Mumbai, Oct 2 (IANS) Actress-politician Smriti Irani has looked back on the impact of her iconic television character Tulsi Virani from the iconinc show “Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi”, marking 25 years since the character first entered Indian living rooms.
She went on to credit producer Ekta Kapoor with putting women at the heart of prime-time television and changing the way stories were told on the small screen.
Smriti took to Instagram, where she re-shared a video highlighting research titled “The Power of TV: Cable Television and Women’s Status in India”, conducted by economists at Harvard University. The video explored how Ekta Kapoor’s television shows positively influenced women’s lives in rural India,including attitudes towards women’s autonomy and domestic violence.
Turning to the caption section, Smriti wrote: “Twenty-five years ago, Tulsi Virani walked into India’s living rooms. Neither of us knew how far she would travel. Behind her was another young woman breaking the mould — Ekta Kapoor, a young producer who trusted her instinct, put women at the heart of prime-time television and changed the grammar of Indian entertainment.”
Smriti then wrote about the “academic research of cable television in rural India.”
“Years later, academic research on the spread of cable television in rural India found that exposure to television was associated with changing attitudes towards women — including autonomy, education and domestic violence.”
“It reinforced something I have always believed: Stories don’t just reflect society. Sometimes, they quietly expand what society believes is possible. A character can question a boundary before someone finds the courage to question it in her own life. A young girl watching can discover a possibility she had never imagined for herself.”
She concluded: “ Today, many of the young women who watched Tulsi are raising daughters of their own. Perhaps that is the true measure of a story. The episode ends. The years pass. A generation grows up. But somewhere, the story continues.”
–IANS
dc/