Modern bahus on TV is the latest trend--SI mentioned

Gone are the days when TV serial bahus were portrayed as submissive and docile. Now, even our television industry has accepted the fact that we are living in the 21st century and live up to that.

The credit should go to scriptwriters and producers who have the guts to support such scripts where the daughter-in-law is not the inferior member of the family.

Anandi of 'Balika Vadhu' has come up as a strong example as one of the bold bahus on Indian television. The female lead in the show has just not handled her family well but has gone forward to even take up the charge of being the 'Sarpanch' of her village. She is now shown teaching the women of her village their rights.

For instance, in an episode, she teaches a woman how to get a bank account made and put her savings there. Toral Rasputra, who plays Anandi in Balika Vadhu says, "That was an important episode on the show, since this actually happens in the rural India where the man of the family disrespects women's savings. They tend to spend that money on drinking and gambling. Lack of education works as a drawback for the deprived class and we made sure that people learn to teach others and help them out as the protagonist in the show did."

One of the latest additions to the bold TV serial bahu is 'Chhanchhan' from the show of the same name. Although, the plot started out on very typical lines of the saas dominating the bahu and the family and bahu suffering, the show took a u-turn when Chhanchhan, the main lead, was able to impress all the family members with her modern way of doing things and finally her mother in law had to acknowledge her efforts and accept the modern entry to her family.

Sanaya Irani, who plays the modern bahu on the show shares, "I used to wonder why people made shows that had bahus under a 'ghoonghat' and were always crying for some reason or the other. They are shown fighting endlessly with the vamps. But then we cannot run away from the fact that there are families who have a similar lifestyle."

"While other shows portray a certain section of society, 'Chhanchhan' came up to reflect a different aspect of society where the people have evolved with time and are accepting the modern culture. Then we tried to show what happens when a modern and traditional family meet. The traditional family, with a little reluctance, also accepts the modern bahu and her modern ways of doing things."

So, now television is not just about crying bahus and dominating mother in laws, it has grown and evolved with time and has the guts to showcase the developments happening in the society.

Credit --Team Sarun...

Glad Chhanchhan the character is being talked favourably.