~*~Betiyaan Articles Archive~*~ - Page 3

The daily dose of family soaps on TV is hogging popularity day-in and day-out, cutting across almost all sections of the audiences. It's been so for more than six years now since the one which started it all; Kyun Ki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi hit the marquee. And it still shows no signs of wearing off. But the question is, why regressive storylines which depicts women as weak and helpless creatures who put up with all kinds of injustice, have got such wide scale acceptance.

While the world moved forward with the onset of the 21st century in year 2000, Indian television went back in time and made regressive thinking and treatment our staple diet. Or are we Indians, being part of the third world can't outgrow the thought that women are lesser mortals when compared to men. There is no doubt about the fact that new age fiction programming in India has a female protagonist who is depicted like either Durga, Lakhsmi and Kali.

They even share the names of the goddesses but it's seen that the more women are tortured, the higher are the ratings. Tulsi and Parvati have gone through the worst and have thus been part of hit shows. Now Bani and Saloni are going through hell and making people love their shows. Betiyaan on Zee and Paraya Dhan on Star will depict daughters as unwanted creatures, never equivalent to sons.

"When Indian women are moving shoulder-to-shoulder with men in their real life, then why are they moving backwards when it comes to reel life? Why are people encouraging the channels to produce such shows by viewing them and providing them with TRPs," questions veteran producer-director Ravi Rai. He even blames the financially growing television industry for the crime. "The executive producers and the creative heads in channels are nowadays earning in lakhs. This big money involved has created insecurity and hence they do not want to experiment with new shows," he adds.

Ravi Rai has a point. But would this phenomenon ever change? "It definately would. Even I'm trying my level best to change it. But I don't know when. We can just hope and pray that it happens soon so that the intelligent audiences would again be able to view soaps like Sailaab, Astitva, Sparsh, Saans etc wherein the characters look real and move forward with time," comments Rai.

Another veteran Ajai Sinha (makers of serials like Hasratein and the recent Astitva) compares today's soaps with poison which the audiences are happily consuming. "If I open two shops, selling gutka in one and apples in another, the people would opt for gutka whereas the apples would get spoiled." He too blames the audiences for the regression shown. "The movie industry has moved forward, while the television industry has gone backward. My audiences were few and those intelligent ones have now opted for movies rather than television soaps," Ajai Sinha comments strongly.

On the other hand, Tarun Mehra, Sr. Vice President, Marketing — Zee TV thinks differently. "People love to watch women fighting against all sorts of evil. The real thing that works is narrating a story in an interesting way. Like the story of a dark woman in Saat Phere. That's the trend right now," he says.
Well, the channel will always defend and market its product.

No matter, how bad it is, seems the trend is here to stay for quite sometime. Unless of course the audience starts thinking differently and start to appreciate work that is more meaningful, real and moves forward with changing time and make us feel that our TV serials too are actually part of the 21st century.

http://www.deccan.com/TV%20Guide/TV%20GuideDescription.asp#M alaika%20steals%20the%20show

And what's with the powers that be at Star One? Not too long ago, they were proclaiming from the rooftops about how they wouldn't touch regressive soaps with a barge pole. And then they blame Ekta Kapoor for her clichs.

http://www.mid-day.com/hitlist/2006/october/144623.htm

How did you enter the television world?
My first experience with television happened, at the age of 17. It was in a Marathi serial on Doordarshan called Damini. I was an active participant in intercollegiate theatre. Coincidently, for one of my plays, the producer of Damini was present. Impressed with my performance, he offered me a role in the serial.

How has your theatre experience helped you?
I don't have any formal training in acting. Theatre is an acting school in itself. My experience with theatre has helped me tremendously. With theatre, you have an opportunity to improve, to rehearse with every show. Theatre experience inculcates discipline and teaches aspects like voice modulation, right pronunciation, etc.

Since your parents are well-known actors, is there any kind of pressure to always perform the best as an actor?
My parents are my best critics. They point out minute mistakes and also guide me. But they are happy to see me set a career in a profession that I enjoy the most. They never pressurised me to take up a particular profession but told me that there are no short cuts to climb the ladder of success.

What are your current projects?
Currently, I am acting in a Zee TV Marathi's daily soap Vadalvat, where I play the role of a young girl in her early 20's named Aalandi Chhatre, who is a crime reporter. Earlier, I did act in 4-5 serials on Zee TV Marathi. I also played an interesting role in the Hindi serial Tumhari Disha on Zee TV.

