Minor’s murder, fodder for soap?-Article

The dramatic turn of events surrounding popular Balaji soap Kahani Ghar Ghar kii is no less appalling than the shocking murder case of Aarushi that rocked Delhi a few weeks ago. In an attempt to resurrect the sinking TRPs of her soap, Ekta Kapoor apparently wanted to reconstruct the real life murder of the teenager as her new track. According to reports that did the rounds, the murder plot that dealt with the issue of honour killing was to be aired the coming week, between Monday and Thursday, in the popular Balaji daily soap.

Parvati's rebellious and wayward granddaughter Tanu was to be murdered by one of the members of the Agrawal family. The track was expected to add a major spike to the show's TRPs. But that was not to be.

In a new turn of events, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) approached the Information and broadcasting Ministry expressing concern after Aarushi's mother, Nupur Talwar sought its help in stopping Balaji Telefilms from using the family tragedy to earn TRPs. Alleging that Balaji was planning to show her daughter's life and death on television and claiming that the production house will incorporate the Aarushi killing as part of its plan to glorify honour killing, Arushi's mother pleaded with the commission that the serial makers should not be allowed to go ahead with the track.

In order to avoid getting into legal hassles, Balaji has promptly dropped the honour killing track. When contacted, Nivedita Basu, chief creative head of Balaji Telefilms, refused to comment saying, "We have nothing to say in the matter. You should contact the channel."

However, Star Plus authorities conveniently washed their hands off this, and blatantly denies that such a track was planned in the first place. In a statement issued on Wednesday, Star India also expressed shock and disgust at the recent media reports rife with speculations about the storyline of Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki.

When contacted, Anupama Mondloi, Star India's senior creative head, denied that such a track was planned for Kahani.

However, the honour killing track inspired by Aarushi's murder was indeed planned and that cannot be denied. What the channel heads forgot is that they had given out a media release last week which said, "Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki will be taking a major turn with its track bearing a close similarity to the Aarushi murder case in the coming week (June 16 to 19). Parvati's granddaughter, Tanu will soon get murdered leaving the Agrawal family in shock when they find out that the murderer is one of them. The murder will deal with the issue of honour killing."

That's not all. When this correspondent interviewed Akshita, who plays Tanu, on June 11, the actress admitted that Tanu's murder was supposed to be a case of honour killing. Elaborating on the role, Akshita further said, "Tanu is a total spoilt brat. She loves partying and doesn't listen to anyone. Her behaviour and way of dressing doesn't go down well with her family," she said.

www.deccan.com