My daddy strongest

Telly soaps have been women-centric for the longest time with great emphasis on the female protagonists. However, the scale is surely but slowly tilting towardsmale protagonists too, especially father figures. Take any serial on air, be itAfsar Bitiya, Na Bole Tum Na Maine Kuch Kaha, Kuch Toh Log Kahenge, Yahan Main Ghar Ghar Kheli or Ruk Jaana Nahi, to name a few, the fathers have an important role to play.

There was a time when a father'srole in soaps was restrictedto finding a good match for the children — especially daughters. There was also a measure of fear and respect in their relationship. But today, things have changed and the father is more of a friend and guide. In Afsar Bitiya, the father is the motivating force for the daughter aspiring to be an officer, Balika Vadhu's father-in-law has been instrumental in getting his daughter-in-law divorced from her unfaithful husband, while in Punarvivaah, the father-in-law was the one who got his widowed daughter-in-law remarried, in Parichay and Kuch Toh Log Kahenge, the fathers have been great support systems to their sons.

Says Prashant Bhatt, programming head, Colors, "When daily soaps started, they were categorised as saas bahu sagas which left no scope for the sasur or fathers to have any say in the goings-on. Viewers also connected to that but slowly with the changing mindset of the people, step-by-step the fathers started getting more involved and today are charting the course of the story."

Shows with fathers or father-figures at the centre like Bidaai, Yahaan Mein Ghar Ghar Kheli, Shubh Vivaah started and as Sukesh Motwani, fiction head, Zee points out, though traditional conservative fathers like the one inSapne Suhaane Ladakpan Ke and a wily exploitative father a la Hitler Didialso exist, the progressive fathers clearly outnumber them.

Virendra Saxena, who has been a huge source of strength for two of his onscreen betis Jassi (Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin) and Megha (Afsar Bitiya)adds that, today's fathers are also vulnerable and supportive towards their kids. For Anjjan Srivastav, who has been playing the role of a father since hisWagle Ki Duniya days to the recent Na Bole Tum Na Maine Kuch Kaha in which he is encouraging his widowed daughter-in-law to remarry, the journey has been long but heartening. He sums it up succintly, "The onscreen fathers have become liberal and is far more lenient, which is why widow re-marriage is being talked about and considered. With time, society has changed and the shows reflectthat."

http://www.dnaindia.com/entertainment/report_my-daddy-strongest_1703111