They spoke their mind, exercised agency and took on regressive systems fearlessly

On International Women’s Day, we highlight a few powerful protagonists who stood their ground, spoke their minds and changed gender dynamics for the better. Regressive shows with toxic gender politics were not always dominating Indian television. Over the decades, many powerful female characters on the small screen have demonstrated courage as well as agency. 

Main Kuch Bhi Kar Sakti Hoon (MKBKSH) – I, A Woman Can Achieve Anything

Launched in 2014 by Population Foundation of India, MKBKSH, was more than just a TV show—it was edutainment initiative designed to promote gender equality, women’s empowerment, and positive health-seeking behaviors. At the heart of its compelling transmedia format spanning television, radio, the internet, IVRS and mobile platforms, was Dr Sneha Mathur. As an idealistic doctor and change maker in Pratap Pur, a fictional place in rural India, Dr Sneha was the purveyor of critically needed information. She tackled deeply entrenched social taboos, encouraging conversations around early marriage, reproductive health, domestic violence, sex education, and family planning.. Created by noted film and theatre director and producer Feroz Abbas Khan, the show stuck a chord with different demographics, especially women and youth. Such was the impact of Dr Sneha’s messaging that an estimated 58 million viewers watched Season 1 on DD National. The viewers comprised 52% women and 48% men. The show also went on to enjoy a cumulative viewership of over 150 million.

Udaan

In 1989, this revolutionary show about an IPS aspirant with fire in her belly laid the ground for shows like ‘Dahaad,’ ‘Delhi Crime’ and many subsequent films about women in uniform.  Leading the narrative was Kalyani Singh, a fiery character modelled on writer, director and actor Kavita Chaudhary’s sister Kanchan Choudhary Bhattacharya who defied great odds to rise to the ranks of Director General of Police. Kavita drew from her own experiences to essay Kalyani, a young girl who decides to change the system when her father’s small piece of land is taken away forcibly and he is slapped with multiple court cases. Kalyani becomes an IPS officer but then she has to negotiate with gender politics, corruption and under-resourced policing systems in rural India. The show also touched upon issues like dowry deaths, poverty and food insecurity in villages and conveyed just how important it was to educate and empower the girl child.

Hum Log

Conceived as a show packed with edutainment, India’s first soap opera ‘Hum Log’ was telecast in July 1984 on Doordarshan and set the bar immensely high for subsequent shows dealing with gender questions. It showed how patriarchy creates dysfunction within families and oppresses women. Ironically, one of the meekest female characters in the show ‘Badki’ or Gunwanti (played by Seema Pahwa) embraces fearless feminism after she has been paraded multiple times before prospective grooms and mocked for her ordinary looks. She joins an NGO, falls in love, marries on her own terms and starts a micro business to empower women. Needless to say, in the eighties, this portrayal of a progressive woman was truly radical. Written by Manohar Shyam Joshi and directed by P. Kumar Vasudev, the show has since been copied but not matched.

Trishna

In 1985, Doordarshan gave us our very own Elizabeth Bennet via ‘Trishna’, a 13-episode show based on Jane Austen’s 1813 classic ‘Pride and Prejudice’. Set in a middle-class home, it focuses on the personal journey of the protagonist Rekha (Sangeeta Handa) who is repelled by conventional ideas about love and marriage, turns down not only an opportunistic, status-obsessed suitor but also an eligible, aristocratic man (Tarun Dhanrajgir) who has inadvertently hurt her self-respect. The screenplay was written by Kamna Chandra, film critic Anupama Chopra’s mother and the series became a huge hit because it gave us an unapologetic heroine who took her decisions with remarkable self-assurance and clarity.

Rajani

In 1985, this Basu Chatterjee directorial gave us the first example of a citizen activist. Rajani played by Priya Tendulkar is a firebrand homemaker who questions lapses in basic amenities, the sorry state of public utilities, corruption in government offices and unprofessional service providers. The show was a far cry from the current crop of dramas where overdressed homemakers squabble over domestic issues. Without being preachy, the show demonstrated how even an ordinary citizen can achieve extraordinary results by taking on a system that does not live up to its promises.