When colour kills

Bottle-green saree with fancy sequins for the prospective mom-in-law. Bottle-green saree with a copper-sulphate blue border...again with sequins, for the bride's mother. Another dark green saree for the bride. A parrot-green drape for the bridegroom's aunt. And something similar for a couple of other relatives. As for the men, nothing less than designer sherwanis.

It's not an Ekta Kapoor sitcom. The czarina's TRP driver zing no longer exists. The sadder part of the bit is that she has left behind clones among other Hindi soaps. The costume list above was fo the Sangeet ceremony of Ragini, the venerable coloured sister of her fairer friend Sadhana in Bidaai. The core point of this serial is about exploring racist feelings underlying the Indian society. A sure-shot TRP grosser not so much because of the core issue itself, but the exquisite costume sense of its makers. 

Am tiring of watching Sadhana with her tearful looks and bright coloured sarees. Or the glitter-obsessed saree sense of her sister in-law. Or for that matter, her mom-in-law Vasundhara with loud make-up. Agreed India is all about colour. Agreed housewives are the ones hooked on to Bidaai more than the rest of the family. Should that give channels an excuse to convert each episode into a home-based fashion show? Give us real characters please!