Star Plus’ Anupama- Not a show but a movement
The show has stepped out of the television playing in drawing rooms, to change the lives of its viewers across the country
Even as the show races towards its 700-episode mark, Rajan Shahi’s Anupama, has become far more than just a top-rated show. It has acquired the form and shape of an audience-movement and a conversation that seems to be getting stronger by the day. The show revolves around a middle-class Gujarati housewife Anupama, who decisively divorces her philandering husband after 26 years of being married – and in fact, pushes him to fulfil his commitment to the woman he is seeing, outside marriage. How this Anupama finds the strength to care for her in-laws and children with utmost sincerity, despite this; how she comes into her own discovering voice and identity in the world around her, has touched the lives of crores of women in the country. These women started out as viewers but today, find themselves completely empowered by the show’s strong commentary on gender equality and feminism.
“Can you teach me how to drive? Is something my son never expected his 50-year- old mom to say… But I didn’t feel it is an embarrassing ask, or too late for my age” says one of the viewers. Interestingly, another viewer says, “I never realised how much mom does for us, and how little we thank her for it, until I started watching Anupama.” The portrayal of the housewife who comes into her own has evidently struck more than just a chord with the audience. According to another viewer, “Anupama shows us how it is never too old or too late to set your life straight – the way she started her dance academy…” A viewer even went to the extent of telling the channel, “My family jokingly tells me not to watch Anupama since they feel I have become more vocal about my aspirations and don’t do everything for them at the drop of a hat now…housewives often never create that space for themselves”.
These form only a handful of comments that have reached the show’s makers, actors and Star Plus through numerous avenues. What they essentially highlight is that Anupama’s popularity and following extends beyond the realms of numbers and statistical data. The show has touched lives, changed thinking and sparked conversations that were otherwise muffled or that seldom came to the dining table in middle class homes.
If one looks at pure numerical data issued by the BARC, Anupama has turned out to be the greatest phenomenon on Indian television, particularly in the Hindi GEC space since inception. Out of every five households, 3.2 households have watched Anupama, taking the overall viewership reach to 248 million viewers thus far. While the show has great following among women, it’s also followed tremendously by men across demographics. With over a 100 weeks down, and great numbers and feedback flowing in every week, one can only expect things to get bigger and better for Anupama from hereon.
