Ratna Pathak talks about ‘regressive’ saas-bahu shows, how Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai was ‘witty’

Actor Ratna Pathak is best remembered for her stint on television. The actor starred in a number of TV shows such as Idhar Udhar, Tara and the popular Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai. In recent years, she has appeared in a number of much talked-about films like Kapoor & Sons too.

In a new interview, she has spoken about the fact that while her shows fell in comedy bracket, they were progressive in their ideas, whereas the saas-bahu shows, that began in the early 2000s, promoted ‘regressive ideas’. She also reflected on her hit show Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai and reasons behind its appeal.

Speaking to a leading daily, Ratna Pathak said Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai was ahead of its times and how her family hadn’t watched it. 

She said: “It was a good product–well written, well-produced, well-directed, very well-acted. The bulk of the credit goes to the writer; Aatish Kapadia’s view of the world that has stood the test of time. Sarabhai vs Sarabhai was witty! But we were ahead of our times; when we first aired on Star One, in 2004, our TRP was 0.69. My own family, who were hooked on TV, didn’t watch it; they said they couldn’t connect to it. So, after a few episodes, the show was done with. It was much later, when the channel started playing the show on repeat, that people found out about it. And when we went online, the response was phenomenal. We discovered our audience was able to consume this kind of stuff too and didn’t need to be spoon-fed. We found a new, much younger audience. I feel gratified when people tell me the show helped them while they were in depression during the global recession of 2008, or recently, when they thanked us for a stress-free lockdown.”

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Ratna Pathak came down heavily on the saas-bahu serials that began in the early 2000s. She said that these shows reinforced all the ‘regressive ideas’ that for years one has been trying to throw out of India. She also said how all art was inherently political in nature. 

“It was during the early 2000s that the phase of horrible saas-bahu dramas began, with all their regressive ideas–stuff that we have spent years trying to dump out of the country. If you see, in the late ’90s and early 2000s, you can see the intention to create ‘parampara’ in society all over again. The importance of caste was reinforced and communal relationships were looked down upon. This should have no space in the 21st century. So, how can you not be a political person? If you are making something that is consumed by millions in the country, how is that act not a political one? What choice do you have? How can you only be an artiste? I feel all art is political. The job of art is to disturb society, question things, to make people think. Of course, we are not doing that now; that’s another story,” she said.