Mithila Palkar is in awe of TV shows that led and/written by women. “Killing Eve, Sex Education, Big Little Lies,” she rattles off. “How often do you see a female assassin or spy running the show?” As an actor in 2020, it empowers and inspires her to create on her own. “If no-one is making that kind of shows, I can go ahead and do it myself and collaborate with other amazing women. “It really makes a difference to have that female point of view. I’m not saying that there aren’t sensitive male writers, but it makes a world of a difference to have a female perspective if you’re writing a female character or a story about a female character,” she says.
Read on for the top five TV shows Mithila Palkar recommends:
1. Fleabag
Fleabag was strangely a character that’s not relatable, but yet so real, and there is something so human about that. I absolutely love the weirdness and yes, the actors are amazing. These are the differences between shows that I watched as a kid and the shows that I watch now. I view them differently, I’m more attentive about a lot of different aspects of shows… rather than just watching them for the entertainment value. So yes, the acting and direction are great but the writing is just beyond my comprehension. Phoebe Waller-Bridge is someone I just want to meet her and chat because I don’t know how her mind works and I’m very curious.
2. The Morning Show
I watched this recently and was blown away. Steve Carell’s character has been accused of sexual abuse and the entire series revolves around that. It’s such a delicate and sensitive topic and it’s handled so aptly. We all struggle to talk about it even in general, even to each other. Like how do you deal with it? Do you want to deal with it? Did you know but you pretended not to know? Now that you know, are you going to do anything? Because lives are not black and white even though you want them to be, and you want justice and truth at the same time.
3. Hum Paanch
Growing up, I really enjoyed the equations of the five sisters’ and their parents. Hum Paanch is very close to me because of Sweety’s character. She inspired me to break into a song and dance routine when the doorbell rang. And I am infamous among my co-stars for perpetually singing, even before we go into a take and we’re trying to focus. I don’t think we’ve ever seen a character like Sweety. And also, she had curly hair.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkLobNdHIEw
4. Tu Tu Main Main
Supriya Pilgaonkar and Reema Lagoo’s chemistry and dynamics was just something else. Just the two of them were enough to keep us. As a kid in the ‘90s, this show was just entertainment for me. But now when I reflect on it, I do look at the content differently. They subverted the saas-bahu trope that we’ve come to know over the last decade. The characters were never malicious. I would want still want to revisit Tu Tu Main Main and Hum Paanch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aECTGpfQPps
5. Full House
I really enjoyed watching this show with my sister, it was one of those things we did together. DJ and Stephanie were dealing with their feelings, being teenagers, like boys, etc… They were growing up and it was nice to be growing up with them.
