It is 2020. Really? Well, when you turn on your TV, it might not feel like you are living in 2020. Why? Because from Pinjara Khubsurti Ka to Naagin, there hardly exists a TV show in India that is not problematic. One would hope that now that these shows and their stock problems have been called out so many times, the Indian television industry will mend its ways. But lol, who are we kidding!
Well, in fact, we have news for you: things just got worse for we have a new problematic show in town now. Titled Namak Issk Ka, this new show revolves around the life of Chamcham, a nautch girl from Bihar or a ‘nachaniya’ as she is continuously addressed in the show. In the show, Chamcham is shown to be dancing on the streets of Bihar at various events as rowdy men gather around, ogle at her, and make lewd propositions. However, apart from her profession, she is shown to be a simple girl who dances just to make the ends meet.
In the show, her future love interest, Jug is shown to be a rich heir, who for the moment hates her. Why you might ask? Because she is a dancer. But wait, the man has no claims on her whatsoever to act like the egomaniac that he is currently behaving like. In fact, he doesn’t even know her name. All he knows is that she is a dancer and thus, deems it okay to throw her precious ring in fire because according to him it has been sullied by her touch. Again, he has no claims over the girl or the ring here.
The show just started airing on Colors TV and all this while, the promotional videos have been equally problematic as well. Through the show’s teasers, the makers have been continuously projecting how the tag of a ‘nachaniya‘ is almost akin to a curse and that respectable people wouldn’t want a nachaniya to be a part of their family.
I mean we are literally living in a time when there are reality shows based on the art form. Just the fact that we have to prove that dancing is an art form and not something derogatory is part of the problem. And while the makers might make you feel like they are pro-dancing, the content of the show constantly suggests otherwise.
Of course, the overall messaging and packaging of the show is regressive AF and it looks like that desi Twitter has had enough. Indian Twitterati is now calling out the show for its problematic messaging and for dehumanising dancers. Here’s what they have to say:
The most ironic part of the narrative here is that Colors TV is the same channel that has been bringing accomplished dancers like Nora Fatehi and Sapna Choudhary to Bigg Boss and regarding them as celebrities. To do this on one hand and then forgetting all of that in no time for the purposes of a regressive show is just too much. Seriously, guys how do you go to your beds at night while knowing that you are selling your very souls for the purposes of TRP?
Featured Image: Instagram
