”An open letter to the Indian serial producers”

Dear serial producers, I am a 19 year old student and the persistent nagging by my mother to devour on your not-so-palatable plots compelled me to put down my thoughts. While sticking to a few things in life can be fruit bearable, people sticking to their television sets is not desirable when it is only to re-ingrain the already ingrained features of regressive Indian society. By and large it’s true that media shapes our opinion and that’s the reason I want you to stop playing the never ending and never educating serials. On behalf of fellow sufferers, my heart would shed some burden if I accost you with certain questions.

Firstly, what is the need of the gaudy makeup and clothes? To make the audience go through a poverty check or to abet them in adopting the attire? If it’s latter, then you are not far from your goal. Those overtly sparkling clothes have already made their entry in the pompous Indian weddings. I am afraid they will soon enter the domestic arena as well which we surely blind people like me. My second concern is the role of women that you depict in your serials. Come up with something new and make sure that your story makes equal progress with the society. It seems that you are still stuck in the age of sati when women used to worship their husbands. But, just for your kind information, time has changed and we are much occupied with our own lives too. Also, we do not have all the time in the world to conspire against everybody to seize the ancestral properties (The concept itself is flawed in today’s world of inheritance). Every working woman neither is a bad mother neither is she a divorcee. Infact you yourself might be a happy mother, a happy wife and a happy employee, which presents the picture of majority of the cases. Further, what has always disturbed me is that I have failed innumerable times in spotting the main message that you are trying to send to the viewers. Or am I right in saying that there is no message? The most irritating is the five- minute -pause after when any important scene (according to you) is to/ has happened. I am pretty sure all the viewers would share the same agonies. Now, it would be really harmful for your business if you deny thinking about bringing a change— at least in the composition!

— About the Author: The article has been contributed by our intern, Shristi Banerjee.