Shweta Tiwari’s Mere Dad Ki Dulhan to Avika Gor's Balika Vadhu: A look at progressive shows on TV

These TV shows portrayed women characters with an independent mind, dreams of their own and fight societal norms to achieve what they want in life. On the occasion of International Women’s Day, here are a few TV shows in recent times which portrayed woman characters with progressive content.

Shweta Tiwari plays the role of a 40-year-old in Mere Dad Ki Dulhan. She is paired opposite Varun Badola, whose character is also in his 40s. It is a fresh story which focuses on a middle-age couple in search of love. Shweta’s character is unmarried, independent, strong-headed and also funny. The show is quite progressive in terms of concept and character portrayal.

This show ran for six years and Divyanka Tripathi played the role of a dentist, strong daughter, mother, mother-in-law, wife in Yeh Hai Mohabbatein. Unable to bear a child, she falls in love with someone else’ daughter and eventually marries the kid’s father. Yeh Hai Mohabbatein has been a progressive show where Divyanka’s character broke societal norms.

A spin-off to Yeh Hai Chahatein, Sargun’s character Dr. Preesha Srinivasan adopts her sister’s son after her death. It premiered last year in December and has progressive content. Ekta introduced the show saying, “Yeh Hai Chahatein deals with another social issue. It’s often said that it’s easier for men with children to get married again, but very tough for a woman with a child to find a suitable groom.”

Deepika Singh’s Diya Aur Baati Hum focused on the struggles of a woman, who pursues her dream of becoming an IPS officer for her father. Supported by her husband Sooraj (Anas Rashid), IPS Sandhya Rathi perfectly balanced her personal and professional life in the show. Diya Aur Baati Hum portrayed women facing several societal pressures and showed how to deal with them.

One of the longest running shows on TV, Balika Vadhu was a game changer in terms of content. It revolved around the life of a child bride from childhood to womanhood. Young Anandi’s journey to becoming a woman has been quite impressive and progressive. After her husband divorces her, she carves her own identity out in the world — starting an NGO to educate girls and fighting against child marriage.

The show revolved around the bond shared between a single mother Babita (played by Paridhi Sharma) and her daughter Mini (Ashnoor Kaur). In this story, it is the daughter who gives her mother wings to fly, be independent and be self-reliant. Giving her mother all the freedom, often situations like facing society arises, establishing their own business. Whether it is getting divorced or getting married the second time, Patiala Babes showed a strong bond between a mother and daughter.

In one of its kind show in TV, Kavita Kaushik played the role of a Haryanvi female cop. It was a sitcom and for Indian TV having a female cop as its lead character with a flair for comedy was quite progressive. Kavita’s role was much appreciated and applauded as well.

For the first time a show featured on the ladies, who travelled in the Ladies coaches in Mumbai local trains. The show focused on their life anecdotes, challenges faced by women in big cities and how they sometimes find hope, encouragement and companionship in the most unlikely places.

Finite show Tamanna depicted the life of a female cricketer, Dharaa (essayed by Anuja Sathe). The story revolved around a woman who wants to become a cricketer and the sacrifices she has to make in order to achieve her dream.

Everest was another finite TV series which focused on a woman’s expedition to climb Mount Everest. Anjali Singh Rawat (Shamata Anchan), who feels neglected by her father, wishes to win his love by fulfilling his dream of climbing Everest.