Ishqbaaz’s Episode on Sexual Harassment and the #MeToo Movement Was an Important One, Despite the Shoddy Execution

A lot of times, writers and makers of Indian daily soaps decide to give the never-ending, illogical drama a break and add something meaningful in the ongoing track. Something like that happened in Ishqbaaz last night. Remember how big and popular the #MeToo movement had become worldwide after the Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey cases? It’s a movement that urged every man and woman to speak up against sexual harassment that they have faced in their lives. Not only is sexual harassment a very sensitive topic to deal with but it is also an important one. Last night’s episode of Ishqbaaz also dealt with this strong yet sensitive issue that the society faces. Though the execution was really shoddy and unrealistic. Abhimanyu Raheja was exposed in front of the media and yet, there was no police around. A number of women randomly gathered around accusing the guy of sexually harassing them and chanting “Me too” in Hindi.

Abhimanyu’s wife gives up on him and confesses to the media that she always knew about her husband’s philandering ways but had to protect the family’s reputation and leaves. He follows her to the exit but for some reason, the media is still standing there taking pictures of the Oberois. As a part of the fraternity, I can say that this never happens. You don’t just wait there and you always follow the celebrity for more questions or scoop. The only saving grace of this episode was Shivaay and Gauri’s monologue.

A lot of people, including me, could relate to almost every word that these two said. What I loved the most about this episode was that both the genders spoke about sexual harassment in the country and how to deal with it. About why gender bias is only making the society unsafe for women. Shivaay talks about why certain men are not questioned more by the family about their whereabouts and clothes but women are. He urges women to speak up against such behaviour and asks society to not question the victim because rape is not something that women ask for or want to happen to them. Gauri, on the other hand, talks about how she has such a supportive family but can’t even imagine how some women survive such incidents without the support of their families.

My only problem is with the unnecessary drama that slightly took away the motive of this entire episode. It’s easier to take someone seriously sans all the camera angles and the whoosh sounds but sadly, that’s not something that makers understand. Yes, the makers tried to incorporate a social media movement in the show but it could have been shot in so many better ways. Had the makers kept it very direct and straightforward instead of waiting for the camera person to capture the expressions and making the actor speak 5 seconds after that, it would have been more impacting. And it would have been great if things were shown in a slightly realistic way and not just so you can get to the important dialogues fast. Fighting sexual harassment in real life is nothing like this and the motive of the show/episode should not be restricted to just preaching or educating.

And it’s not new for daily soap makers to raise a social concern and talk about it. I still remember this particular episode from Yeh Hai Mohabbatein where Ishita was talking to her niece about the ‘good touch’ and the ‘bad touch’. Now that’s something that will make you take the characters seriously. It was definitely a brave attempt for the Ishqbaaz team to execute something like this but I’m kind of disappointed with the way it was done. But like I said, it is one episode that you must not miss at all. Watch it again if you have to and make sure people you know have also seen it because everyone needs to hear what Shivaay and Gauri have to say in this episode. These two scenes in the episode make up for all the things that I didn’t like about this episode.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 02, 2018 03:31 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).