TRPs, tradition and 'Anupama Phenomenon'
There is something oddly comforting about the Hindi daily soap Anupama. It looks familiar, loud, exhausting and revolves around a woman who is expected to hold it all together just like home. But the question we do not ask enough is, “Does Anupama really have agency or is she just surviving better than before?” The initial episodes did portray her as a strong figure. When Anupama walked out on Vanraj Shah, it felt revolutionary. A woman choosing self-respect over a cheating husband; a woman choosing agency was indeed groundbreaking, at least on paper.
But then the script turned the steering wheel. It did not let her be. It lets her suffer, time and again like pain is the price she has to keep paying for choosing herself. That is where empowerment begins to blur because feminism is not just about a woman leaving a bad marriage but about what happens after she leaves. Does she get to be messy, angry or selfish sometimes? Or does she have to remain to be the perfect mother, the forgiving ex-wife, the moral compass of an entire household? Anupama unfortunately is not allowed to be human but only good. There is a difference. The show places her on a pedestal so high that she stops feeling real. She becomes an idea of sacrifice, resilience, and grace under pressure. Beautiful, yes but limiting because real women are not always perfect, they are human.
But Anupama is not allowed to. Even her independence feels supervised. Her world revolves around family approval, emotional labour and the need to constantly prove that her choices are not selfish. It is empowerment, but with disclaimers. “Be independent, but don’t forget your duties, find your voice, but don’t raise it too much, choose yourself, but make sure no one is too uncomfortable with that choice.” Safe, palpable, television-friendly empowerment. Perhaps that is the point, perhaps Anupama is not trying to be radically empowering. Perhaps it is gently nudging the audience that has been conditioned for decades to see women as self-sacrificing idols of the household. Let this be a beginning without confusing it with the destination. Let Anupama be a woman who finally spoke and has inspired women to speak up. But let us not be inspired to become a self-sacrificing figure.
