BANEGI Apni Baat has an unwed mother. In Dard, telecast till recently, the heroine has an extramarital affair. The mistress in Swabhimaan antagonises males and challenges social stereotypes. Andaz has a tough and vicious female character whose guiles and wiles freeze most into near stupefaction. Says Navneet Nishan, who plays the wicked woman in Andaz: "My character in the serial can do just about anything. In some ways, its a little bizarre."
Bizarre, maybe. But hardly an exception when the audiovisual scenario has undergone a metamorphosis. Courtesy satellite television and the consequential scope for channel-surfing, the Bhagwantis and Badki-like figures of Hum Log and other 80s soaps are facing extinction. The substitute: the New Indian Woman, a pragmatic, polished breed distanced in time and attitude from the sati savitri of yesteryears.
Actress Archana Puran Singh is critical of the development: "What we are seeing on TV is a career-oriented woman who avoids the prospect of motherhood. This had to happen, since there is direct competition from satellite TV, and from serials like Santa Barbara in particular."
The entry of satellite television has put an end to the crisis of time slots. Unlike a few years back when DDs national network was the only refuge for serial makers, viewers today have the option of surfing on a host of channels. Hence, the change. Like his telly-viewing counterpart, the software producer, too, was given a choice between family dramas and plots where corporate warfare was the thematic buzzword. With the creative freedom to tackle issues alien to Indian middle class ideals, the producers show a predictable inclination for western-ised concerns. Remarks Kruttika Desai, who is currently acting in the phenomenally popular Chandrakanta: "Once you have done something for long, you crave to do something new. Like someone who has been hungry for four days, and overeats on the fifth as a consequence."
The equation in the skies has also changed. Far from being assured of the monopolistic franchise of the choiceless viewer, even the normally complacent DD has been compelled to liberalise in terms of content. The new Indian woman is typified in Swabhimaan where overriding patriarchal antagonism, Svetlana, played by Kitu Gidwani, becomes the chairperson of a corporate empire. But theres a catch: Svetlana is the mistress whose attitude towards life is the antithesis of her predecessors.
And, it is the lifestyle of these TV Svetla-nas that is now being questioned. Most such depictions are half-baked, reflecting a cultural ambiguity. Says Lovleen Mishra, who played the young daughter in Hum Log: "Svetlana is a character even I cannot identify with. And that being the case, it is difficult to understand how the average Indian viewer will relate to it."
Even the most dynamic participants in this process of change find the development dubious. "Tell me, what is liberalisa-tion? The fact that a woman character drinks, smokes, has affairs?" fumes Neena Gupta. "Modern means negative these days. Woman are being presented very badly on television. It is all due to the writers negative thinking, and the person who gets the sympathy is mostly the male character." She notes that cosmetic changes in the characters lifestyle do not make a woman liberal. "Modernism implies that she must be able to stand on her feet, and few TV pro-grammes actually show that. "
Singh puts it more strongly: "Women, to put it mildly, are being portrayed as bitches." Unlike Gupta, who attributes the current state to the existent patriarchy, Singh feels that the free serial maker has gone overboard. "If you see Tara, Andaaz, even Swabhimaan, what emerges clearly is that women are being shown as too outspoken, just the opposite of what they were. In a way, the idea is to show that women are protesting. But that protest is too much. These depictions are either in black or white. There is no attempt to bring out the grey element, since that is where the Indian woman is placed."
Others, however, feel that the contemporary woman is not always portrayed negatively. Her character has become bolder, and not because submission to her male counterpart is inevitable after she parades her intrepid facade in the odd episode. Rationalises Divya Seth, who plays an ambitious woman in Daraar and an unwed mother in Banegi Apni Baat: "Times have changed. My role in Daraar is something that was inconceivable 50 years ago. In Banegi, the character is insecure, but strong. If she cries, she cries alone. Todays woman has stepped out of the house and can juggle domestic responsibilities with a career."
Says Himani Shivpuri, whose role in Hasratein was extremely popular: "When I travel, women come forward to say they liked the role. Even orthodox Muslim women loved the character, which shows such situations cannot be delinked from the social fabric."
Though Shivpuris role was convincing, what is clear is that portraits of upper middle class women in the average serial are far from impressive. Moreover, despite this trend, programmes with the highest TRPs continue to be religious serials and programmes based on film music. Although some stars feel that the Indian viewer has become mature and open-minded, his approach to TV programmes remains unaltered. Nishan sums up the situation aptly: "Modernity as is being shown on the television is a bit confused. Later, if an intelligent television star takes up a product, the person can make it far more credible compared to what is being actually shown."
The presence of some strong female roles on television is being blurred by characters who are sophisticated yet subdued when it matters; others whose smoking and drinking habits are metaphors for viciousness; and a few who are merely modified versions of the sati savitris of yesteryears. Through serials like Udaan, DD had depicted a powerful woman with whom the viewer could identify and deify at the same time. Enamoured by the western soap, the average software maker is indulging in the creation of women whose attitudes dis-communicate with the viewers in general. Yet, they go on, thrilled with the joy of freedom never experienced before, preoccupied with the icing with the cake having gone stale.
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