90 Lessons About Indian Drama Serial You Need To Learn Before You Hit 40

Indian television has an endless list of dramas. Some have been running for decades.

Ghar ki baahu wears 24 carat thick gold necklace and heavy embroidered saree. Her college lover will come back 20 years later and her marraige will be put to test with tabla beats in the background. Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai Written Update
2. Tara

Many of us have seen Indian TV dramas that delve into family feuds and love triangles. But, it’s rare that one gets a glimpse into the dark underbelly of Delhi life like in Ishqbaaz. The drama was a ratings hit and received international acclaim for its depiction of the homosexual lifestyle in India’s patriarchal society. The lead actor Arjun Mathur even got an international Emmy nomination.

But it wasn’t the only edgy Indian show to garner such high ratings. Another highly popular series was Thapki Pyar Ki. This daily soap portrayed the story of Tulsi, a woman who stutters and can’t find a partner because of it. Despite all the hardships, she never gives up on her dreams. The show ran for eight years and showed how difficult it is for women to be treated with dignity in this country.

While there are many origin stories about Tara in Hinduism, one of the most popular ones is how she was born from the ashes of her father Daksha’s sacrifice during a sacred fire ritual. Her father felt humiliated by this and threw himself into the fire to end his life. To save him, Vishnu split her body into pieces and scattered them across India so that the goddess could live on in different forms.

While there are multiple aspects to the deity Tara, she is often viewed as a bodhisattva. As such, she can be seen as the compassionate form of Avalokitesvara and is worshipped in Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim, Mongolia, and by Buddhists all over the world. She is also viewed as a protector and is known in her ferocious, blue form as Ugra-Tara or Ekajata; as the red goddess of love, Kurukulla; and as a snakebite protectress, Janguli.
3. Chhanchhan

Vivacious Chhanchhan (played by Sanaya Irani) is modern in thought but deeply rooted in her culture. She marries into a dysfunctional family and uses her intelligence to get the house back on track. Produced by Optimystix Entertainment, this show has an interesting plot and is expected to be popular among urban viewers. However, it can get a little predictable at times. The dialogues are witty and there is no overdose of melodrama. The girl talk of the heroine and her friends is also realistic and doesn’t fall into the same old ghar ki bahu tiffs that are so common in Indian television shows.

After marrying into the Borisagar household, Chhanchhan feels that their family is drifting apart due to competition between its members. She wants to break the stalemate but her mother-in-law Umaben is against it. To prove her point, she feigns illness and tells her family that she will recover only if Manav marries a daughter of her choice. Chhanchhan then meets Sonali in her sister Rushali’s parlor and finds out that her fiance’s name is Manav Borisagar.

She informs her parents and they are happy with the match but Umaben continues to hate Chhanchhan. Her son’s friend Himanshu promises to arrange a meeting between the two but Chhanchhan finds out that he is actually Manav’s father. Eventually, the two meet at an ashram where Chhanchhan works and find out that they are in love with each other. They are forced to hide their relationship and eventually, Manav gets framed for murder. This is when the story begins to get more intriguing. Eventually, both the couples live happily but their lives are not without ups and downs.
4. Thapki Pyar Ki

Jigyasa Singh and Manish Goplani’s Thapki Pyar Ki is a drama filled with lots of action, love and romance. The show is a perfect blend of family drama and some intense twists. The show stars Vaani Chaturvedi as the protagonist, Thapki who has a speech impairment but she doesn’t let it get in her way of succeeding in life.

She gets a job in a TV channel, where she meets Dhruv Pandey (Ankit Bathla) and falls in love with him. He proposes to her but she declines because of her stutter. She later moves to a new house with her mother and sister, where she meets Kosi, who becomes her maid. She sends her home every day and keeps a watch on her. She also throws parties and entertains the guests.

Thapki finds a new job and starts to get closer to Dhruv but she is always being watched by Kosi. Vasundhara, her mother-in-law is not happy with Thapki’s stutter. She blackmails Bihaan and tells him that he will be harmed if he doesn’t marry Thapki. Bihaan loves her but he can’t defy his mother.

Thapki and Dhruv start to fall in love but he is hesitant to marry her due to his mother’s threats. She also starts to hating Bihaan. She makes Shraddha jealous of Thapki and tries to make her life difficult. The story takes a twist when Shraddha kidnaps Bani, disguises herself as Thapki and tries to forcefully marry her with her son Prince. The plan backfires and she is arrested by the police.
5. Little Things

In an era of dramas where the majority of them are either war, politics or dystopian sci-fi, Little Things is a rare treat that celebrates the everyday lives of people in their 20s. From the process of getting ready for work to binge watching movies on the weekend, the series focuses on the minutiae of life that often gets overlooked. It is a refreshing change from the overdramatic love stories and sexy erotica that dominates our screens.

It began as a YouTube show by Dice Media and was picked up by Netflix for its second season. The show stars Dhruv Sehgal and Mithila Palkar as the eponymous couple whom it follows on their journey to find happiness together. Its unique approach to the complex dynamics of a live-in relationship, while still being entertaining to watch, makes it an important part of the Indian OTT landscape.

Unlike many other romances that are churned out with no regard to realism, this show never shies away from exploring the darker aspects of relationships such as sex and infidelity. It also deals with the repercussions of past brushes with romantic love that its characters have had to endure. In doing so, it has carved out an assured space for itself as an honest voice of reason in the OTT ecosystem.

With its keenly observed nuances, whimsical ramblings and lazy banters, this rom-com is reminiscent of Richard Linklater’s Before Trilogy. It is also not afraid to show its leads at their worst, be it their insecurity about committing to their dreams or the crippling fear of failure. In the age of overly-sexed melodramatic shows, Little Things has stood out as a breath of fresh air with its realistic treatment of contemporary Indian lives and relationships.