ZEE5

Cast : Amruta Subhash, Yamini Das, Anup Soni, Anjana Sukhani, Anandeshwar Dwivedi

Rating : 4/5

Director : Apoorv Singh Karki

It has long been debated whether mothers should work or not. Many people prefer women specially the uneducated women not to work. Why? Is her ambition and aspiration  unimportant? Or was she underutilized in their organization? Or are her earnings not benefiting the family? Or is our society simply gender biased, with childrearing being a woman’s responsibility and breadwinning being a man’s? Or is it simply because having a working mother hinders the child’s secure growth? There are many “ifs,” “buts,” and “valid reasons” why a mother must not work, as well as the influence of a working woman on a child’s psychology, but every coin has two sides. “Should Mothers Work?” the question still remains. The new series “Saas Bahu Aachar Pvt. Ltd revolves around this particular topic. 

Following the release of the highly anticipated trailer for ‘Saas Bahu Aachar Pvt. Ltd,’ the 6- episode web series officially released on ZEE5 on July 8. The series, directed by Apoorv Singh Karki and written by Abhishek Srivastava, stars the National award-winning actor, Amruta Subhash along with Yamini Das, Anup Soni, Anjana Sukhani, and Anandeshwar Dwivedi. 

Set in the historic lanes of ChandniChowk, Old Delhi, Suman (AmrutaSubhash), a housewife from a small town, embarks on an aspirational journey to become a businesswoman and gain financial independence only to win her children back from her ex-husband, Dilip, (played by AnupSoni). She attempts to begin her entrepreneurial career by selling aachar, but encounters numerous challenges and quickly realises that this will not be an easy journey. 

It is a story about the complexities and obstacles that the protagonist faces while pursuing her dream.Suman embarks on a journey to earn her own financial place in society after getting a divorce from her husband. Her character represents all the uneducated women who are completely dependent on their husbands.In comparison to Suman, the male protagonist of the series, Dilip, is shown marrying again and living a healthy life. Discrimination between male and female workers is clearly visible here. The difficulties Suman faces in running her aachar business are vividly depicted here.Her only business supporters are her children, her next door neighbour, Shukla Ji, and her mother-in law. 

The relationship between Suman’s children and their stepmother, Manisha,( played by AnjanaSukhani) is one that must be revealed. It is a common misconception that a stepmother does not love her stepchildren and treats them unequally with her own. However, the story of this series depicts the stepmother-child relationship in a very positive light, as Manisha treats Suman’s children as if they were her own, with no unequal treatment. The love shown for them is so pure that it has the potential to change the audience’s perception that not all people are bad. 

Another issue that must be addressed is the division of labour within a family. The belief that “a father must earn” and that the mother should be in the kitchen and caring for her family’s well being.That one line from the series, “aap mere maabhi ho aur papa bhi,” told to Suman by her youngest son, speaks volumes.Humans flourish on recognition, and the joy is dependent on beingappreciated. A working mother can undergo this while working, and achieving her life goals can fulfil her. 

The emotions, the performances, the dialogues, the connectivity…everything is synched well. Director Apoorv Singh Karki shows finesse in 

handling the subject. The production design and the cinematography was outstanding. The locations where each shot was taken, as well as the lighting, completely portrayed a typical Indian middle-class family. The addition of emotional background music to the scenes was all that was required for this series to be authentic. 

Talking about the portrayal of the characters Amruta Subhash did an excellent job portraying Suman. People can really connect with the character because the emotions in all of the scenes were shown in such a beautiful way. The emotions of a mother, wife, and daughter in law were depicted in a sophisticated manner. This was one of her best performances till date. 

Anup Soni, on the other hand, played another strong character in the series and performed admirably, as he does in all of his series. He goes above and beyond the ideal cast for the male protagonist in this series. 

Yamini Das and Anandeshwar Dwivedi are terrific. Yamini’s emotional speech is the highlight of the film, while Dwivedi’ support to Suman is heartwarming. Anjana Sukhani did total justice to the character of Manisha. From the expressions to the dialogue delivery, everything was phenomenal. Manu Bisht, Nikhil Chawla, Shreyansh Kaurav did an excellent job too. 

Saas Bahu Acchar Pvt Ltd is the story of a normal woman who goes above and beyond for the people she cares about. It’s definitely not a one time watcher and you can binge watch it many times. It’s an inspiring story about a woman who could be someone from our family or community. that connect and strike a chord with the spirit of middle-class India, and this beautifully crafted story expands our content offering even further. It’s a great combination of ZEE and TVF strengths, with a classic ZEE protagonist doing things the TVF way, making it a great ZEE5 story.

Ruchika Das