MUMBAI: Zee TV is creating awareness for its upcoming fiction offering Kaleerein, starting 5 February 2018 and will air every Monday to Friday at 7:30 pm. Joining hands with social activist and actor-producer Gul Panag, who believes in living life on her own terms, Zee TV launched the #ChangeHerNot social media experiment through a matrimonial website MySoniKudi.

Designed by Zee TV’s digital agency, Big Trunk, the website gave grooms the option of choosing from gharelu brides, fair-skinned beauties, cooking champions and many more unfortunate, stereotypical moulds that the society has created over the years. With the objective of highlighting the sheer absurdity of this stark reality and to nudge the audience to question these age-old shackles, the website was introduced on social media by vocal supporter Gul Panag who criticised the portal for commoditising brides. While it was disappointing to see the website receiving thousands of registrations from serious prospective grooms within a matter of hours, the social media experiment was truly a success when an exponentially higher volume of noise erupted on Twitter with people crying out in unison against slotting brides into categories and expecting them to change themselves for the sake of marriage.

Zee TV deputy business head Deepak Rajadhyaksha said, “MySoniKudi was aimed at eliciting precisely the kind of strong reactions it has evoked. So, while the website isn’t real, the issue is. It is sad that to be marriageable, a woman has to be a certain way. From gharelu to sanskaari, fair-skinned to no western clothes, no-career to a great pay package, there are all kinds of customisations expected, making bride-grooming schools that get young women to fit specific moulds a reality. Our very next fiction offering Kaleerein tackles this subject head-on, showcasing the journey of Meera, a small-town bride who refuses to bow down to the diktats of bride grooming and celebrates her individuality. Through her example, the idea is to help Indian women free themselves from the mould of a stereotypical bride, earning them the right to find a groom who is willing to accept them the way they are.”

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As the true intent of the website and the #ChangeHerNot campaign was revealed, the overwhelming support from all quarters reflects that Indians are no longer willing to adhere to societal shackles but want to rewrite them to take control of their own destinies, thereby extending a strong support to Zee TV’s brand philosophy and content mantra Aaj Likhenge Kal.

Actor Gul Panag said, “When Zee TV approached me with legit research on the disturbing trend of grooming schools that serve as finishing schools for brides and get them to fit certain pre-conceived moulds, I was more than happy to support them and help create awareness about the issue.”

Along with the #ChangeHerNot campaign, Zee TV has planned a series of ATL and BTL activations to create awareness about the unfair expectations that one has from a prospective bride, and highlight the concept of Kaleerein amongst the relevant target audiences.

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Kaleerein is the story of Meera, a small-town girl from Punjab, who chooses to assert her individuality against the reality of bride grooming schools that are mushrooming all over Punjab; schools that prescribe a bucket-list of must-have qualities for a bride to land the perfect groom. A free-spirited girl who wants to live life on her own terms, Meera values her uniqueness and is in search of a suitor who will accept her for the person she truly is.