TOI: Out of the box --Navya

OUT OF THE BOX

In order to garner more eyeballs,GECs are now focusing on female protagonists who are stepping out of the confines of their homes and living their dreams

Shruti Jambhekar


It all started from the kitchen.The high-voltage drama never really faded and took different turns from saas-bahu sagas,beti tales to social sagas.And now,the new element is bahus and betis encouraged by families to complete their studies or even take up a vocation.Saath Nibhana Sathiya,Beend Banunga Ghodi Chadhunga,Diya Aur Baati Hum or Balika Vadhu all revolve around bahus who are encouraged by supportive inlaws to pursue higher studies.In Navya,Afsar Bitiya,Hitler Didi the female leads are even encouraged to take up the jobs they aspire for.
Producer Siddharth Tewary says,TV shows cater to masses,so whatever is shown on air directly or indirectly creates an impact.Its good that shows are depicting positive things about women.In every house today people want their children (irrespective of the gender) to have good education.Promoting girls education via story-telling is a positive sign. Scriptwriter and producer S Farhan says,Storytelling changes with time;currently the shift is on women being encouraged to have a career.Education versus family is the new theme.Its a new territory and if some drama can be built around this theme,producers will definitely use it for their advantage.
Actors who are donning these roles feel good about this role play.Giaa Manek says,In real life,it is the best thing to have encouraging in-laws.My show Saath Nibhana Saathiya is addressing such an important aspect where my character is encouraged for studies. Pratyusha Banerjee agrees.Im proud that my character Anandi supports female educat i o n,which is an important social issue. Pooja Joshi says,To encourage a daughter-in-law to pursue higher studies is definitely a good idea,and audiences always connect to these kind of stories.
Looks like GECs are also trying their bit in sensitizing the audiences.If in return,the TRPs generated are impressive,then thats the icing on the cake!
shruti.jambhekar@timesgroup.com