The beloved family show is meant to put a smile on our face. However, one can’t lose sight of the inappropriate and distasteful comedy we are served. Our parents never miss out on any opportunity to disapprove of the content we watch. Television shows these days evoke the same concern in me (for my parents, of course).  

Jethalal and Babita ji, played by Dilip Joshi and Munmun Dutta respectively, have an equation on the show all of us are aware of. He flirts with her, on several occasions, while she smiles wide and plays along. Now, the concerning factor here is the infatuation of a married man towards another woman packaged as ‘innocent flirting’.  

A little while back, rumours related to co-stars from the show dating led to uproar on social media. Munmun Dutta (34) and Raj Anadkat (24), who features as Jethalal’s son Tappu, are allegedly in a relationship. Dutta was age-shamed and slut-shamed on social media over the age-gap of around 9 years. 

“Women are constantly AGE SHAMED, SLUT SHAMED, MOM SHAMED, at the cost of your humour,” she replied in an Instagram post, now unavailable. 

Although the actor lashed out at trolls, the episode makes me question the fact that a similar concern wasn’t expressed over unending flirtation between Jethalal and Babita. 

Before someone comes with an argument that it’s a work of fiction, haven’t we frequently questioned other fictional works?

Viewers have almost never flinched on this aspect or protested enough to be taken seriously.

In fact, their relationship has become a source of memes on social media. 

In a supposed family show, a married man flirting with another woman is sold to us as humour. The lack of criticism towards this aspect has its roots in the patriarchal mindset of our society, which doesn’t mind a man doing so even in real-life.