‘Maamiyar paasathla kudukrenu nenachiya? Idha kattitu nee varanum, unna maadu muttanum’ – No one will ever forget this famous comedy scene of actor Vivekh. Everyone would have burst out into laughter on seeing this.
In this shot in the film ‘Whistle’, a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law will exchange gifts. But inside, they will plot to kill each other. What the scene ultimately tries to convey is how serials make the bond between in-laws toxic.
When we look at soaps (TV serials) of today, ‘woman degrading woman’ seems to be the main concept with which most serials are made.
For instance, let me give you some Tamil TV serial ‘concepts’ that I came across recently. In one of the new ones, the teaser showed a heavily decked, newly-married woman halted at the doorstep and her husband’s family weighing her and her jewellery on a weighing scale. The mom-in-law insults her for wearing few jewels.
Shaken! Have some responsibility, directors. Do you think bringing a revolution on social taboos is an easy thing to do? It took more than a century for activists here to wake up people from the evils of dowry. Still, the issue prevails all over the country. In what way do you think your point is going to help develop society?
In another serial, a whole family works to ‘defeat’ the daughter-in-law to prove that she is not worth anything. They even plot to murder her. The beauty about this is, it is telecast during prime time. Have a heart for your viewers. Is this the way they want to relax at home? We know housewives are your major targets. But, is this what you want them to imbibe? Have you ever thought about the psychological effect these scripts will have on them?
We are really tired of all this. One day, on my off-day, bored and without choice, I had to watch a serial with my mom. This serial runs on the concept of how skin colour plays a role in a girl’s life. After a particular scene, when she gets rejected in a job for her skin colour, my mom turned towards me immediately and looked at me with so much of emotion in her eyes. (I have a dusky skin tone). I think many girls can relate to such incidents in their homes.
For ages, films and serials have influenced people. What they see is what they react to and copy. So, all we ask is to take responsibility. People are watching and they dont need this.