Rupali Ganguly, with her show Anupamaa, where she plays the titular character, has been entertaining and inspiring viewers with new narratives and highlighting new issues. In the upcoming episode, Rajan Shahi, Deepa Shahi, and their team have brought attention to the issue of abuse faced by men. The sequence will feature Anupamaa taking a stand against Moti Baa’s niece Kirti for abusing and harassing her husband, Kapil.
Rupali says that though she is always in the forefront for issues related to women, she understands that some evils of the society often go unnoticed. She said, “I stand for women empowerment, I believe in women empowerment, and I understand that in 90% of domestic abuse cases it’s women who suffer, but there are also men who go through it. I have seen it in close quarters. It’s happened in the family where women have falsely accused men. And we believe that since he is a man, he is the one at fault. But it’s not the case always. There are few women who may not necessarily raise a hand to their husbands, but they torture them mentally. There are men who are unable to bear it but have the upbringing and decency that they will not raise their hand against women. I agree that men should respect women and not disrespect them, but if that man gets the wrong woman, she takes it for his weakness.”
“In our society we hear stories of women being tortured and domestic abuse. There are dowry cases; there were a lot of cases that have happened in our country, but also let us not forget, there are those cases where a woman, because of a lover, has killed her husband of so many years and stuffed him in a drum. Or a woman who’s gotten married with a lot of fanfare—the videos are all over the internet—and her husband has been killed by the ex-boyfriend when they’ve gone on their honeymoon,” she added.
She believes such women should be severely punished, and the judicial system should not show mercy just because of their gender. “Those men are also someone’s kids; they were also raised with a lot of love and hopes and were married with a lot of expectations. Women today are no less as far as mental torture or mental harassment is concerned,” she said.
Rupali highlighted the track and revealed that what they have shown through Kapil and Kirti is a very important issue. “Like I said, I’ve seen it in close quarters in my family, and there are a lot of men on the set while shooting it who identified and who empathized with it. So there are a lot of men who are going through it, and they keep quiet because of societal pressures.”
“Men feel they will become a joke if they speak up about the abuse by their wives. I seriously salute the writers and the makers of Anupamaa for bringing such an important topic and such a touchy topic up, especially because our show is about women’s empowerment and a woman’s journey, and to take a stand in it for a man was seriously a very proud moment for me,” she ended.
