Are these real women?

Television, across languages, seems to have a common prototype of the woman

May 07, 2015 07:28 pm | Updated 07:28 pm IST

If one were to conduct a survey about the portrayal of women on Kannada television, two prototypes of women will certainly emerge. Meet the first kind- the good woman. She believes her husband is God, is prepared to sacrifice for him and cries a lot. Now, meet the bad woman. She is inherently vicious, wants to break up a good marriage, wears ‘western’ clothes and plots revenge all the time. The most common story on TV today is about the tussle between these two kinds of women. While the former’s tribulations multiply with each passing minute, the latter’s scheming plots are unendingly successful. There is no resolution in sight, of course.

One of the origins of these character types were the K-serials or soaps in Hindi brought out by Ekta Kapoor’s Balaji Telefilms over a decade ago. Popular TV serials such as Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, Kasauti Zindagi Ki etc. introduced a Tulsi and a Mandira, a Prerna and a Komolika that became household names almost instantly. In the case of Kannada television too, recently, these prototypes of women have begun to be used excessively. Switch between Udaya TV, ETV Kannada (now Colours Kannada) and Zee Kannada during prime-time and you will see variations of these two women being presented every half hour. The evil woman may don different roles; she may be the mother-in-law or the sister-in-law or even a friend of the good woman but she certainly exists in the story. Take the examples of Vachana and Dhanya in the serial Kulavadhu where, out of jealousy, Vachana is set to ruin Dhanya’s life or in another serial, Gokuladalli Seethe where Pavni, a village belle, is criticised by a female family member for wanting to learn English or become ‘modern’. Sacrifice and sorrow abound in one’s life and revenge, greed and jealousy in the other.

While these two prototypes seem to be common and famous, they are also extremely problematic. Here’s why. Repetitive and standardised portrayal of women as either excessively perfect or as extremely flawed, on a medium as accessible as the television, should be a matter of concern because of the message being given out to the audience. Morality on television is adjudged on the basis of the amount of sacrifice an ‘ideal’ woman can perform and the amount of hate her evil counterpart can harbour. Both versions of good and bad are being offered as templates without any nuance or complexity. Worse, the portrayal is such that one is sold as the desirable one over the other. While the formula for the damned woman is obviously troubling, the question beckons whether even the idea of a ‘good’ woman is not without problem. She is depicted without any agency, often succumbing to a patriarchal order. In an age where the world is finally discussing issues concerning women’s empowerment and status, these archetypes only drag the discussion a few steps back through their regressive portrayal of women.

Further, what is also worrying is Kannada networks’ choice to use these types. Earlier, Kannada TV was home to interesting shows such as Mayamruga, Malgudi Days, Chiguru and so on. Gradually, it began to ape shows that were deemed successful on Hindi television. Some argue that an interesting turning point for Kannada TV could have been the moment when Balaji Telefilms set up their office in Karnataka. Serials not only adopted plot lines, they also copied set design and costumes from Hindi television. In fact, today, the homogeneity between the Hindi and Kannada networks is unnerving.

What exactly goes on inside the office of a television channel? Offering an insider’s perspective, Kannada TV producer, B. Suresh says that advertising has a huge influence on content. “Advertising, especially health, food and fashion industry, insists that television must have more female characters in their serials. This is to target women who have the purchasing power in families,” he explains. However, he makes an important distinction that they are not the reason that there are these good versus bad wars between women on television. “Most channels in Kannada today have a programming head sitting here who has to report to someone in Bombay or Delhi. These heads often do not have any power to decide. They are instructed to replicate a prototype plot that has seen success in Hindi, for instance. Success is of course measured through a rating system. It is entirely a numbers game that pushes content out of the purview of the debate,” he says.

The crucial questions are whether producers who are rooted in Kannada culture can be more vocal and make an active choice about the content they want to produce? Or, does money dictate their future as well?

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