Women
are
the
key
drivers
of
positive
social
change
in
India
through
television,
according
to
the
executive
behind
one
of
the
most
profoundly
influential
shows
in
India,
Satyamev
Jayate
or
"Truth
Alone
Prevails".
Hosted
by
superstar
Aamir
Khan
on
Star
India,
the
weekly
show
has
addressed
some
of
India's
most
sensitive
social
issues
and
taboos
such
as
female
foeticide,
inter-caste
marriage,
child
sex
abuse
and
voting
corruption.
The
channel
felt
"India
was
now
ready,
our
viewers
were
ready
and
internally
Star
as
a
company
was
ready,
to
take
that
big
leap," said
Uday
Shankar,
CEO
of
Star
India
in
a
dialogue
with
Bobby
Ghosh,
Editor
of
Time
International
here
Friday.
"We
decided
that
we
will
sharply,
in
each
episode
focus
on
some
of
the
things
that
must
change
in
this
country
while
all
kinds
of
economic
and
social
changes
keep
happening,"
he
said
at
the
event
hosted
by
the
prestigious
Paley
Centre
for
Media.
Star
India
had
targeted
women
initially
as
"the
driver
characters
for
change
are
women," said
Shankar.
"They
are
the
biggest
ambassadors
of
change
and
proselytizers
in
their
own
context."
On
conceptualising
"Satyamev
Jayate"
and
its
impact
on
society
Shankar
said:
"Aamir
and
I
spent
a
lot
of
time
discussing
and
finally
we
concluded
that
we
are
not
going
to
pull
our
punches,
neither
in
the
creative
expression,
nor
in
the
format."
"The
sex
ratio
in
India
has
been
declining.
The
gap
between
female
and
male
children
has
been
rising,"
he
said.
"But
for
the
first
time
in
40
years,
it
was
reversed
by
a
factor
of
24:1000"
in
Maharashtra
thanks
to
"Satyamev
Jayate"
episode
on
female
foeticide.
The
state
government
publicly
acknowledged
"that
it
was
the
impact
of
the
show
that
gave
women
the
confidence
to
resist
abortion."
Speaking
about
the
kind
of
influence
Star
has
had
on
women
and
society
at
large,
Shankar
cited
the
example
of
Smriti
Irani,
India's
new
Human
Resource
Development
minister.
Irani
"was
a
22
year
old
young
woman
who
first
appeared
in
public
life
on
national
television
on
Star
Plus"
in
a
key
role
on
its
popular
show,
"Kyunki
Saas
Bhi
Kabhi
Bahu
Thi"
for
nine
years.
"She
left
that
show
and
entered
politics
and
today
she
is
one
of
the
senior
most
ministers
in
the
Indian
Government,
he
said,
adding
"that's
the
kind
of
influence
that
it
has
had."
Talking
about
the
evolution
of
Star
India,
Shankar
said:
"Even
though
our
pedigree
is
News
Corporation
and
21st
Century
Fox
now,
it
was
very
clear
that
we
were
not
bringing
in
American
cultural
concept
into
India."
"We
indigenised
it
completely
because
that
was
the
only
way,"
he
said.
"We
were
told
to
go
and
create
a
business
that
was
the
right
business
for
the
Indian
people
and
Indian
society."
On
the
power
of
media
and
television
as
a
tool
to
influence
society,
Shankar
said:
"I
always
felt
that
when
you're
in
the
business
of
media
you
are
creating
content
whether
news
or
entertainment
to
push
social
change."
"At
Star,
we
have
now
gone
a
step
ahead
and
we
believe
that
all
content
that
we
create
is
corporate
social
responsibility
seriously."