Okay! So after having a long day of literally doing nothing, I sit back with my family and we all relax while watching our most beloved show on television, “Bhabhiji Ghar Par Hain!”.
Nothing surpasses the amount of laughter it brings to us, tickling every funny bone in our body. With its desi accent, creative dialogues and light double-meaning humour, it’s a recommended show for youth and adults who are bored from daily soap ‘saas-bahu’ dramas or the so-called reality shows. It’s a must watch serial.
So, all was going well until I saw this favorite show of mine tilting towards a political ground promoting a positive image of the party in power. It was a very normal episode when suddenly out of the context, the lead protagonist Manmohan Tiwari starts preaching the ‘holy trinity’ of the show – Teeka, Malkhaan, and Tillu about our one ‘supreme leader’ of the nation and his fight towards cleanliness. See, I am not against any leader or the good work they are doing. I respect them and appreciate their efforts but to bring politics into everything is not my cup of tea. Also, I am not biased towards any particular political party so I don’t want to be caught up in a political debate about where I stand.
My only concern is that infiltrating our funny television shows is NOT COOL. I am not proposing the idea to keep comedy and politics separately. In fact, the way our political environment is in real life, it’s the most comic thing of our lives. Just switch to any news channels and you’ll know what I am talking about. They are such a rib-tickling means of entertainment.
Now, as an informed citizen and aware individual on the political activities of our nation, I am sure that this instance is not a part of an experiment in creative content writing. I strongly believe that it was propaganda to advance a political ideology, garnering the mass support for one track ideology on the wide spectrum of political opinion. Maybe I am wrong altogether and such political gimmicks may seem normal to a layman. But I think in the time of elections, it’s a really clever way to bypass the model code of conduct set by Election Commission of India. Hats off to the people at the top for coming up with such an ingenious idea to reach the voter’s mind!
As I carefully observed the other shows, I found that on the same channel &TV, another show “Main Bhi Ardhangini” is carrying similar writings of political partisanship. We can see lead characters of the show boosting political schemes for no reason, without giving adherence to the storyline.
It is good to inform citizens about government welfare programmes but election season carries a lens of doubt with itself. And I think I am not wrong with this one. Anyone can see these shows and judge for themselves.
Therefore, seriously, do not play vote games in shows which are only ruled by impartial political ideology catering to the rule of humour and cheering people’s hearts. A normal citizen loves their country very much and I do too. But we can’t be wearing nationalism on our sleeves every time. It will only lead to political frustration and that will just make the things more messy and polarised in nature.
Hoping to see our television shows the way they are intended to watch. A light and happy time for families looking for a few touches of laughter on the character’s lives and not a mockery on their own lives.