‘Shubham’ Movie: A tale of Daily Soaps seen through Generations

The movie opens with an old woman on her deathbed, taking her last breaths in silence. She is surrounded by family and neighbors. The scene is very tense, but then the clock hits 9 and the bedridden woman points towards the Television. The daughter in law immediately understands and turns on the serial, ignoring her husband’s protests.

We see that it is supposed to be the reunion episode of the protagonists today, but the hero meets a dead end and can’t find her, again. The old woman stood up on her two legs, and starts to swear on the serial. She is back to life, in rage.

Cut to portrayal of how women are treated in households. Neglect and Apathy, all day. Like the husband doesn’t get up to even wash his hand. Not asked for her choice of food, in the routine of everyday cooking. When the wife complains of a broken Mixer, he tells her that her hands are still working fine, to grind. And, the woman is reliant on the husband for all her financial needs, and to fulfil even basic aspirations.

The Protagonist

The film is set in early 2000s Telangana. Here, Srinivas is a cable TV operator. He also runs his own show on the cable, asking in-depth questions about movies, which could only be answered with keen observation. We are also shown that Dish TV is now introduced in the village, competing Sri’s business.

Srinu soon meets Srivalli in a marriage proposal. His mom questions her demeanor and the effort she took to get ready for the meeting. Srivalli is an MBA, and works in a bank.

‘If you want, you can let her work. It’s your choice’, states Srivalli’s Father.

Srinu likes her as they had interesting conversations about how to build a home, literally on topics like Flooring and Water Tanks. But, the most mesmerizing part to him was her telling him not to worry about the loan he had taken, as they will pay it off together.

Srinu convinces her mother for marriage who wasn’t impressed by Srivalli’s etiquettes. Srinu’s mother objection was, ‘Girls don’t lift their heads up and show respect to the elders in meetings of a wedding alliance. She came late, and sat like a Queen in command.’

The Alpha Male

Realizing Srinu is turning into a Romantic, his friends interfere with his dreams of an ideal marriage. They explain to him the concept of an ‘Alpha man’. And, both get competitive over who is a bigger alpha, by how they carry their demeanor with their wives.

For example, they ask him how will he talk to his wife when he returns home from work.

‘If you are not doing anything, can you get me a coffee? Or I’ll can make it myself. Do you want biscuits with it?’, Srinu responds.

Both his friends laugh, and one of his friends say, ‘I just say the word ‘coffee’’.

‘I only put my fingers up.’, the other one responds.

They then explain to him that the knowledge they are going to give him is not present in any book. It has rather been inherited from our Great Grandfathers. It passes through generations. You see, there are normal males, then there is an Alpha male. Top brand. We are the Alpha. Very dominating towards their partner. Like whatever I say, happens in my house. There is no fear in him. And, he takes no help from anyone, especially from his wife. All emotions should be kept to himself. Scared, shy, sorry, whatever.

They tell him that Love is only good for 2-3 weeks. If you’ll not be like this, she will find an Alpha male in the neighborhood. We do love our wives but, this is really how to behave in a marraige.

This scene reminds us of the notions that are set, of sexist roles in a marriage. Men don’t do romance. Men don’t get hurt. Men shouldn’t express. Men are always superior. And, they should keep their power held upright in this Man’s world.

The Wedding Night

The wedding day finally arrives, and we see the bride getting ready with the help of Srinu’s friend’s wife. The bride praises her makeup skills. And, gets to know that she learned about fashion, makeup, and hairstyles solely from tv serials.

‘I want to start my own Parlour.’, she states.

‘I can help you with loan.’, Srivalli responds.

‘If it isn’t greed, what’s the point of both husband and wife to earn.’, the other woman interrupts them.

‘Don’t give all money to your husband. Save something for yourself.’, she murmurs to Srivalli before leaving.

On her wedding night, Srivalli is relaxed and comfortable. But, Srinu is awkward and starts to act all rough and tough, as told by his friends earlier. He explains to his wife, how much weight his words have in his house, and how his anger scares off people. In the middle of his Tommyrot, the clock hits 9. Srivalli, almost hypnotized turns on the serial and gets seated on the floor to watch it. Srinu is confused and calls her from behind, but gets no response.

This scene indicates the cycle of unfulfilled expectations in a wedded house, and searching for an escape, starts for the women. No matter what personality a woman carries, she is always the one to be subjugated in the marriage. This picture even becomes clearer as she laughs over the thought of people being so obsessed with such serials, the next morning. This really shows the beginning of her unsatisfaction in the household, with the sudden changes occurring in her life.

The Serial Watcher’s Epidemic

There is barely a courting period, as every conversation we see between the couple is uncomfortable and incomplete. In which most of the time Srivalli is interrupted or dismissed when she tries to have a honest conversation.

‘I have an idea about the cable tv. The 6 AM show should be shifted to 7.’

‘I’ll handle that. You sing me a song.’

And, snap!! She starts watching the serial again, as the clock hits 9 the next moment.

‘I’m your husband you’ll have to listen to me. Stop watching the serial.’, Srinu says in frustration.

He finally plugs off the tv. Srivalli drags the bed her in anger shouting at him, which scares Srinu off.

On interacting with his friends, Srinu realizes this phenomena is widespread in the households of the town. The husbands understand their wives entanglement with the tv show during the half an hour duration, and the violence that can occur if they are stopped. The husbands have also started to get very aware of their actions around their women. Now, they have started to behave all day, every day. Like spending time, listening to their wives, appreciating their cooking. Thinking about not to trigger them, or hurt them in some way. It is the whole town that is affected by it. But no man talks about it, out of embarresment.

