Rajan Shahi: There's a beautiful projection of women empowerment in TV industry

Producer Rajan Shahi, who is known for his popular show Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai, says that women empowerment has been making progress in India. The producer says that the TV industry gives a lot of importance to women. “First of all, I am proud to belong to the TV industry where you see the kind of the involvement of women in every aspect of TV making. Here, it's an industry where we all are very used to and are proud of having so many women bosses be it in channels, creatives or anywhere else. So, I think the TV industry is a world where women are given equal or probably even more respect than men. TV gives more importance to women protagonists. I think there is a beautiful projection of women empowerment in the TV industry,” he says.

He adds, “The media plays a very strong role in highlighting any sort of wrongdoings. I think we are as a generation and country moving towards giving equality, so we should look at it optimistically that we have got a good journey ahead. We should be working towards equality between both the sexes and giving empowerment to women. I think on TV even my shows should play a very important role because they have a huge vast audience and a huge vast reach in the interiors of small towns.”

The producer says that his show Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai has always worked a lot towards women empowerment. “For me, Naira is somebody who's very vocal about what she feels and does not take any wrongdoings. She tackles it in a very intelligent manner. She is impressive, her stance towards things gives people a wider perspective. There are some shows that depict women in a very positive and aspirational manner and some show's don't. But that's the nature of those shows and the kind of audiences who watch them,” he says.

Various types of women are depicted on TV, says Shahi. “Television, because of the varied type of programming, shows women in different lights as a sister, daughter, daughter-in-law. So different aspects of a women's personality and life are shown on screen. Of course, some shows do show women in a regressive manner but I feel that it's the nature of the show and maybe there's an audience that likes to watch it,” he says.