Mitaali Nag: Women characters are challenging regressive norms on TV today

Gone are the days when women were only shown as damsels-in-distress on TV, says actress Mitaali Nag. The actress adds that society has changed and this has changed things on TV as well.

“The awareness and knowledge of the viewers is developing and increasing owing to the easy access to the internet. And that is the reason women’s roles on TV are evolving too. The female protagonists are shown to be quite progressive today. They are shown challenging the regressive customs and traditions that have been followed since centuries here. The audience now likes to watch a strong female lead, the one who has a voice and knows when and how to raise it,” she says.

Ask her which TV show has progressive female characters, and she says, “My show Afsar Bitiya was the biggest example of women empowerment. In the ongoing shows, Anupamaa is a show which has the theme of women empowerment.”

She adds, “It’s always good to have characters which can inspire people to do better and bring a change in the society, because other than providing entertainment to the public, the broadcaster has the moral responsibility of contributing to the betterment of the society especially because audio-visual medium is very powerful.”

Talking about how TV influences people, she says, “TV and even cinema are very powerful platforms to inspire and influence people. If the viewer relates to the character that they are watching then it is very easy for them to get influenced by that particular character.”