Portrayal of friendships on Indian Soaps!

It's been more than 2 decades of Indian Television and the cliches around male friendships are just getting stronger and more typical. Be it about getting things done magically, or about being the all-time personal assistant of the male lead, these friends have done it all on Indian dailies.

Today, list down for you, the stereotypes around male friendships on the Indian tellies:

1. From best-friends to brother-in-law!

The journey from being friends to brother-in-laws isn't very long. Either the friend falls in love with the lead's sister which we've witnessed in the case of Mohit-Naitik (Ayush Agarwal and Karan Mehra) in Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai, or the lead falls in love with the friend's sister, which happened with Raman-Mihir (Karan Patel and Raj Singh Arora) in Yeh Hai Mohabbatein. It often happens that the friend falls in love with the leads' wife's sister, which we've seen in the case of Abhi-Purab (Shabbir Ahluwalia and Arjit Taneja) in Kumkum Bhagya. Complicated eh?

2. They always share the same friends, family and enemies!

Our daily soaps very much abide by the slogan - 'Jo tera hai vo mera hai.' Almost all of us do, don't we? Our friend's friend is our friend and their enemy is also our enemy. One of the best examples here would be Raman-Mihir, where Raman's family is family for Mihir (Raman's mummyji and papaji) and Raman's enemy is an enemy to Mihir as well. (Ashok for example)

3.  The friend has to be an epitome of SACRIFICES

Be it going against their own will or giving up on anything and anyone, the friends on TV have done it all. The feeling of friendship is strong enough (only in the leads friend though) to play the victim. An all time example is the duo of Siddhant - Armaan (Karan Wahi and Karan Singh Grover) in one of our favourite shows, Dill Mill Gayye.

4. The best friend is more of a sidekick

The friend and the lead are never given an equal stature and the friend, therefore, always ends up playing the sidekick. The friend has done it all, from assisting the lead with his office work to do some of his chores! It's more of a friend turned personal assistant on Indian TV. The best-suited example's' here would be the duo of Abeer - Nisaar (Pearl V Puri and Suyyash Rai) in Phir Bhi Naa Maane Badtameez Dil and Raman - Mihir in Yeh Hai Mohabbatein!

 5. Friends add a comic element to the show

Since Indian TV always portrays the lead in a rather serious light, it is the friend who brings in the adequate amount of humor! The duo of Mohit-Naitik is one of the best example, we all remember the early days of Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai, don't we?

 6. Bhabhi is always right'

The idea of Bhai Bhai' goes for a toss once Bhabhi comes into the scene! After all, who else is going to save them from 'Bhai ka gussa!' Indian soaps have taken the concept of 'Bhabhi is equal to a mother figure' way too seriously. One of the perfect examples here will be the duo of Purab and Pragya in Kumkum Bhagya!

7. The friend turns Cupid!

Be it about love at first sight or about solving a fight with his love, the friend has a solution to everything. Going back to the rather earlier days where the duo of Atul-Armaan (Pankit Thakker and Karan V Grover) worked each others' love life out in just the perfect way, in Dill Mill Gayye.

What else do you think are the stereotypes around male friendships on daily soaps? Leave your comments below.