Zee TV recently introduced viewers to a new show named Meet produced by Shashi Sumeet Productions. The show is the journey of a spirited young girl from Haryana Meet, who, contrary to the popular perception that only a son can be a ghar ka chiraag, is the ghar ‘ki’ chirag for her family.
Meet, played by television actress Ashi Singh, is the sole breadwinner for her family taking full responsibility of everything around the house, but she also breaks the societal rule books of gender roles by serving as a delivery agent and generally being the ‘fixer’ in any and every situation that a guy is typically expected to be. She’s not a rebel, it’s just that her authentic approach towards life doesn’t include investing undue time and energy in her personal grooming only to fit her family’s ideals of a ‘suitable girl’. Instead, she often quips in her Haryanvi andaaz, “Jimmedari ko ke pata use nibhane wala chhora hai ke chori”.
Meet takes responsibility of her family post her father’s death. Her family includes grandmother (Abha Parmar), who is of orthodox thoughts and hates Meet. An elder Gen Z sister (Sharain Khanduja) who knows nothing except make-up and selfies. But she has a sensitive loving mother (Vaishnavi Mahant), who loves and supports her. Handsome heartthrob Shagun Pandey plays the male lead, who coincidentally is also named Meet in the show.
The makers via the show, hope to bring about a positive change but this particular concept is tried and tested on TV. In the first episode, the makers reveal how at birth, Meet survived whereas her twin brother couldn’t make it at the time of delivery, weirdly making the grandmother hold Meet responsible for her grandson’s death. This particular concept of boys being given priority and being considered as heir of the family has been overused on Indian TV.
Now, coming to the casting, Ashi Singh is not an apt casting for Meet. She is too cute to be a tomboy. Her girlish features do not appeal and still make us believe that she is a girl next door. Also Ashi and Shagun pairing fails to impress. They don’t complement each other as a couple. Ashi looks too young in front of Shagun. Ashi is the only person who speaks in Haryanvi language in the show apart from her Dadi. However, when she sings a Bollywood song, it is perfect without any accent. There are few glitches that the makers have overlooked.
Overall, the show has nothing new to offer, though Ashi tried to opt for out-of-box but failed to create impact. IWMBuzz.com credits the show 2 out of 5 stars.