What are your future plans?
I am a part of a superb commercial play, which is to be released in November. I would like to direct a play later sometime in the future.

http://www.cybernoon.com/DisplayArticle.asp?section=xtras&am p;am p;subsection=showbuzz&xfile=October2006_closeup_standard 124&child=closeup

Maninee De has made a name in the world of showbiz with her varied portrayals, be it TV or films. Now the actress, most talked about for playing Pari in Jassi Jaisi Koi nahi is being seen in a totally new avatar in Ghar Ki Lakshmi– Betiyaan on Zee TV. We decided to get up, close and personal with the dusky actress and know more about her new role and the other exciting things happening in her life.

Tell us something about your character in Betiyaan?
I play the role of Chanchal, who's a maasi (aunt) to the betiyaan, the daughters of the house. Chanchal is a very progressive and educated woman. She wants the girls to groom themselves, become confident and live their life in a positive way.

How different do you find this role?
For the greater part of my career I have been associated with comedy shows. But Twinkle Beauty Parlour bought a lot of change within me. It helped me to emote out the feelings hidden in my heart. Chanchal maasi is a character which is very close to what I am in real life. As in my real life, Chanchal is polite but very firm. She can't tolerate injustice and will raise the issue if she feels that something is wrong. She is very optimistic about life. She is the one who brings a ray of hope in the lives of Laxmi, Saraswati and the other sisters.

What do you have to say about the controversy surrounding the serial?
Honestly, newspapers blow a lot of things out of proportion. Yes, I have seen the promos of Paraya Dhan. After watching them, one would surely have the impression that the two shows are pretty much the same. I don't want to get into it. But if Rekha Modi is right then she should surely fight for justice and vice-versa. I believe a fair hearing should be done in the case. My job is to bring out my writers' vision into action and stay away from the controversy.

Do you have a special look in Betiyaan?
My look is very Gujarati. The body language would be that of a small town girl. Being educated, Chanchal maasi would be seen in chiffon sarees. As she is a dynamic woman, she would be never seen in a ghunghat. She walks with authority.

As a senior actress what advice do you give to the inexperienced young actresses?
I always ask them to be focused and never get exploited. I tell them to work hard, but not to be a mule. It's very important to observe and listen to different people if you want to progress as an actor. All the girls are talented actresses. I like Sarawati a lot as she is extremely clued to her character.

Dheeraj Kumar is famous for his shows on DD. How was it working with his unit in Betiyaan?
It's a very sweet and co-operative unit. I don't know why, but they take special care of me. Dheeraj too looks like a soft spoken and an honest person. The unit is very subdued.

You have also been seen in films like Krrish, Rules and Waisa Bhi Hota Hai-Part 2. Are you planning to do more movies?
I have never planned anything in life except my child. The more you run behind anything, the lesser is the chance that it would come to you. I live in the present and believe that God would always be looking after me in the future.

Do you and your husband Mihir Mishra discuss work at home?
Yeah. We do bounce ideas and advices to each other.

http://www.deccan.com/TV%20Guide/TV%20GuideDescription.asp#' Chanchal%20maasi%20is%20a%20character%20which%20is%20very%20 close%20to%20what%20I%20am%20in%20real%20life'

Indiantelevision.com Team

(9 October 2006 8:00 pm)

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court has refused to stay Zee TV's latest prime time launch Ghar Ki Lakshmi Betiyann, in a copyright infringement suit filed by writer Rekha Modi. She had alleged that the concept of the serial being aired by Zee originally belonged to her.

However, due to creative differences with Zee TV, she later approached Star India with the script. The Star One soap titled Betiyann - Apni yaa Paraya Dhan -- which is based on Modi's script -- is launching on 9 October.

Justice S J Vazifdar refused to grant any interim relief after Modi failed to submit proof of her rights for the concept. The Court also noted that, the copyright for the serial now belonged to the production house Creative Eye. Also, Star India is not complaining about any copyright infringement.

"The Betiyann concept is originally owned by Creative Eye and Modi couldn't produce any proof to support her claim. Hence, the court has refused to stay the Zee TV soap," said Zee Networks SVP Ashish Kaul.