MUMBAI: With season four of Bindaas’ cult show, ‘Emotional Atyachaar’ completing 50 well-received episodes, the channel is all set to telecast a mini-series titled ‘Shaadi Mein Atyachaar – Dekho, Seekho, Bacho’ in the same time slot, starting tomorrow.  

To be aired at 7pm every Saturday, the one-hour series will run across four episodes; taking viewers through the heart-wrenching stories of real women who’ve braved all forms of betrayal in marriage, and lived to tell the tale.

We don_t do anything without research, says Shalini Sethi

Bindass director programming Shalini Sethi feels that betrayal in an institution like marriage is not restricted to sexual infidelity alone but goes on to include fraud, dowry-related harassment and domestic violence among other issues. The series celebrates women who’ve fought these odds while serving as inspiration to others who might find themselves in a similar situation.

Asked about the choice of subject, Sethi says: “We got a lot of feedback saying that in many marriages, women in particular are extremely unhappy and have been tortured. These women wanted a platform to tell their stories and inspire other women. These brave hearts in the end have stood up against society and family and spoken about it.”

The core format of the series is the same as that of season four of Emotional Atyachaar, where the victims came and narrated their stories. It caters to the youth, especially in the 15-24 year age group, and is in sync with Bindaas’ motto of inspiring the youth to take positive action.

Regarding the timing of the series, Sethi says: “Like the first three seasons, the fourth season of Emotional Atyachaar was a huge success. It has been our constant endeavour to candidly represent the realities of our society with sensitivity. We thought the time was right to showcase to our viewers another facet of infidelity by featuring episodes dealing with such unimaginable situations in marriages.” 

What about research? “We don’t do anything without research. As the programming team of Bindaas, we strongly believe in research. Emotional Atyachaar absolutely does a lot of research because over the years, we have shown the viewers how real people come and talk about their experiences. Even for this special series, we had to go through different stages and research women who’ve been suppressed big time in marriage,” explains Sethi.

Hosting the series will be Pravesh Rana, who is also the face of Emotional Atyachaar. He will be seen interacting with women who’ve successfully battled troublesome marriages.

Will the series work for the channel? “Relationships always get wider audiences. If the shows have been done right, they will always get you much larger audiences. Bindaas as a brand always had a purpose, a message. We have always told audiences to take action and find solutions. At least, we will inspire a couple of people to think and families to wake up,” concludes Sethi.