EKTA KAPOOR’S Balaji Telefilms is planning to include the life and death of the 14-year-old teenager, Aarushi Talwar, in its popular soap opera ’Kahani Ghar Ghar Kii’. Aarushi was murdered at her Noida residence on May 16 and initially, the police suspected the missing domestic help, Hemraj, but his body was discovered from the same home the following day. The prime suspect in this murder is the father of the murdered teen, Rajesh Talwar.
However, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has written to the Information and Broadcasting ministry asking it to deny permission to Balaji Telefilms to make a serial based on Arushi’s life and death. The commission’s request came after Dr Nupur Talwar, Aarushi’s mother, asked the commission to intervene.
The Talwar family has requested officially to stop commercialising their tragedy and that it is indecent and not in good taste and that it would affect the investigations. They also accused the channel for using this tragedy to earn TRPs (television rating points)
Nevertheless, Balaji Telefilms has said that they are depicting only an ’inspired’ version of the Aarushi Talwar murder case on their daily soap ’Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki’. In the Balaji’s version, the teenager is killed by her parents because of her relationship with a boy. It’s a storyline they’re unwilling to surrender without a fight. Nivedeta Basu, Balaji’s creative director, was quoted, “’The topic that we are taking up is honour-killing and that is not what happened in Aarushi’s case, but the case of honour-killing came to light after Aarushi’s case. And if there is a coincidence that cannot be held against us and we are not trying to malign the Talwar family. I am sure there is no resemblance. After seeing it, people will realise that the plot gels with my story.” However, a mere disclaimer may not be enough. They are also claiming that neither they nor Star Plus have received any notice to stop the track and that they would not be changing it.
On the other hand, Renuka Chaudhary, minister for Women and Child Welfare who had recently attacked the media and the Uttar Pradesh police for character assassination and insensitivity while discussing the personal life of the 14-year-old who was murdered, also termed such attempts by filmmakers as ’unfortunate’. Furthermore, she said that the action of these serial makers shows insensitivity towards a minor and that it is unfair to sensationalise the issue by making films and tele-serials on it.
In all this cross fire, what emerges is that Aarushi is a very unlucky girl. Whatever her so-called mistakes or faults were, those were a part of growing up. She was not given a chance to enrich her life from experiences .The SMSes and the emails of this young child made headlines and were misinterpreted. Her normal chats with friends, which million of teenagers too make, was misconstrued. Certainly, because of the nature of her death, all these have to be scrutinised, but definitely not made public. This is not the way to exploit a child’s story when she is no longer alive to defend herself.
Now the final straw – a soap opera to speculate on why her life ended seems to be the most deliberate invasion of privacy. Her family claims that the serial should not be allowed, as it would influence the investigation and the final outcome of the case. They seem to be emphasising more on the court case issue than anything else. Many people have earned money from Aarushi’s story – a short unlucky life, which was cut so brutally and abruptly. Let the end chapter of her young unlucky life have some privacy, dignity and peace.
