sometimes united the people of India. And what if that “Drama” helps you to make a living? You serve it fresh, every night, with a pinch of exaggerated misogyny.
The Great “INDIAN SERIALS” are fodder for the alarmingly disturbing number of WhatsApp forwards, sexist jokes and groundless beliefs. With many shows completing more than a thousand episodes, the extent of the effect of this drug overdose can rarely be comprehended in our human minds.
The characteristics that make them nothing more than a huge trash can are quite specific to them, and thereby necessary to determine.
These serials are nonetheless set up in realistic places, but they hardly show the real situation of society. They mostly celebrate old, rejected and superficial ways of life, highlighting un-required facts about society and family ties.
They play a major role in deepening the roots of age-old misogynistic traditions and values. It promotes beliefs that are hardly supported by any strong logical means in the name of a piece of fiction.
The plots of people conspiring against each other and actually succeeding in it set a base for highly superficial reactions by people when faced with even the slightest difficulty.
Women have always played a submissive role in real life for a very long time, but the serials always exhibited them as the main protagonists, solving life problems all by themselves.
Still even while solving those concerns they are unfurled weak until a male superhero comes to their rescue, motivates them to fight, and helps them to win, only to marry her and make her the epitome of “SANSKAARI BAHU”.
These serials have to be partially responsible for promoting unhealthy behaviours through toxic masculinity and differentiated femininity. Left alone women, even men are introduced as being heterosexual, wealthy, entitled, spoiled, “RAJA BETA” thereby confining to the gender stereotypical norms hand-selected by the society.
The absence of the LGBTQ community as an integral part of society makes the case of Indian serials even worse.
Villains shall always remain the most important part of any story ever created in history.
No matter how hard it is, these villains’ roles are to create as many problems as they can for the main protagonist. The Vamps as more popularly known have no other life goal, however, only to ruin everything good that might happen to the star (mostly BAHU RANIS).
The worst is yet to come, these vamps most of the time happen to be women unhappy or unsatisfied with their own lives and thus seeking revenge on the main lead to feel good about absolutely nothing at all.
The portrayal of women being enemies is conforming to the old, rotten belief that women can’t be friends, spreading toxicity and undermining the beauty of the friendship of two girl-friends while still celebrating the Bromance in every way possible.
If you believe there’s no one immortal, wait till you watch characters from Indian serials being brought back to life by the holy prayers of their wives or husbands. These impersonates have immunity for absolutely anything (maybe even COVID-19) and everything.
The family members don’t grow old in their appearance and well of course in their mindset as well. This infinite loop of death and birth only worsen the case of a lack of an actual storyline aimed at reaching the destination.
The twins, the incarnation, and the long-lost same-looking stranger are the spice to the freshly served meal and fuel the witchcraft and delusion in reality.
Despite changes being made in the light that people are showcased in the serials, the roots are still strong for the old ways. Displaying women as leads only because most of the viewers are women and not because it would make a great point to have them, just shrinks everything to capitalism and worsens it.
Some telecasts do illustrate women in a positive light aspiring to be something only to end the broadcast with her being happily married and settled with 4 kids.
The institution of marriage is though staged in a different light, with normalising divorce no matter what still making a huge fuss about how society might react.
Regardless of the screening requiring a makeover, the SAGA continues.
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Image source: Hotstar
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