Srinu and his friends are fed up of this serial obsession and go to meet the spiritual healer, Maya Sri. They get to know it’s their grandmothers possessing their wives, as their wishes are unfulfilled. They swear at the serials, and still watch it everyday. Never satisfied. The reason was that the makers weren’t giving a climax to the serial for years. And, every time they did announce one, they found a way around it by introducing a new plotline. Like memory loss, accidents, death, etc.

The serial the women are obsessed with is ‘Janm Janmala Bandhan’, which loosely translates to ‘Bond through several lives’. The male lead here has a problem with his wife’s job. And, keeps torturing her in all possible ways until she leaves home completely. He understands his mistake and wants to repent, so goes to search for her. But when he finds her, he looses his memory and ends up in a hospital. Now, Sita will try to bring her memory back. Again going through all that torture and domestic violence.

He beats his wife. Sells her pet dog. Because, there was already a ‘bitch’ in the house. Burns here hand with boiling coffee. He locks her inside the room, and threatens to kill her, because she bought a washing machine from her own money. Tries to kill her through gas explosion, when he is fed up of seeing her around everyday.

When confronted on a live interview about this behavior, the lead Actor says that the TRP goes high with the torture.

But, women watching the serial all around still have to route for their reunion, and a peaceful marriage. Because, no matter how bad a husband is, you know you do not have another choice realistically rather than just trying and trying.

What Women Want

When serial gets a reboot again, the men decide to make their own serial, and telecast it, according to what could satisfy the women/ their grandmothers. And, end it quickly and accordingly. They hire actors and camera crew and it is aired on Srinu’s cable at 9.

For the climax episode, the men decide for Sita to quit her job. As that is the problem of her husband and they will finally have peace. A stay at home mother will be a happy ending.

‘But she likes to work.’, Srinu says.

‘Are you insulting homemakers. What’s the problem. When woman does house work, everybody respects her.’, his friend responds.

The women though, unexpectedly get very disappointed watching the climax.

The man who suggested this climax murmurs at his wife, who was going crazy over the climax, ‘Did you work, did your mother work. Did your grandmother work. What is wrong with this ending!!’

‘Now she will have to beg to her husband for even 5-10 ruppees.’

‘Instead of taking care of her, you made her quit.’, the grandmother’s shout.

They even self harm in frustration that night.

Seeing the extent of this madness, and the clear signs on their wives bodies, the men finally come clean to their wives about the fake serial. And, the wives couldn’t get their heads around why they can’t just sit and discuss all difficulties they face. The Men realize that the gist of the problem was that, ‘Men’ were deciding what women wanted. So, now they urge their wives to decide on the climax together. The wives write the dialogues supposing that what they want, Sita must want too.

The Climax is finally shot and aired on the Cable. The leads keep apart their differences and admit their love for each other.

‘Forgive me Sita. I was never a good husband. I will be the way you want me to.’, Raja admits.

‘I wish you spoke to me before doing things, discuss things and come to a mutual decision. Whether financial or otherwise. This is the meaning of husband and wife.’, Sita responds

‘I like you that is why I do all the chores. I just want love and care in return.’, she adds.

In Conclusion

There’s subtle commentary on male ego, societal expectations, and media influence woven into the story. The movie was trying to give a message on how women should have a say in the marriage, in matters inside and outside home. Men act in certain ways by default in the comfort of their marriages, like not spending quality time with their wives, doing romance. Giving their wives a break. Showing respect. Talking softly. Trying to understand and communicate, everyday or even once in a while. She is not just a person at service at your home.

Women don’t get love or equality in real life, so they get into serials. There is also monotony of everyday household chores, and non attention from husbands. Woman’s basic desires in a wedding are still unfulfilled through the generations.  The writer has been a very keen observer on the same. I remember my grandmother showing frustration on the Tv serials predictable tactics to extend their showtime. But, she still returned to the remote every evening, and was engaged to the TV for 2-3 hours watching her favorite serials.

Women for several generations wanted to be free. They wanted to study, make their own money. They wanted respect. They wanted to be a true part of their wedded family. Those wishes are embedded in their spirit now. The film through it’s commentary throws light on Women have no peace, no closure even after death. How they have been waiting for their happy ending for decades. Every generation, every millenia, and every country of the world. The happy ending of Respect and Equality, and identity

The movie ends with a montage of each of the husbands slowly understanding how to behave with their wives better like agreeing to open a Beauty parlour, or asking her to ‘Please’ make a coffee for him. And, with Srinu finally giving weight to his wife’s opinions in matters of business and finances.

‘We will introduce internet together in the village. You cannot fight the upcoming technology. It is better to adapt.’, says Srivalli in the final scene of the movie.

Its been several days since I watched the film. But, writing this and even thinking about the movie, gets that song humming in my mind, ‘Tera Mera Bandhan, yeh Janmo Janmo ka Bandhan’. This song was repetitive throughout the movie. Which kind of reflects how repetitive these daily soaps are with their existence, concept, plotlines, messaging.

The film had aregional charm around it. The concept was refreshing, but I feel like the execution could’ve been better. It is not able to deliver on it’s messaging with complete transparency. Because they got too serious with the horror stuff and rather the psychological exploration. I feel like the messaging tanked there. Samantha’s cameo wasn’t required at all, infact it was quite irritating. It could have been anyone. Wouldn’t create a difference. This film was a few steps away from becoming iconic.

I still enjoyed the movie, and it also forced me to this about this phenomena. Especially the one that occurred in the early 2000’s, with launch of some infamous serials that ran for years and years to come.

The movie was a good watch overall.