The daily soaps have stereotyped the image of a “good Indian girl” — one who always wears Indian clothes, speaks fluent Hindi, cooks scrumptious food, carries a no make-up face and is shy to the core. I don’t remember watching a daily soap where the good girl was portrayed as an outspoken person whose clothes were immaterial to her character.
When the world is bent on breaking stereotypes, these shows have done nothing but junk the minds of middle class Indian society by making them believe that their daughters need to be hesitant enough to stand up for their rights and only a male hero or god can come to their rescue. The stereotyping does not end here, but it moves forward characterising an independent girl as one ruining the life of a pitiful, helpless poor girl.
All such portrayals are visible in one way or the other in fairy tales; thus it can be safely said that Indian daily soaps are not the initiators but followers of this theme.
Daily soaps romanticise the silence, tears and begging for help of a good girl as if that was the only good thing to do when trapped by a villain. The bad Indian girl, wearing a lot of make-up, high heels and short dress, is someone whose character is not only questionable but also incorrigible.
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