Feminine Voice and Changing Face of Womanhood in Indian Television in the Twenty-First Century

Sushmita Banerjee *

A TV anchor at ISTV Network

The voice of women and their image in electronic and print media has undergone manifold change with time. A cursory look at the Indian cinema from the mid-twentieth century to the early years of the twenty-first century encapsulates the changing face and differential portrayal of Indian women. The films produced in the mid-twentieth century largely confined the roles of women to home and the hearth and essentially typified an 'ideal' woman who was willing to do the utmost sacrifice in order to retain the honour and unity of her family. However, by the end of twentieth century and in the twenty-first century there have been shifts towards depicting independent women who are upfront, risk-taking and willing to break new grounds and redefine their role and image in society. The Indian television industry has also witnessed these shifts in the serials that showcase narratives in different genres.

The teleserials can be classified under different genres that tend to portray varying image of women and symbolize their voice. While in the 1980s and 90s the idea was to present women in a conventional fashion that was largely home-centred, in today's context one can see the feminine voice with diverse portrayals. Take the case of mythological serials and the image of women: in the 1980s and 90s, the mythologies were restricted to classics, Ramayana and Mahabharata, that epitomized the pain and selfless life of Sita, Kunti and Draupadi and idolized the piety of women such as Sita, Anusuiya, Ahilya who underwent immense pain to carve out a niche for virtues that represented womanhood. In the twenty-first century, there is a huge variety of mythological serials in offing that include serials that retold stories of women deities such as Jai Ganga Maiya, Jai Mata ki; stories about Shiva and his consort Parvati in Om Namay Shivai, Devon ke Dev Mahadev that do not relegate women to a secondary status but she voices her opinion, gives boons, slays demons and equally participates in maintaining the cosmic order.

In the newer renditions of Ramayana and Mahabharata, Sita and Draupadi are not silent spectators to the pains inflicted on them; in fact in the serial Mahabharata in the event leading to Draupadi's attempted disrobement (vastraharan), though she conventionally seeks help from Lord Krishna, she also engages in a fierce dialogue with her husbands, mother-in-law, all the courtiers including Bhishma and Dronacharya, reprimands them for their silence and declares that they do not have the ability to shield her and she would safeguard herself through her inner strength and firm belief in God. She even challenges Dushasan and asks him to assess if he has more manly strength or her feminity empowers her to shield herself from him. In the event that follows, the serial shows that Draupadi stands tall while all the male courtiers get disrobed of their jewellery and upper garments. There is indeed an attempt to provide a voice to womanhood and portray the magical power of her womanly strength and hence introduce elements of modernity in a traditional, mythical story.

The period dramas though often mix fact with fiction are not far behind in presenting a differential portrayal of women protagonists or women actors. There are women-centric teleserials such as Ek Veer Stri ki Kahani: Jhansi ki Rani, Meera: Krishna se Lagi Aesi Lagan Ek Rajkuvari Bani Jogan that narrativize the lives of these women, demonstrate the military/spiritual prowess of the female protagonists and their abilities as women who could break the societal norms and unleashed their power in unchartered territories. The conventional male-dominated serials are also breaking new grounds by providing substantial space to women in narratives dealing with past. Hence, the serial on Mughal Emperor Akbar, entitled Jodha Akbar not only talks about Akbar's romantic life but largely centres on potentially fictitious harem tales. Jodha, the Rajput wife of Akbar, is portrayed as a strong willed woman who is adept at sword fighting, chess, cooking, strategic decision making and has sound judgemental skills that enable her to create her own space in the Mughal household.

The other women in the serial such as Maham Anga, Ruqaiyya Begum, Hamida Bano Begum are not coy or docile but they are portrayed as strategic decision takers, plotting conspiracies and advising and condoning the acts of the Mughal emperor. The image of the royal women in this serial is no ways inferior to their male counterpart. Other serials such as Maharana Pratap and Shivaji exemplify the strong-willed mother of the male protagonist who plays a key role in shaping the character and persona of the male protagonist.

The family dramas are a mixed bag as they often present a contrasting picture of feminity and represent women in multiple ways. Nowadays there is an increasing tendency to present women in confines of household in a large, urbane or semi-urbane joint family. Most of the times the story focuses on a woman protagonist who plays a key role in resolving all the problems of a family but her image is glorified on account of being an ideal wife, daughter or daughter-in-law. Take the case of Sasural Simar ka, Balika Vadhu or Tumhari Pakhi, the main protagonist is usually a non-working woman who derives immense pleasure in carrying out care-giving activities, cooking and performing other household chores in perfection and ensuring that all the festivities of the family are taken care off well.

This woman is strong willed, has a voice as she often takes on the negative characters, often fellow women and sometimes men, and is able to shield her family from all sorts of dangers. Most of the serials from the big production houses subscribe to this rather traditional portrayal of women within the confines of the family. A few serials are forthcoming in not only letting the women speak but also portray the changing face of womanhood wherein she is portrayed as a successful business or working woman. Though these serials are comparatively less in number, Astitiva: Ek Prem Kahani being one of them, they embody women as striking fine balance between work and life, having a voice of their own and living a life that is not shadowed under the weight of in-laws and family members. It would be an encouraging trend to see more serials that depict the individuality of a woman and her identity as discrete from her role as a wife, mother or daughter and teleserials that render importance to womanhood on account of her education, professional skills and larger role in the society.

The advertisements on television definitely embody the changing role of women in society. Though at times the adverts tend to present a sexualized image of women, but a growing sensitivity to presence and role of women in society in acknowledged. Earlier the adverts would have very often have male protagonists or family with male children advocating a product but now several adverts have come up with twin versions of adverts with both male and female protagonists endorsing the similar concept, see for instance the advertisements of Oreo, Bournvita, Max Life Insurance, Bajaj Allianz, etc. Giving voice to womanhood and providing space to represent her diverse role in society goes a long way in educating people about feminism and acknowledging her authoritative importance in society.