Shame, Shame, Shame! Kasautii Zindagii Kay Delivers The Most Sexist Episode Of This Season

Kasautii Zindagii Kay 2 has gained massive popularity over the last two months. However, the last few episodes of the show have been nothing but disappointing, especially the much talked about faceoff between Prerna and Komolika, which was supposed to be a turning point in the show. Written by Anil Nagpal, and created under Ekta Kapoor’s production house, Balaji Telefilms, Kasautii Zindagii Kay went from being mildly annoying to misogynist, sexist and downright backward.

Read about all the other ridiculous incidents that took place on this show here.

To give you a gist of what is going on, Prerna’s sister Shivani tried to commit suicide after her boyfriend dumped her and she realised she was pregnant. Later, we found out that Shivani’s ex-boyfriend is actually Komolika’s brother, who genuinely loved her, but had to leave her due to the difference between their family’s statuses. That’s not all. Prerna, in a fit of rage, rushed to the police station along with the chivalrous Anurag Basu to file an FIR against Komolika’s brother for raping her sister. Yes, rape. Because consensual sex can be rape in an Ekta Kapoor TV show. Outrageous. 

Read my thoughts on Komolika’s entry here.

Here are the thoughts I had while watching the most backward episode of Kasautii Zindagii Kay, with a few dialogues from the show for context. 

1. Let’s get this clear, Komolika’s brother is in jail and she looks like she’s attending a wedding? Who puts on a full face of make-up, accessories, all the while their brother has been accused of rape? 

2. Who wrote this speech? ‘Tum candle jala do candle march ke liye, it’s very in nowadays,’ Komolika’s exact words! I’m not sure if she is insulting the various candle marches that take place for justice in the country or insulting women in general.

3. I am so confused right now. They just jumped from heartbreak and frustration to ‘chootey log‘ and social status issues. And just to make things clear, they aren’t coming to a conclusion about anything at all. 

4. Why does it feel like Komolika and Prerna were given two completely different scripts? Because they are not getting to the point and their sentences are not in response to each other. 

5. “Maine galat kiya, maa. Mujhe maaf kardo,” this is what Prerna’s sister has to say, profusely crying, almost committing suicide, after having consensual sex with her boyfriend and getting pregnant. Can we please spot the issue with this slut-shaming episode? 

6. The mom’s response? “Tum shayad uss ladke ko bahut pyaar karti thi. Iss liye tumne woh sab uske liye kiya jo tumhe nahi karna chahiye tha.” Because sex for pleasure is a myth and you only sleep with your husband to procreate.

7. The mother isn’t abandoning her daughter, but her concept of love and sex is all wrong. 

Source: Instagram

8. Is there no one on this show who actually understands that sex isn’t a sin? While Komolika casually throws around the term “laaja ka dupatta” and calls Shivani characterless, Prerna thinks consensual sex is rape if the guy leaves you after.

9. There is so much yelling between these two, I’m in half a mind to turn this off.

10. Now Komolika promises to ruin Prerna’s sister’s life. Do people actually behave like this? Komolika legit walked into Prerna’s house and began yelling about her sister being a slut. Excuse me, what about your brother? Wasn’t he a part of this? 

11. “Main sazaa dilane main nahi, sazaa dene main believe karti hoon,” I want to meet the person who wrote Komolika’s outrageous dialogues. He should write the script for Race 4.

12. “Tumhari characterless behen?” Now I’m just quoting dialogues because I can’t believe how these people are handling the situation. I can’t believe this is being aired on the national television to shame girls around the country for having sex. 

13. Now, Komolika is accusing Prerna’s mom of being the mastermind of this entire fiasco. Which was, in fact, created by Komolika herself.

14. Anil Nagpal, we need to have a talk about what is okay to show on television, in a country of over a billion people. Especially something this backward, which can have a negative impact on how people perceive sex and women who enjoy it. We are fighting so hard for women’s rights and freedom, and there you go shaming women at your whim. 

15. Komolika insulting Shivani with, “Mere ghar ke servants bhi tumse zyada khoobsoorat hain.” Classist, stereotypical and just downright terrible. I’ll be mailing the writer a dictionary because judging by the dialogues of this show, Anil clearly doesn’t know what these words mean. 

17. Let’s not even get me started on Anurag and how he can’t say no to girls who fall over him. Mr. Basu, consent matters to both genders. If your ex-girlfriend (Komolika’s sister, long story) is making you uncomfortable, call her out! No means NO. 

P. S. I’m so glad the episode is over and I can turn off this sexist rant that Ekta Kapoor blessed us with this week. 

In a day and age where we are trying to de-stigmatise sex, episodes like this take us back a decade. Virginity is a social construct, created by a patriarchal society to add to the idea that women are supposed to remain ‘pure’ and ‘untouched’ until they are married, which is what this episode implied on several occasions. However, casual consensual sex isn’t a sin, women can have sex for pleasure, just as men do. Feminism goes both ways, which is why, Komolika’s brother being sent to jail under the charges of rape hurt me as well. False cases of rape cause people to question the ones that are true, delaying justice, so a popular show (or any for that matter) shouldn’t be using it as a tool and diluting the crime. All in all, this massively flawed episode has restored my faith in bad Indian TV serials.

Switching off for good!

Read more about Kasautii Zindagii Kay’s outrageous storyline here.

Watch it here and see for yourself.

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