Drama on late Prime Time on Star Plus unfolds on the streets of Bundalganj and in a Delhi courtroom. The two shows which have taken telling turns in their plot are Tamanna and Dehleez. Tamanna which started as a young woman cricketer’s quest for a berth in the national squad quells the fire with a failed marriage and a child to look after. With the help of her mentor Roy sir, she relocates to Meerut to coach a school team in Bundalganj. She braves the hostility of her students, her scoffing colleagues and the narrow mindset, about a single mother and her daughter out on their own. Once the last legal hiccup with her erstwhile husband is taken care of, the question is what now?
The script went slightly soft, waiting to take the next bend. With Dhara being honored for her achievements, with a pronounced women empowerment track.
Known for communal conflagrations and long closures, one such was simply waiting to happen in Meerut. The politics of communalism had the party heads of opposite factions create the trouble they so wanted. The honchos had used their troublemakers --- Sanjay Pratap Singh and Salamat Ali Khan -- well in the past to wreak havoc. Wiser counsel prevails and as the two team up to quell disturbances, the forces use miscreants to kill Gafoor Chacha, the mattress maker. As the well loved old man lies dying, Sanjay and Salamat join hands to promote peace.
Dhara and her cricket team, some of whom were beaten up mercilessly, take to the streets to promote peace. Will it work?

Dehleez has taken a sharp turn around. Swadheenta and Adarsh’s post- nuptials are hijacked by a series of terrorist attacks, where DCP Abhay, the youngest son of Suhasini and Manohar Sinha a powerful couple in Delhi’s political and legal circles is shot down. Asaad Jilani, Swadheenta’s brother is killed in an encounter by the police, who mistake him for the terrorist who killed Abhay, as he is in a photograph with the two terrorists who were human bombs. His father Haider Jilani, a university professor is arrested for having brought a pressure cooker bomb as a gift for the young couple. The audience knows that the supposed gift was brought by the absconding third terrorist who has masterminded the attacks.
As the Sinhas mourn Abhay’s demise, despite her parents’ warnings, Swadheenta goes out on a limb for the dead Asad and jailed Hyder - her brother and Mamu. She knows they are innocent and have wrongly been accused. The Sinhas are putting their high powered connections to nail Haider Jilani. Swadheenta, also a lawyer by profession takes up Haider’s defense. She is aware of the missing terrorist and has already brought him up in the first hearing. With Suhasini Sinha herself an eminent lawyer, Swadheenta may soon face her formidable mother-in-law in a court battle.
Both Tamanna and Dehleez provide relief to melodrama weary viewers with out-of-the-box content and location change like Tamanna -- which starts in Jamnagar and is now unfolding in Meerut. Dehleez has zeroed in on families of bureaucrats and their high powered life styles which are constantly under a tight security scanner.
Star Plus sure is once more setting a new standard for content.
I was astonished at the script team of Meri Awaz Hi Pehchan Hai, where Sorab Mistry’s mother tells Devika Gaikwad to do the Godh Bhairai for Ketki as she (a Parsi) has no such ritual. For the script team to know, Parsis do have a similar ritual and it’s called Agharni. A piece of advice to writers: do a bit of digging when including characters from minority groups.
Tanmay Vekaria, who plays the bumbling Bhagha in Tarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chasma has played multiple small parts in TMKOC in the very early episodes. Each appearance is memorable, but nothing will be quite like his current role of Bhageshwar. What an entertainer!