.jpg&w=1920&q=75 "Is Balika Vadhu Coming Back? We’re Defs Not Ready To Watch Another Child Bride On TV")
Earlier this year, a UNICEF study projected that “10 million additional girls are at risk of child marriage due to COVID-19.” This is in addition to the 100 million figure projected by the organisation for the current decade. The numbers are inundating and India clearly needs intervention here. In 2008, Colors TV’s Balika Vadhu was introduced to create awareness about severe child marriage. However, it did little to nothing when it came to destigmatising the malpractice. In fact, on some level, it might have glamourised it a little. Then again, that is the problem with most shows on Colors TV, Barrister Babu being a part of the shit show.
Colors TV’s producers love picking heavy topics and sensitive issues. However, they seriously lack the skills to execute them as per the promise. More often than not, most of these shows end up promoting exactly what they pretend to stand against. This is exactly why the announcement of Balika Vadhu season 2 is making us apprehensive. Yesterday, the channel released the official trailer for the show. The trailer gives us a sneak peek into its storyline. Apparently, this time around Anandi’s marriage is already fixed while she is just a fetus.
Thankfully, looks like the channel’s followers have finally beginning to see through the activism facade and are done with their antics. Since the release of the new trailer, the netizens have been showing their displeasure. They have been calling out the channel for using kids for their “crap shows”, repeating the same old hackneyed plots, and always failing to hold up to the causes they pick. Here’s what they have to say:
The show is slated for an August release and has already been allocated the most coveted 8pm slot on the channel. We cannot forget the fact that Balika Vadhu remains one of the most successful Colors TV shows to date and that can very well be the motive behind reviving it right now. However, here’s the thing–with Balika Vadhu, the makers are failing to realise that the content is consumed by the impressionable Indian audience. Just picking up a cause is not enough. It is important that these conversations are treaded with utmost care and that has almost never happened in the channel’s history.
With an issue as sensitive as child marriage, we need to ensure that no wrong message is sent to the audience and that’s exactly why Balika Vadhu 2 might not exactly be something to rejoice about. We really don’t want a sensitive conversation to be manipulated in the lust for TRPs and the race for prime-time TV slots. Enough is enough!
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