Satyamev Jayate is an Indian reality TV talk show hosted by
one of the stalwarts of Bollywood in present times, Aamir Khan. He has also
produced the show and forms a part of the core creative team that ideates each
episode on the show. This show is something that the Indian audience direly
needed for building a social collective consciousness; albeit in baby steps. Social
media and news media clearly show that it has also made the right impact. What
is also a matter of great commendation is that, Aamir Khan is capitalizing on
his celebrity status to do something that is productive for the society instead
of limiting this influence to endorsing hair products or fairness creams or
whatever comes an actor's way which his contemporaries are busy with.
On the 9th of November, the last episode to season three was
aired and it discussed masculinity. "When Masculinity Harms Men" as a
show achieved a lot more feats than other episodes. The show's structural flow departed
a little from the usual format and justifiably so. The production has aired
episodes on the condition and treatment of women in this country, social
problems like road rage and even child sexual abuse, etc. It seemed
problematic, though, to bring people to discuss core reasons for these
problems. Who in this comfortably patriarchal society would like to listen to
people trying to talk about problems of MANHOOD in this time? So beginning by
really asking men to list what they think is the definition of a "real
man" and getting in shock stories in juxtaposition with the most coveted
ladies of the Bollywood industries talking about the kind of men they'd like to
be with, had to be the best way to make people sit down and listen.
Did-you-know interlude: For the episode titled
"Fighting Rape" on the second season, a group girls (including me) from
Lady Shri Ram College went to be a part of the video-chat with Aamir Khan. A
girl from the group rightly asked him about what he thought of the portrayal of
women in the Films that Bollywood is producing and since that promotes such
misogynistic attitude, what is he doing about it. He, today has duly
acknowledged that point out loud. Not only has he done a show that covers this
as a sub-topic, but he also pointed out his own mistakes in his acting career
in the video clip that was shown to address the problem with Bollywod movie
ideation.
Discussing the pressure that Manhood imposes on men, too,
sexuality and sex were no more taboo. The number of times the word 'sex' was
used out loud on the show was a first
for the typical Indian audience. Of course, the word 'typical' loses all sense
and references if one were to go through the Browsing History of the same audience
through the internet connection provider (thank you, incognito mode)but well,
living room/drawing dynamics function a little differently with a family
setting for a given. For the first time though, it was not a confrontational
stance, and not a sensational news. It was a fact. It is a reality in the
relationship between a husband and wife and the instrument of violence to render
the victim a weaker person. When did violence and relationship find the same
means of display? Indeed, masculinity has been damaged the same way that
womanhood has been. Somewhere down the line, patriarchy learnt to be so sneaky
that nobody can see the mastermind behind it. Maybe, it's you, maybe it's me,
or just all of us.
Satyamev Jayate has done some things so right that I wish
they'd just stop and play it again. With so many seasons, and so many issues, the
audience has enough to reflect upon. Perhaps,
it is time to talk about the success stories, and slap the worse situations on
the society's face. It doesn't seem like a bad idea to pick those issues right
back up. This show put a lot of petitions out there. Let's bring them back into
focus. Female foeticide, child sexual abuse, criminalization in politics,
water, alcoholism, tuberculosis, mental health, road accidents, etc. We've only
just begun to see the fault lines but have we all really seen it? All of us? I
think we just have to keep looking and someday we shall be ashamed enough to
stop.
To know more about the show, visit: http://www.satyamevjayate.in/
Jai Hind.
Satyamev Jayate.
