I was amused to hear my grandmother say after watching a serial: “They should not let her go unpunished. She should be shot.” The extent to which television serials have captured the interest of women, mostly home-makers, is shocking.
Susanna K. Jose,
Vellore
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I am one of the unfortunate captive viewers of television soaps which travel from infancy to the grave, and then rise like the Phoenix. I admire the ingenuity of the story-tellers who can go on and on, with twists and turns.
But they seem to escape the wrath of feminists who have enough grist to crack down on the depravity a woman is subjected to.
J.V. Reddy,
Nellore
***
It is wrong to blame the makers of television serials for all the ills. They are business people, not philanthropists. They sell what is in demand. Despite all the criticism about the portrayal of women in soap operas, the fact remains that they are a huge success. This proves that the tele-serials show what people, especially women, want to see.
A simple story without any masala does not thrill the audience. Doordarshan serials, which are largely progressive and do not denigrate women, are good but they fail to attract people. Even those who criticise soap operas cannot resist watching them till the last episode.
G.H. Mallikarjun,
Gulbarga
