Dobara is hitting home runs in the women camp and if ever there was a fan base that is rooting for one of their kind, it has to be the Dobara Women Audience
But, let’s get one thing straight. If there is a Minal amongst us, there is also a phoppo among us, and (unfortunately) … the phoppos out number the Minals every time! That is why, Dobara and Mehru’s character came into being.
If there were no phoppos, there would be no Dobara, don’t you see?
Mehru’s character is vulnerable to being judged, rebuked, checked and subjected to the haw hayes of desi culture because … many of us watching might have done it, consciously or unconsciously at some point in time.
Then why are so many women rooting for Mehru?
Is it women supporting women?
Not really. It’s more about women envying women. Yes, you got that right. Or, a woman envying ‘a woman’ … to be precise! We have to understand that Dobara is being watched by a multitude of women, in happy and unhappy marriages, divorced, or widowed in our society, who look upon the liberated, attractive and carefree (husbandless) Mehru with wealth in abundance, behaving exactly as she wants, and they wish in their heart of hearts that they could do the same.
If we are rooting for her, it is because, perhaps, we also have a Mehru inside ourselves who was often stopped from being herself, playing her favorite game, running barefoot in the park, wearing a loud(ish) outfit, or simply, told that young girls are the epitome of grace, charm and quiet elegance – that ‘unlady like’ is a term they must commit to memory.
Yes, Dobara is resonating within the youth and middle-aged alike for all the right reasons, and while it does that, it is also showing us the mirror.
You see as we champion women’s rights, freedom and more, we also judge as a society. This behaviour often surfaces at a subconscious level with many judging a middle-aged single woman – widow or divorced, dancing at a Mehndi, that too, with a member of the opposite sex as tantamount to murder in broad daylight.
We support Mehru, but dare we become her?
We root for Mehru, because she is all that we want to be but don’t have the courage to be ourselves.
Wearing a bright jora, taking a walk in the park, striking up a conversation with a stranger, that too, a guy, taking him out for a meal, are all actions we’d love to take on, provided the ‘log kiya kahenge’ phenomenon doesn’t threaten to take over our lives … and it does. So we don’t do it. But Mehru does.
Mehru is not letting ‘log kya kahenge’ take over
The question is, will Dobara help women live more liberated lives? Will Dobara help women take control? Will Dobara help women to stop judging and start living instead?
The same women who root for Mehru might, at some point have been a phoppo themselves? Will Dobara help turn the phoppos into Minals… that’s the question. Do you agree?
Tell us what you think.
