Meet the new-age soap queens

A determined Anjali Singh Rawaat crosses a perilous gap between two snowcapped mountains and the couch potatoes sigh in relief. The show is Ashutosh Gowarikar's all-new television show Everest, and Anjali's mountain-high adventure is also used to subtly put across a relevant message. The heroine, played by former beauty pageant Shamata Anchan, treads the rough Himalayan terrain only to win the heart of her chauvinistic army officer father who desperately wanted a son to carry forward his military lineage.

The drama capturing emotions of a daughter despised by her father is a clear departure from the routine TV shows that the audiences have been watching for the past one decade. The simply-dressed female lead, celebrating her graduation ceremony and making up her mind to meet a Himalayan high, was refreshing for the audience, tired as they were of heavily decked up, bhajansinging protagonists and eye-rolling vamps. Female protagonists on small screen have been identified with regressive, teary traits and over-thetop appearances. With the advent of a few fresh faces and new concepts, Indian shows are slowly undergoing a facelift. The positive sign is the lead heroines lately displays a slight shift in look and mindset.

The Parvatis and Tulsis have ruled the scene for long but it is heartening to note that a female pilot, played by Tulip Joshi, in Airlines brings in a dash of realism on small screen. Author Advaita Kala, after creating the strong female protagonist Vidya Bagchi in Kahaani, steps into the telly world to create a notso-perfect female character. It is a small effort by Kala, to break TV's obsession for the "perfect sanskari naari".

Kala applauds the changing mindset of the channels that now give importance to strong urban woman in the lead. Like politics, the airline industry too is "boys club", thus Kala found it challenging to create a character from the aviation sector. "The first episode shows Ananya Rawat screwing-up as a pilot, by taking some wrong decisions. That was my way of creating a real character for the small screen. She had her imperfections," says Advaita, who has visualised and scripted the plot of Airlines. Ashutosh Gowarikar felt a deep desire to creatively understand the world of an ignored girl child.

Thus, he conceived the character of Anjali Singh Rawaat and put her in the unexplored territory of mountaineering, where television heroines were never meant to go so far. Former Bollywood star Sonali Bendre, who for long dreaded venturing into the daily soap space, agreed to play the part of Shobha Sachdev in Ekta Kapoor's show Ajeeb Daastaan Hai Yeh because the "character was evolved and I had to play my age".

Marathi actress Pallavi Kulkarni makes a return with the show Itna Karo Na Mujhe Pyar opposite Ronit Roy, in a story about a single mother, and raising her children with dignity. Much before the saasbahu sagas, only realistic characters ruled Indian TV, instantly connecting with the masses. The new shows with distinct look and characters make small screen fans a little hopeful.

Sonali Bendre plays a rich married woman, Shobha Sachdev,who realises her strength at the time of personal crisis. in AJEEB DAASTAAN HAI YEH Sonali avoided daily soaps for long and took up this role only because Ekta and Shobha Kapoor managed to convince her about its strengths. The initial plot seems similar to the US television show, The Good Wife. Sonali plays the wife of a rich man (played by Harsh Chaya) who gets jailed following a sex scandal. Sonali enjoyed the role because the character was a marked shift from the run-of-the-mill saas bahu stereotypes.

Pallavi Kulkarni plays a divorced wife of a rich NRI, and a single mom. in ITNA KARO NA MUJHE PYAAR Producer Ekta Kapoor's shows have dealt with all kinds of drama associated with women. A show based on the life of a single woman was missing from Ekta's chart. This new series completes that, narrating the life story of a divorced woman facing various hardships. Pallavi and Ronit Roy play the estranged couple in the show trying to reinvent their strange relationship.

Shamata Anchan plays English graduate Anjali Singh Rawaat who takes to climbing the Everest. in EVEREST Shamata, a former Miss India, was selected by the show producer Ashutosh Gowariker after he auditioned dozens of athletic girls. Ashutosh had visualised a character marked by distinct determination and a certain amount of longing for her father's love. Shamata had to undergo a few weeks of rigorous training at Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarakhand, before shooting in the hilly terrain of Manali. "Rarely do we see TV actresses doing physically draining roles. I had to look convincing as a mountaineer," said Shamata on the show, which depicts the turmoil in a father-daughter relationship.

Smriti Kalra plays a coma survivor Neha Saxena,who comes in terms with life. in ITTI SI KHUSHI The show instantly brings back to mind the '90s hit series Alpviram featuring Pallavi Joshi, where the protagonist was raped in a comatose state. Itti Si Khushi, on the other hand, is the simple, light-hearted story of Neha, who meets a near-death accident and slips into coma. She wakes up as a chirpy girl realising how she has missed out on important incidents in life.

Tulip Joshi plays pilot (first officer) Ananya Rawat in a commercial airline in AIRLINES: HAR UDAAN EK TUFAAN The Miditech show imagines Tulip as a Ananya, female first officer trying to find her feet in the primarily male-dominated aviation industry. Ananya manages to break the set mould of telly actresses by playing an egoist, faltering, yet confident first officer, who constantly needs to prove her worth among her male coworkers. VJ-turnedactor Yudhishthir plays the captain, while Ananya is cast as the copilot.