Rocking tradition: Bollywood star dares to pick herself a husband
Published 26 June, 2009, 14:33
A reality television show based on an ancient Hindu practice is aiming to strike a blow against India’s tradition of arranged marriages.
A Bollywood star has promised to find herself the perfect husband – with the aid of a new primetime TV series.
Indian TV celebrity Rakhi Sawant is never far from the limelight. She refused a union brokered by her parents, and is now the star of a new TV series based on the ancient but largely neglected practice of swayamvar, where a young woman picks a husband for herself from a group of hopeful suitors, often by putting them through a series of tests.
Rakhi insists that she can find a husband herself, “Why not? Why can’t a modern girl get married like this? Every one has a right to live free.”
She also says that finding a husband on television might be a good idea, “TV has given me everything in life – name, fame and money – everything so I thought: why don’t I get my life-partner from TV too?”
The reality show is known as “Rakhi Ka Swayamvar” or “Rakhi's Search for a Life Partner”. It received over 15,000 applications from across India and even from the Indian diaspora in North America. Of these, 16 finalists have been shortlisted.
“All these finalists are normal people – they are not actors. One is a stuntman, there is a policeman from Kashmir, there is also an astrologer and an engineer, so I have a wide range to choose from,” the woman said. “If my parents were organizing this, these are the people they would select for me.”
The show is being shot in a hilltop palace in the city of Udaipur in Rajasthan. The television channel is clearly not sparing any expense. There will be 20 episodes, culminating in Rakhi marrying the winner.
“It is our attempt to bring back what used to happen a couple of centuries ago in India, and that’s why the whole look and feel of the show is almost like a princess’ wedding,” said Nikhil Madhok of NDTV Imagine channel. “We could have shot it in a studio in Bombay, but we didn’t – we want to make it as genuinely as possible.”
Television in India has been all about entertainment, but this show is going to take it one step further. This make-believe world is now going to change lives – that of Rakhi Sawant and her 16 contestants.
A recent survey found that 95% of marriages in India today are arranged by the families of the bride and groom. And who knows – perhaps this could change if the Rakhi Ka Swayamvar show takes off. After all, by showing a woman choosing who she marries, the show may play an important part in changing attitudes in India.
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