5 Problematic Things Portrayed In ‘Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah’. What’s Up With Jethalal?

By Priyadarshini Malavia Updated December 30, 2021 7:36 PM

I think Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah was a part of all almost desi households growing up. I remember being introduced to it by a friend back when I was 12 and really enjoy the humour as a 12-year-old who had a questionable sense of humour. However, the longer the TMKOC run, the more boring it got. There was no originality left in the writing and all the jokes were tone-deaf and fell flat. Also, the older I grew, the more I realised how problematic the show was. With all the weird patriarchal ideologies paired with stereotyping of women and genders, TMKOC seems to have done it all. So let’s talk about 5 things that are clearly problematic with Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah,

1. Women Not Holding Jobs

Okay, what the heck is that about? I have ranted about this to my friends many times (yes, I am super fun to be around) but I just have to talk about this. Other than Madhavi Bhide (who has a pickle and papad business) legitimately every major female character in Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah is a housewife. Like… is that to preserve Indian traditions? Because if so, it ain’t working out.

2. Sexist Stereotypes

The entire female cast or mahila mandal (as they are affectionately called in TMKOC) don’t seem to do anything outside of what women stereotypically do. They are seen doing household chores, gossiping, shopping and holding kitty parties. Trust me when I say, most women I know (including myself) have lives outside of these 4 stereotypical pillars of womanhood.

Also Read: The Cast Of Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah Attends Dilip Joshi’s Daughter’s Wedding.

3. Emphasized Stereotyping Of Cultures

Ahhhh where to begin with this? Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah has done its best to cover as many Indian cultures as it could. But then each person is literally a stereotypical caricature of what their culture is like. Krishnan Iyer is a dark-skinned South Indian who can’t speak Hindi properly. Roshan Singh Sodi is a Punjabi-Sikh man who is overly enthusiastic about everything and starts doing the Bhangra everywhere. The Gadha family (especially Daya) is a typical Gujrati family that will start doing the Garba at any point and carry tiffins everywhere. Having friends from all these communities and being a Gujrati myself, I can assure you that we usually just go about our day… not doing this.

4. Jethalal Crushing On Babita

Okay, why is this okay? Firstly the portrayal of Babita Iyer as the hot neighbourhood bhabhi (ew) but also Jethalal openly flirting with her constantly. And the fact that he is obvious about it too! And also Daya’s portrayal as this innocent woman who sees her husband as a God incarnate who can do no wrong so she doesn’t even see what her husband is doing. TMKOC, can we not?

5. Fat-Shaming Of Haathi Family

Okay, their name is HAATHI. The fat jokes begin from the name itself. And then the constant jokes about Hansraj Hathi getting stuck in things or breaking stuff they sit on. Also, the amount of food they have been shown to consume perpetuates this stereotype that people can only be obese if they eat too much. TMKOC, a little originality with the humour is all I ask.

While researching for this story, I heard the Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah intro song after literally years and a lot of childhood memories came flooding back to me. I do acknowledge what TMKOC meant for kids who grew up with it, like me. But we cannot ignore the clearly problematic stereotypes and cultural norms that it propagates and encourages which must have influenced a lot of young minds who grew up with it.