For several years now, sitcoms have provided the Indian audience with various values and norms to follow, from traditional to progressive ones, resulting in a platform fostering the intersections of deviance and cultural reinforcement. India's societal expectations and roles assigned to women are reflected on the screen as the sacrificing mother and the 'saanskari' wife, which raises important questions around why representation matters, and what are its real-world consequences.
As per Stuart Hall, representation allows a community to see themselves and others as substantial identities. Visibility in public spaces like the media validates experiences and attests to identities. Authentic representations of a particular race or gender with an inspiring role can empower those in the group to achieve similar levels, fostering a sense of belonging. On the other hand, misrepresentation or a lack of it may lead to perceptions of inferiority and invisibility, respectively. Representations thus become powerful as they shed light on the voices of the marginalised, critique power structures, and redefine norms relatively easily.
This dynamic also plays out on the early 2000s sitcom, Sarabhai v/s Sarabhai. Hall’s negotiated and recognised identities reveal themselves in the sharply contrasted characters of Maya and Monisha, which, at closer inspection, offer insight into the layered experiences of gender and relationships. It is impossible to separate class and gender in this show, as its primary focus is to use humour to critique class dynamics, one of the first sitcoms to do so for the Indian audience. Here, humor also takes an additional step to reflect real gender tensions and contradictions.
Marked by her unapologetically miserly behaviour, Monisha is portrayed as the typical middle-class wife. The sitcom often displays Monisha as a strong figure who stands by her choices and holds agency and control over her household decisions. This was a breath of fresh air compared to the soap operas like Saath Nibhaana Saathiya, aired simultaneously, which represented daughters-in-law as fragile individuals.
Her resilience in sticking to her values brings out classist remarks from her mother-in-law, Maya. Maya criticises her cooking skills by calling it 'middle class', but Monisha retaliates by suggesting that her husband, Sahil, loves it. However, her exaggerated role as the ‘bargain-hunting-cheapskate’ reduces her independent and outspoken identity to a middle-class caricature, revealing the show's ambivalent portrayal of women. The other characters fail to recognise her values of practicality and, for lack of better words, economic living. For example, in episode 25, when Sahil and Monisha want to step out for dinner, she suggests a cheaper 'thali' option. This stands as a practical choice which her husband fails to recognise.
Maya, the mother-in-law, is synonymous with ideas of elegance and strength. This perception contrasts with the image of the 'ideal' traditional woman of India, who is seen in a submissive role. Maya, the matriarchal figure in the Sarabhai household, makes most decisions about the other characters' positions/actions. Her sophistication and savviness complement such dominance. She also highlights that she does not want to be a typical traditional mother, as seen in her progressive takes on parenting. She supports her younger son, Rosesh's failing poetry career because it is his passion, which is untypical of Indian mothers, especially with their sons, who are expected to have more 'masculine' jobs.
The show uses her as a symbol of a classic upper-class woman to critique high culture. For example, in an episode when Maya is at a cocktail party, Monisha points out her 'copying' behaviour. Maya's signature dialogue, "That's so middle class", further reinforces the idea of a superficial high-class culture. Thus, her character displays the duality of the complexities of privilege, concluding that she is flawed and empowered.
To conclude, the characters of Sarabhai v/s Sarabhai reflect a dual perspective on the portrayal of women. On one hand, women are shown to be unapologetically themselves, with Maya being in control and Monisha standing up for herself. On the other hand, the show fails to portray professional aspirations, lacking financial independence. Furthermore, the stereotypes of Monisha are overdone, which reduces their identities to a single-dimensional character, not accounting for the complexities in women's lives. The representation of women in such Indian sitcoms is a mixture of traditional and progressive ideals. It opens doors to the multiple female identities women in India conform to, providing a broad picture of womanhood. Hopefully, in the coming years, such sitcoms are able to dispel the overdone exaggeration to provide more authentic and empowering representations that are grounded in reality.
Ishani Kadu
