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Do you remember this old Doordarshan serial Kashish? A lazy browse on YouTube led me to this vintage gem of a TV show which left me with some unanswered questions.
Do you remember this old Doordarshan serial Kashish? A lazy browse on YouTube led me to this vintage gem of a TV show which left me with some unanswered questions. Read on.
It’s strange when you have so many choices staring at you, there’s nothing that holds your interest anymore. The paradox of choice has come into play with my current TV viewing behaviour. The more choices you have, the more the content gets scattered and diluted in its essence.
Growing on a diet of original content-rich old Doordarshan serials in my childhood, it’s not a surprise that most of them can still hold my attention from start to finish even today.
Some of my favourite serials from that bygone era are Mr. Yogi, Tehkikaat, Byomkesh Bakshi, Udaan, Mungerilal Ke Haseen Sapne, Potli Baba Ki Kahani, Tandoori Nights, Celeste, Oshin, Dekh Bhai Dekh, Mind Your Language, and more.
Recently, while browsing through YouTube, I found one such lost love. Kashish featuring Sudesh Berry and Malvika Tiwari.
This serial is so deeply engraved in my memory that I still remember the female protagonist’s name, ‘Mona’ distinctly, the light pink cotton saree that she wears for her audition, her first encounter with Rahul, the male protagonist, in the elevator. I sat through the eight episodes with no break in-between.
While it was a satisfying watch, the end left me wanting so much more. The show’s called Kashish, and the focal point of the story was the attraction phase only. Another way of looking at it!
The characters are well-etched. I loved how feisty Mona was, despite her dainty exterior. I had a massive crush on Sudesh Berry back then, and it’s not changed watching him again after many years in this memorable role.
There’s another adorable parallel love-story, stitching in the backdrop – Priya and Dr. Merchant. Their relationship dynamics are entirely different from Mona and Rahul’s, which makes it interesting to watch. There’s also the statuesque Kalpana Iyer, who steals the show as Rahul’s mother.
Interestingly, there are no antagonists in this love-story, typical of love stories in the past. The only character who’s battling with his inner demons is Rahul, and Mona comes as his sweet reality check. There’s an ego-tussle that adds to the simmering tension between the two.
Kashish is a clean love-story, which doesn’t resort to gimmicks of sex, and yet the intimate chemistry of the lead pair scorches through stolen glances, unspoken words, and resigned sighs.
Compare Rahul Anand with Kabir Singh, modern-day romantic hero, and you are rudely awoken to the fallen standards in the romance genre.
Kashish was a class apart, a timeless romance. Despite his towering ego, occasional bouts of the foot-in-the-mouth syndrome, and paranoia, Rahul has an endearing earnestness, humility, and integrity as he stays faithful to Mona, even in the trying times of their romance.
Kabir Singh, on the other hand, goes around sleeping with anything prancing around in a skirt, in Priti’s absence, and yet freaks over Priti’s virginity. Double standards! Kabir Singh, the character, is a ‘horror of horrors’, and women can date and marry him at their own risk.
The female characters in Kashish display clarity and courage to confront their male counterparts directly and take on them. Women like Mona, Priya, and Mrs. Anand represent the modern-day Indian woman. And they shot this serial in the early 90s.
There’s one scene which I liked in particular when Mona goes to collect her pay cheque, and Rahul slut-shames her due to his paranoid assumptions of her having a romantic affair. She refuses to take her salary, and tells Rahul, her boss, to keep her salary, and buy some humanity for himself with it. These are the kind of women protagonists I miss seeing on screen in mainstream media, who call a spade for what it is, and can stand up for herself.
Watch Kashish for a nice, cozy cover of romance in the wintry months. In the meanwhile, any leads on the below questions? When did our filmmakers completely lose the plot and ‘it’? When did the birds and bees stop humming? Do you watch old Doordarshan serials online as well? Which ones would you recommend?
First published here.
Author, poet, and marketer, know more about Tina Sequeira here: www.thetinaedit.com read more...
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Neena was the sole caregiver of Amma and though one would think that Amma was dependent on her, Neena felt otherwise.
Neena inhaled the aroma that emanated from the pan and took a deep breath. The aroma of cumin interspersed with butter transported her back to the modest kitchen in her native village. She could picture her father standing in the kitchen wearing his white crisp kurta as he made delectable concoctions for his only daughter.
Neena grew up in a home where both her parents worked together in tandem to keep the house up and running. She had a blissful childhood in her modest two-room house. The house was small but every nook and cranny gave her memories of a lifetime. Neena’s young heart imagined that her life would follow the same cheerful course. But how wrong she was!
When she was sixteen, the catastrophic clutches of destiny snatched away her parents. They passed away in a road accident and Neena was devastated. Relatives thronged her now gloomy house and soon it was decided that she should be married off.
Women today don’t want to be in a partnership that complicates their lives further. They need an equal partner with whom they can figure out life as a team, playing by each other’s strengths.
We all are familiar with that one annoying aunty who is more interested in our marital status than in the dessert counter at a wedding. But these aunties have somehow become obsolete now. Now they are replaced by men we have in our lives. Friends, family, and even work colleagues. It’s the men who are worried about why we are not saying yes to one among their clans. What is wrong with us? Aren’t we scared of dying alone? Like them?
A recent interaction with a guy friend of mine turned sour when he lectured me about how I would regret not getting married at the right time. He lectured that every event in our lives needs to be completed within a certain timeframe set by society else we are doomed. I wasn’t angry. I was just disappointed to realize that annoying aunties are rapidly doubling in our society. And they don’t just appear at weddings or family functions anymore. They are everywhere. They are the real pandemic.
Let’s examine this a little closer.
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