Morality on Rampage - Infidelity finds home !

Tellybuzz tries to decode why leading characters are walking lines of infidelity on almost all the shows these days...

Published: Friday,May 04, 2012 08:50 AM GMT-06:00

Medha Parashar

Indian serials on GEC's talk of strong family ethics and an eternal love that knows no bounds. However, lately a new subtrack has found its mark in the stroyline - Infidelity! Some storylines like Kya Hua Tera Vada has the infidelty track as the main track while other shows like Balika Vadhu have it woven very deeply in to the story and moral fabrics.

Umpteen serials like Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon?, Parichay Nayee Zindagi Kay Sapno Ka have infidelity as the sub track and is being utilized as the root cause of misunderstandings. What has led the Creatives imbibing this is in their story plots?

Tellybuzz got in touch with Palki Malhotra, Fiction Head at Cinevistas managing Channel V's Dil Dostii Dance, who said that infidelity is not a trend that is being incorporated in the television shows - "It is not a trend. Eventually all the shows today are a love story and it serves as a good misunderstanding or a conflict plot. To make the story line more juicy an external stimuli needs to be added. Cheating serves as a good threat and creatives feed on that threat."

India has reported an increase in the number of infidelity cases over the past few years and it is not shocking to see the trend being followed on the Indian Television. Ethos of Indian society did not allow for such topics to be discussed openly. Now with the fusion of cultures, such topics have stumbled out of the closet and have found a way in to the story lines.

Tellybuzz spoke to Pawan Shankar who plays the male lead Pradeep in 'Kya Huaa Tera Vaada' on Sony TV - "Infidelity as a word has always been exciting. It is a fantasy for most men and women. India being a very traditional country we are bound by social pressures and avoid going ahead with cheating. What we can not do , we like seeing on television or films. So, it works."

Infidelity has found its mark on Indian Television and despite the criticism, the Indian audience has accepted it as a consequential plot in the storyline. One baffling point however is the portrayal of men as sinner and women as the sinned party. Indian Shows are biased and portray women as pristine objects.

Tellybuzz got in touch with Daljeet Bhanot who plays Anjali on Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon? on Star and she feels that Indian audience still likes to believe in the old adage 'One Kings and Many queens , One queen and One King' - " I don't think the Indian audience will take a woman cheating on the husband very well. We are all hypocrites and in India we give this hypocrisy a name called 'Culture'. Indian women are portrayed to be epitome of tenets and value and are shown to be pristine. Messages that are shown on Television always have a little hesitation and are not loud and clear. Indian Television is all about emotional justification."

Will the Indian audiences be open to the idea of women cheating on their partners?

Reporter and Author - Medha Parashar