Archive for the ‘Devi’ Category
Devi – A slice of real life?
On January 30, 2010 in Channels, Child, Devi, Hindi Serial, NDTV Imagine, Poor, Power, Ruthless
NDTV Imagine’s Devi in its first few episodes has shown promise in terms of story and treatment. Like most serials of today, it is also set in rural India and talks about the lives of poor villagers who are held ransom to faith, bad weather, lack of opportunities and an evil Thakur (landlord). It has so far been a telling commentary on some of the ills affecting rural India. On the one hand it talks of superstition and old belief patterns and those who exploit the poor in the name of both. On the other hand it brings to the fore the status of women in India’s villages. It talks of the double bind that women find themselves in terms of caste/class and gender.
A baby girl is born to a poor family and the father is forced to abandon the child because of his limited means. Coincidentally the day of her birth sees rainfall in the village after three consecutive years of drought. The village priest convinces the superstitious and God-fearing villagers that the baby is a reincarnation of the Goddess. As more people are convinced of her divine status, a small group of people are out to make money. Her own father and uncle fall in this category and the two in fact end up fighting about who gets to keep the lion’s share of the income she has generated. The villagers throng to catch a glimpse of her as they are convinced that she will rid all the ills of their lives. They even turn in their hard-earned money as offering. Thus as she cries lustfully in the hot sun as she is hungry, the superstitious villagers turn a deaf ear to her wails and keep chanting “Jai Devi”. Their false notions of divinity and reincarnation help them to ignore her cries of hunger and overlook the fact that she is only a hapless little thing.
DEVI-A TOUCH OF DIVINITY IS ALWAYS GOOD FOR TRP
On January 21, 2010 in Child, Devi, Drama, Hindi Serial, NDTV Imagine, Poor, Society, TV
NDTV Imagine’s Devi, has got off to a promising start. Even though the rural poverty-stricken setting is similar to what is being depicted in a large number of other serials, the dramatisation and characterisation on view is totally different. The story begins with the birth of a girl child to poor farmer Ghasita and his wife Suhagi. The infant girl, a second girl child for her parents, is abandoned by her father who is unable to take proper care of his wife, sister and his first born. The thought of having to provide for another mouth is enough for Ghasita to take this drastic step. He abandons the child at the temple.
Call it coincidence or destiny, the birth of this baby girl ushers in the dark rain bearing clouds to this drought hit village. The eventual downpour convinces the local priest that the birth of this baby is auspicious for all – he in fact proclaims her to be a reincarnation of Mother Goddess. Her confused father brings her back home, uncertain as to what to do with a burden so precious. Ghasita’s elder brother Paltu, a wily and shrewd character, seizes this golden opportunity with both hands. On the sly he plants a snake in the house of the village money-lender and pretends that it is the wrath of the child-goddess that has befallen on him. The money lender scared out of his wits goes out of his way to please the angry Goddess. He pays the villagers their right price for their produce, a first in the history of the village. This sets off Paltu’s devious mind into motion.
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