There’s no doubt that most of the Indian TV serials are toxic, regressive, peddling patriarchy and reinforcing stereotypes. Even the new-age series that started off on empowering themes tend to revert back to the age-old format. Indian daily soaps are full of saas-bahu nonsense and ridiculously impossible love stories. But what’s astonishing is that some of the most toxic Indian TV serials with stone-age storylines are still very popular and are coming back with new seasons. It’s shocking that not too many people are opposing them. The Hindi serial kumkum bhagya sees an intelligent, beautiful wife tailing the spoiled, clueless manchild. Most of the serials are just like that, full of crap. Here are 5 toxic Indian TV serials that are better off taken off-air:
1. Baalika Vadhu
This series has come back with a season 2 and we can’t find words to express our exasperation. The promos show a child bride decked head to toe in bridal attire with her baby face caked in make-up. This toxic hindi tv series is doing a take two all over again. The title of the show literally translates to ‘Child Bride’. This should have been reason enough for it to be taken off-air immediately. It’s beyond us why the concept of child marriage is being allowed to be glamourized through this show.
2. Super Dancer 4
This “reality show” has been running for far too long with too many seasons and spin-offs that we can’t even keep up anymore. Honestly, this show is not even about dance talent anymore. It’s more of a tacky eye-sore that’s on-air just to keep viewers’ attention glued on the screen. The entire focus of the show is on the celebrity judges who make an appearance on this show just to stay relevant among audiences.
And don’t even get us started about the pressure on the children as young as 5 to dance in a manner that’s 5 times their age. They are also made to perform dangerous stunts just to appease audiences with momentary shock factors. There’s also a ton of stereotyping casually thrown around in the comments and views expressed by judges, anchors, and participants. Most of the episodes look heavily scripted and it’s a far cry from a reality series. The kids on the show perform age-inappropriate dance sequences. And oftentimes, it looks vulgar. All in all, we don’t think the kids deserve the level of unhealthy exposure that this show provides. It’s a cringe-fest where people are showing emotion for the slightest reason and throwing around lame jokes that fail to amuse us.
3. Bigg Boss
Honestly, Bigg Boss India is a nightmare. It’s just hours of wannabe stars trying to attract as much attention as possible by doing outrageous things on tv. Mostly, it’s fake fighting, screaming, unnecessary drama, and fake narratives that come on the news for reasons we can’t comprehend. Apart from the fact that there’s nothing remotely substantial in this TV show, thousands of people spend hours in their day watching this trash.
4. Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai
A serial based on suffocating “family traditions’, this show has reinforced gender roles in unimaginably bizarre ways. This show is running since 2009 and is the second-longest-running Indian TV soap opera, which is not a good thing. The makers simply want to stay on air and come up with weird storylines and crazy time-lapses to do so. And what’s worse, this show has a large audience, and it’s beyond us why anyone would want to waste their time watching it.
5. Saath Nibhaana Saathiya 2
A second season to a horrendously long series, we had only just recovered from the nightmare that was Saath Nibhaana Saathiya 1. And now there’s a new season that’s on-air. The synopsis of the latest season reads that the female lead goes from being a ‘maid’ to the ‘bahu” of the household. And we have to ask, are marrying well and being rescued by a manchild the only two options for women to get their due? Honestly, we have no idea why this show is still around since it neither delivers any useful message nor does it stimulate the minds of viewers. If anything, you might lose a few precious brain cells by watching it.