From OTT, telly bahus get the girl-next-door look

Gone are the days when telly bahus sent shudders down the spine of regular bahus with their ability to be decked like a new bride, on her wedding day that is, and still manage to do household chores, foil conspiracies, shoulder not just her own, but the world’s work, and keep everyone happy without breaking into a sweat. While the pre-wedding character could be just about as regular as the girl-next-door, the post-wedding avatar would have undergone a drastic transformation to reveal a stereotypical and non-relatable character. Thankfully, this trend has changed with more and more telly bahus looking relatable and more like regular people. We bring you a few of these characters who are making soap viewing not just a more pleasurable experience for many, but also a more tolerable one.

Satrangi Sasural: Aarushi (Mugdha Chaphekar) plays the bahu of not one, but seven mothers-in-law in this telly show. While trying to keep all seven of them happy and being a working woman, her character is shown dressed in a regular manner post-marriage as well.

Hello Pratibha: Pratibha (Binny Sharma), a homemaker and mother of two children in the show, is shown always dressed in regular comfy cotton saris, the attire in which household chores look more possible and realistic.

Kumkum Bhagya: Married to rockstar Abhi (Shabbir Ahluwalia), Pragya (Sriti Jha), is shown dressed in comfortable everyday suits and a simple managalsutra. Deeply grounded still in her middle-class existence, her character is shown not to have changed from her pre-marriage avatar. Even her saris are understated and simple ones.

Piya Rangrezz: Lead character Shraddha (Kritida Mistry) plays a docile bahu to a mother-in-law who is a rustic don, Bhanvaridevi Singh (Narayani Shastri). In spite of the storyline being mostly clichéd and orthodox, Shraddha’s look in the show is more modern, regular and understated.

Tu Mera Hero: Panchi (Sonia Balani), who falls in love and marries Titu, completely unaware of the fact that he is extremely lazy, is shown in her post-marriage avatar dressed in comfortable looking suits and minimalistic everyday jewellery. With a simple air of elegance, she is currently shown trying to get Titu to turn a new leaf.

Ye Hai Mohabbatein: The much loved Ishita (Divyanka Tripathi), who plays a doctor in the show, is dressed normally, in contrast to the traditional image of the TV bahu. Of late, after Divyanka injured herself, her character in the show has, at times, also been shown in basic comfortable cotton suits that are a part of the daily wear of most working women and homemakers.

Nisha Aur Uske Cousins: The show that chronicles the life of young and spunky Nisha (Aneri Vajani) and her cousins in their joint family set-up has her now married to Kabir (Mishkat Verma). Thankfully, Nisha’s post-marriage look has not undergone an overnight change and she sticks to the clothes she wore before her marriage, with that little matrimonial addition of a basic mangalsutra.