Let Heera Mandi breathe.

While a number of ethical, moral, ritual, cultural practices are highly criticized and frowned upon in Chand Garehan, there are a number of instances upon which the implicit critique is not justified. This is particularly true when the hotel owner who runs a human trafficking side business is seen as formalizing his unlawful acts under the institution of filmmaking; a very typical and unjustified dogma in our society already. The problem however is that while this possible issue is highlighted it juxtaposes no other image and dimension of the film industry hence showcasing a reductionist image of it. As Said states that dramas play a much more perpetuating role than one foresees and shapes the public opinion in a crucial capacity hence every major comment the drama makes is of great importance. This is very true for Chand Garehen because it was aired at a time when only one TV channel was to cater all of the audiences’ needs. Rather than altering the idea that was held by the majority and channeling it to the right direction, as it does with majority of the issues being tackled, this drama merely reinforced the stigma with the film industry.

Secondly, the end that Gul Bahar comes to also proposes a problematic implication. The underlying idea is that motherhood and independence stemming from working in the showbiz industry do not go together. This again mimics a widely held belief of the incapability of women’s effectiveness in the domestic sphere when they are entertainers or ‘gana bajane wali auratain’. The ending note that Gul Bahar does not even fight her right of getting Guddu back speaks a lot on the subject. How she realizes her agency through singing eventually also is a comment on how someone who gets associated with that class and profession keeps returning to it- another stereotype. Chand garehan must be credited with taking a number of bold steps, but just as much as the feudal landscape was in need of a breather, so was heera mandi in its own right.