Those who grew up in the 90s watched a good mix of entertaining television serials like Malgudi Days (short stories from the hamlet of Malgudi), Byomkesh Bakshi (adventures of a detective with mind-reading abilities), Shanti (life of a bold female journalist) and Tara (story of an urban woman and her friends). Jump to the 2000s and you had television channels crowded with saas-bahu serials and the beginning of reality shows. In recent years, there have been quite a few TV soaps that not only have regressive plots like glorified child marriage and racism but witchcraft, black magic and humans changing into snakes and flies!
One such serial that was recently taken off air was Pehredaar Piya Ki where a nine-year-old boy from a royal family is married off to an 18-year-old woman. The woman is supposed to be a caretaker for the child. But, scenes like the child stalking the woman and taking her photographs got viewers angry and with the help of a petition to Information and Broadcasting minister Smriti Irani, they managed to take the show off air.
Another serial that glorified child marriage was Balika Vadhu that aired on Colors television between 2008 to 2016. The series followed a child bride who is brought into a conservative Rajasthani household. The television portrayal of the child bride is, however, a far cry from the realities of a young girl who has to live with her in-laws, help in household chores, miss education and get pregnant by the time she is a teen. The serial tried to redeem itself by showing that Anandi (the protagonist) marries again after her husband divorces her for another woman, but later the serial just loses plot as it follows the story of Anandi's daughter and it gets digressed from child marriage all together.
Most serials today don't have any career women as central characters. Instead, there are diligent bahus who have sari pallus over their heads and suffer criticism from their mothers-in-law like in Sasural Simar ka. Incidentally, Sasural Simar ka, which is still being aired takes a bizarre turn when the wronged daughter-in-law Simar takes the form of a fly to take revenge on the family's vamp. The show that begins with two sisters marrying into the same family soon turns into how they try to protect their family from elements of black magic and supernatural creatures.
Yet another plot of a television serial revolves around witchcraft. Vishkanya Ek Anokhi Prem Kahani was aired on Zee TV is about a girl who is supposed to be venomous and can harm anyone who comes in contact with her. Kaala Teeka, another serial which was aired on Zee TV follows the story of a girl who is adopted by a well-off family only to suffice the role of being a 'kaala teeka' or a human amulet of sorts to protect their daughter from a curse.
Essentially women in television serials are either black-magic performing witches, docile daughters-in-law or exist only to protect or take care of another character.
