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Sanober

@sanober.

Elite

+ 4

Posted: 18 years ago

Channels ki Lakshmi, betiyan!

(Posted on 22 September 2006)

Burn them for dowry, kill them in the womb or harass them till they commit suicide. The female of the species is nevertheless, or perhaps for these very gruesome reasons, excellent fodder for television programming in India today.

The channels' best defence is to say that fiction is merely reflecting what's being routinely reported in the newspapers every day, both urban and rural. Which is why Zee's attempt to portray the travails of the girl child in a positive light through Betiyann may come as a breath of fresh air, when it launches next week. Call it coincidence or inadvertent plagiarism, but Star One has a similarly themed and titled show due for release shortly, too. Taken all around, despite the similarities, it's infinitely better having shows putting womanhood in a positive light rather than demeaning them. Presuming these new shows don't stray off the promised track and succumb to mush for the assured TRPs, here's something to look forward to.

Just at the time that TV seems to be looking at women differently, we have a slew of new shows that have demure heroines as protagonists, whose sole aim in life is to wait for prince charming, and then spend the rest of their lives ruing the day they married him. Dulhann did it, as did Vaidehi, Karam Apna Apna is doing it and now Sony's forthcoming show, Kaajjal, is threatening the same thing, if the promos are to be believed. Kaajjal apparently spends all her waking hours having imaginary conversations with her Ganu bhaiya (Lord Ganesh, for those slow on the uptake), wondering when her dreamboat is going to make his grand entry. Her parents look on, indulgently.

Whichever way you look at it, betiyan (daughters) definitely spell Lakshmi (moolah). And not just for one particular show on one particular channel.

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sonia

@SK_ji

Voyager

Posted: 18 years ago

Gargi Sharma

TV Actress...

Tell us about your entry in the television industry?
It all started with the 'India's Cine Stars Ki Khoj' in Zee TV where I was one of the top ten selected participants. I was also judged as the Best Dancer in the same talent hunt. Thus thanks to the talent hunt that I was offered a role in 'Piya Ka Ghar'.

Tell us about the role in 'Piya Ka Ghar'?
In 'Piya Ka Ghar' I'm playing the character of Koyal. Koyal is the type of girl, which every parent would like to have, and every guy would like to take her home to his mother, so this is how the character initially shapes up, but you can expect a change in the character. So it's a shade of positive and negative role.

How was the experience in the Cine Star's Ki Khoj?
Zee Cine Star was an experience in itself; I got a great exposure for which I thank the Zee people. I was not disappointed when I did not get through the contest. I feel that a talent hunt can't judge a person's ability in any specific field.

Tell us about your theatre performances?
I've been associated with stage right from the age of 3. I used to take part in a number of my school plays and dance competitions, thus I was always fascinated with stage. When I came to college I was part of the Drama Society, where I met Habib Tanvir, a noted theatre personality of Delhi. Thus it was a wonderful experience learning from him. I had done plays like 'Mein Amrita Hoon Amrita', 'Rajdhani' and many others.

Any plans in getting into Bollywood?
Big screen is a fascination for every actor, so my dream is also to get there one day. So lets hope that it happens soon.

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Jem4Himesh

@Jem4Himesh

Inactive

+ 3

Posted: 18 years ago

Topic already made - please post there only.

Repeated topic - Closing

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Shruti

@shruti

Alumni

+ 9

Posted: 18 years ago

INTERVIEW | DHEERAJ KUMAR

Saluting the daughters of India

To some, daughters are a boon, to some they are a bane. There are people who still believe that sons are better than daughters but it has been proved, with time, that daughters are equal if not superior to sons. To prove this point Creative Eye has produced Ghar Ki Laxmi Betiyaan for Zee TV. The channel hopes that the serial will make viewers look up, sit and ponder on the point of gender discrimination. Screen chats with Dheeraj Kumar to find out more about the serial... What enthused you to make this serial on gender discrimination?
Look at the crimes happening on girls day in and day out. (hands out a copy of a morninger that exclaims 'baby killers of Punjab'). Look at how manual labourer Gulzar Singh exhumed baby foetuses from a pit outside an abortion clinic. This I feel, is one of the grisliest chapters in our country's fight against female feticide. Read in the newspapers or see TV news and you will find either a baby girl abandoned, killed or a teenage girl raped. Plenty of atrocities keep happening on girls round the year. All this stirred my mind no end and the result is Ghar Ki Laxmi Betiyann. Tell us something about the serial?
The serial is set in a Gujarati family. The house is a traditional Gujarati house where the entire Garodia family stays. The family comprises four young teenage girls who fight all odds and emerge winners in any given situation. Through the serial we have attempted to address the ever-persistent issue of gender discrimination in our country. Highlighting certain myths that exist in society, we have fictionally tried to put them to rest. Can you elaborate on the story?
It's not just one story, there are many sub-plots that we have inter-woven into the main story. The serial will show how girls are no less than boys in any field. We have women like astronaut Kalpana Chawla, Supercop Kiran Bedi, writer Arundhati Roy, journalist Barkha Dutt, producer of serials Ekta Kapoor, sportsperson Anju George, film stars Shabana Azmi and Madhuri Dixit who have all excelled in their respective fields and more as women. The show's promotional peg is Betiyann beton se badhkar.
Yes, but there's no negative side to it. The narrative will stay within the moral parameters and aesthetic values of our culture and will desist from predictable plot extensions like much married characters, cheating spouses that drive most serials today.

Why did you cast Sa Re Ga Ma participant Twinkle Bajpai?
Zee TV recommeded her. We found her to be the ideal lead for the concept we were then working on. After auditioning her, I agreed with them and cast her as the main lead.

Why did you tie up with Zee this time when your Jodee Kamaal Ki was on STAR?
For sometime Zee TV has been showing woman-oriented serials in its prime-time slot like Saat Phere and Dulhan. I think Ghar Ki Laxmi Betiyaan is the right serial to be teleacst in the primetime slot.

http://www.screenindia.com/fullstory.php?content_id=13645

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