Click to play videoNew Delhi: Sari-clad Indian woman worshiping her husband and raving about family values might rarely happen in real households, but on the Indian idiot box, it’s the only theme that all the soap-operas follow.
Deepa Venkat, a known face on the south Indian tele-screen, started acting when she was just eight. She got sick and tired of playing a typical homemaker in over 70 soaps. She says she got a breather when she was offered the role of a journalist in Surya--a soap on a South Indian channel. But then it didn’t work. For the only theme that’s a hit on television is family drama packed with archetypical characters.
“People didn't like the journalist role in Surya. The TRP's only increased after we introduced a family oriented women character-‘Indu’ into it. Clearly audience like watching family drama and not social-oriented roles,” says N Sundaresan Director Surya.
TRPs matter simply because channels look for advertisers and sponsors for their best selling soaps. And the target audience is clear.
"These soaps are meant for the Indian women who sit at home and still has to follow traditions. Many of them, we assume treat their husband like God. We cater to their entertainment needs and we also highlight evils of the Indian society. You have to strike a balance," says Deepa, TV actress.
Meanwhile, serials like Arasi where the protagonist is confident and assertive-have quite swayed the audience-but many point out the flip side-
"In serials where home makers are shown to be confident assertive women are deceptive. They don't show these women rebelling against the value systems. Instead they're shown to be performing their women roles better,” says Gnani Social thinker.
While heroes dominate the big screen, women get to play the lead roles on the small screen. Over the years, scripts and characters remain unchanged and it still looks like it'd be quite some time before we could even see a denim-clad female protagonist on small screen.
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