No woman is born empowered, at least not according to the world of Anupamaa, the wildly popular Indian daily soap that has ruled TRP charts for five years. The show tells us that real strength doesn’t come from agency or independence. It comes from surviving years of humiliation, oppression, betrayal, and saying “sorry” about it every day.
In today’s Stream Queen, we take a female-lens view of what’s really going on behind those monologues and melodrama.
Anupamaa: India’s Favourite Bechari in a Saree
Anupamaa is pitched as the story of an "ordinary woman", but that ordinariness is code for a life where: Her children barely speak to her with respect. Her husband constantly taunts her.And her saas is the human embodiment of a background taunt track.
Despite celebrating her silver jubilee anniversary in a marriage filled with red flags, Anupamaa keeps swimming through the mess like a pakoda in kadhi, absorbing every insult, every slap of patriarchy, in the name of sanskaar.
When Empowerment Became Emotional Labour
Even after learning that her ‘devta samaan’ husband Vanraj is cheating on her, Anupamaa can’t quite believe it. Why? Because he drinks her chai every day. Logic? Nah.
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She does walk out, and we cheer, but it’s short-lived. Instead of exploring her legal rights or building a new life, she walks into yet another family setup with Anuj, a kinder man, yes, but with the same old expectations. Empowerment is once again redefined as silent emotional labour dressed in expensive sarees.
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Anupamaa: The Repackaging of Misogyny
Here’s the truth: Anupamaa is not about female empowerment. It’s about female endurance. It sells us a heroine who is the therapist to everyone’s trauma, the scapegoat for every mistake, the default apology button for the entire household, and if any woman dares to want something different, a nuclear family, a divorce, a career, she’s cast as the villain.
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TRP Feminism or Just Manipulation?
The show consistently romanticises suffering. It punishes its lead every time she attempts to speak up. It drowns real representation in tears and background music. In Anupama’s world, resilience is just a prettier word for oppression.
And when manipulation is sold in the name of women’s empowerment, it’s not just bad storytelling, it’s dangerous.
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