This International Women's Day, let us revisit female characters who are not afraid to make mistakes and can lead their lives with their own choices. These characters narrate stories of complex and powerful women.

Agnipankh

 

Written by playwright Prabhakar Laxman Mayekar, and first performed in the 1980s, this Zee Theatre teleplay is named after a Greek mythical bird phoenix rising from the ashes. Directed by Ganesh Yadav, the historical teleplay also stars Dinkar Gawande, Gulki Joshi, Prabhat Sharma, Satyajeet Dubey, Sheetal Singh, and Somesh Agarwal. Where To Watch- Tata Play Theatre. 

Gudiya Ki Shaadi

 

Another Zee Theatre teleplay written by writer, director, and actor Samta Sagar narrates the social obsession with marriage and unrealistic beauty standards. Gudiya is the central protagonist who is judged for her skin colour. Gudiya deals with colourism, harsh criticism, and negativity to keep her self-worth intact with humour and unwavering confidence. Gudiya Ki Shaadi features Shweta Basu Prasad, Virendra Saxena, Samta Sagar herself, Ishtiyaq Khan, Saroj Sharma, Neha Saraf, Vikram Kochhar and Anveshi Jain. Where To Watch- Tata Play Theatre.

Ok Tata Bye Bye

 

Writer, director, and actor Purva Naresh masterfully explores concepts of morality, women's empowerment, and freedom in this thought-provoking Zee Theatre teleplay. The story revolves around filmmakers Pooja and Mitch who arrive at a village near a highway to document a sex worker's life. A confrontation between Pooja and a sex worker pulls the cover off hypocritical concepts about the meaning of female empowerment. It stars  Geetika Tyagi, Jim Sarbh, Prerna Chawla and Sarika Singh.

Where To WatchAirtel Spotlight, Dish TV Rangmanch Active, and D2H Rangmanch Active.

 Aarya

 

Based on the Dutch drama series 'Penoza', 'Aarya' offers audiences a female protagonist unlike any other. The series established Sushmita Sen as a performer who could pull off a larger-than-life character and break new ground for female actors in the OTT space. For three seasons, the show kept audiences on the edge of their seats as Sen in the lead role took life and death decisions with extreme stability and compelling histrionics. Co-created by Ram Madhvani and Sandeep Modi, who also directed the series, 'Aarya' can be watched on Disney+ Hotstar. It also features Sohaila Kapur, Chandrachur Singh, Geetanjali Kulkarni, Sikander Kher, Vikas Kumar, and Vishwajeet Pradhan among others.

Masaba Masaba

 

Masaba Masaba is a series that fictionalises her personal life, her relationship with her mother Neena Gupta and the highs and lows of her successful career as a fashion designer. Masaba and Neena play hilarious versions of themselves in this entertaining joyride. The story is told from a woman's perspective by a woman director and makes the audience see the world from a female point of view. Directed by Sonam Nair, the show also stars Neil Bhoopalam, Satyadeep Mishra, and Suchitra Pillai and is available on Netflix.