|
Tulsi
is on her way out. Or so UTV director Zarina Mehta believes.
The
next two years, said Mehta recently at a workshop on gender representation
in media, will belong to comedy and the return of the aggressive
heroine on television. "In the early days, we had the rebel female,
so well typified by Shanti. From 2000 on, we were inundated
with the wife with the adulterous husband, from where we progressed
to characters with shades of grey (Saaya was a good example).
The
last two years however, have belonged to the do gooder Tulsi and
Parvati stereotypes, says Mehta. The last two years have also seen
the straitjacketing of female characters, both in terms of clothes
and moral values. "The heroine has constantly been under the magnifying
glass," she says.
Soaps
like (Balaji's) Kyunki and (UTV's) Bhabhi, on the
other hand, have ridden the crest of the wave as they have struck
an emotional chord with viewers, for want of better choice. The
elderly, for want of company, are increasingly left alone with the
television and derive satisfaction in viewing serials where the
grandparents enjoy benefits they don't in real life, points out
Mehta.
Countering
criticism of soaps that play out ideal families, Mehta cites the
example of UTV's Kehta Hai Dil, a weekly on Star Plus that
started out with a storyline replete with realistic characters including
a career oriented doctor with a policeman for a husband. The plot
didn't work and the TRPs faltered till the production house turned
the storyline around and converted it into a family drama.
|
