TV shows for a cause

Naa Aana Iss Des Laado, a soap on female infanticide and domestic violence ties up with the Bell Bajao campaign to fight the cause better. More prime time dailies usher social change.

Naa Aana Iss Des Laado

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, the 10.30 pm soap on female infanticide and domestic violence on Colors, has tied up with the award-winning Bell Bajao campaign.

Ashwini Yardi, programming head, says, “Our intention was to send out the message, especially in smaller cities and villages, that turning a deaf ear to domestic violence doesn’t work.” Natasha Sharma, who plays the leading lady Sia, will be appointed the new

mukhiya

(chieftain) in Monday’s episode. “A daily soap doesn’t just entertain but can be an instrument of change too,” she says.

No discrimination

Pallavi Gupta, who plays the lead in

Bitto

on Sahara One, says that her grandmother who’s a staunch Brahmin had a separate glass and plate for their sweeper but stopped discriminating after watching her play a low caste girl in the show. A few months ago,

12/24 Karol Bagh

on Zee TV had a 20-day track on molestation. Many viewers wrote in with their own stories. “Our Facebook page is full, many bloggers talk about family embarrassment,” sighs Sharma.

Another Zee show,

Yahan Main Ghar Ghar Kheli

, is addressing the issue of domestic violence. A year ago, the Imagine daily,

Jyoti,

had focused on the same issue. Lead actress Sneha Wagh is a real life victim herself. She asserts, “I hate recalling the past but now I know that keeping silent is as much a crime.”