Social issues spell success on small screen - TOI

There was a time when TV soaps were spinning around saas bahu sagas and it was then followed by a period which showcased what was popularly known as 'family sagas'. And now we see GECs having soaps revolving around social issues to create awareness.

Picture this: Balika Vadhu is focusing on child adoption as Shiv (Siddharth Shukla) and Anandi (Toral Rasputra) adopt Amol, in Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai, Akshara (Heena Khan) is insisting on her father-in-law's remarriage as he's depressed after his wife's death. Bani " Ishq Da Kalma and Main Na Bhulungi have tracks revolving around domestic violence where the protagonists Bani (Shefali Sharma) and Shikha (Aishwarya Sakhuja) are all set to take revenge against the injustice meted out to them. In Ek Veer Ki Ardaas " Veera, Veera (Digangana Suryavanshi) is creating awareness among first-time voters for the forthcoming general elections. And youth oriented shows Paanch " 5 Wrongs Make A Right is dealing with issues like ragging in colleges and Sadda Haq - My Life My Choice is a story revolving around a young girl Sanyukta's (Harshita Gaur) journey to chase her career dreams.

Why are GECs focusing on such burning issues? To this Prashant Bhatt, fiction head of a renowned GEC shares, "Television is not only a medium to entertain its audience, but to inform them or sensitise them about the happenings in the society. People are now vocal about social issues. So all we are doing as a broadcasting medium is to underline the issues. It is a social responsibility we've taken up even as we entertain viewers."Sudhir Sharma, producer of Paanch shares, "It is important for us as a responsible medium to tell the audience about the wrong social practices. Not necessarily that this is done to add on to TVTs, but if story telling is interesting and the audience can relate to the issues we are dealing with " viewership will definitely be more."

Agrees Yash Patnaik, producer of Veera and Sadda Haq, "Today television is the most influential medium of communication and as a production house, we have always believed in story telling with social relevance. This empowers us to create some awareness and be a changing agent," says Patnaik.Actor Aishwarya Sakhuja shares, "Even B-Town celebrities believe in connecting to some cause. Similarly, since audiences look up to TV actors " it is important for us to create awareness on evil issues through TV shows."