It is not long in the history when romantic tv shows in Indian television inspired themselves with the popular Mills and Boons fiction and molded their male leads to be somewhat a replica of heroes from that romantic fiction. As a result, there still is a popular trend going around of gray-shaded heroes in the Indian tv shows which have certain specific characteristics drawn from Mills and Boons novels. Plus, these characters are molded aptly with the age-long features of what public desires in a typical desi hero. The mix that came out became a tremendous hit as fans (especially female fans) go frenzy over the male leads who are a perfect blend of gray quotients with stereotypical desi heroism.
However, when it comes to female leads in the shows, preference remained stagnant to the typical ideal woman conceptualized almost as a divine fairy or angel until recent times. Up recently, a few show makers have endeavored to break this stereotype and have experimented on modeling their female leads into gray characters that are not perfectly white like the heroines in the past used to be. This is quite a dynamic development in Indian television history which has always been ruled out with women-centric content on display. Unlike in the past, where there was a clear distinction between female protagonists (the heroines) and antagonists (the vamps), these gray characters now bring more intrigue and realism in the story. We can now say that the change has been initiated and it’s up to the audiences to welcome it their way.
Here, in this edition of Tellyexpress, we have brought to you top three successful tv shows of this generation that highlight gray characters as their female leads in their story:
1) Naagins in Naagin Series: Balaji Telefilms is leading the industry for several years now. They are successful in delivering one hit after another and adapt extremely well to the concurrent demands and expectations from viewers. Keeping aside the Saas-Bahu drama as the main theme of the show, they put their best foot forward in this supernatural story of vengeance and passion in Naagin which became a sensational show overnight. The characters of several Naagins in the series such as Shivanya (Mouni Roy), Bela (Surbhi Jyoti), Sheesha (Adaa Khan) and Vishakha (Anita Hassnandini) have gray shades bordered in their characters. Especially, Sheesha and Vishakha’s gray shades spiced up the story superbly well and audiences loved these lead characters into shades that are not either perfectly white or black.
2) Nandini in Silsila Badalte Rishton Ka: Sphere Origins’ show ‘Silsilta Badalte Rishton Ka’ that recently took a generation leap moving forward with a second season, also focused on iconizing the female lead into more of gray shade. The character of Nandini, a pitiful victim of domestic violence was almost as morally great as stereotypical TV heroines would be, except for the fact that she ended up stealing her best friend’s husband on not so ethical grounds. The character was written and developed beautifully and Dharsti Dhami did perfect justice to the role. The gray shade was what made the character look realistic and audiences loved to hate that part means it was successful in its objective.
3) Jhanvi in Ek Bhram Sarvagun Sampanna: Brought to Star Plus by Sunny Side Up Films, this show adds the newest edition in the list of gray-shaded female leads in Indian television. Actress Shrenu Parekh has performed this role absolutely delightfully which adds more intrigue to the character development of Jhanvi. Jhanvi is the perfect ideal daughter-in-law at the surface whereas she hides her ulterior motive of vengeance and revenge beneath her façade. She is not the vamp, but she is not the usual heroine either. If anything, she is the hero of the story and her gray shade is the central idea that builds the entire storyline as it is.
