ROLE OF ENTERTAINMENT EDUCATION IN WOMEN DEVELOPMENT: A CASE STUDY OF 'ADHAFULL,' 'NAVRANGI RE!' AND 'LIFE NAVRANGI'

Abstract

Entertainment Education (EE) drama intentionally designs and executes a media message to fulfill entertainment and education purposes to increase audiences' knowledge and awareness about educational issues. It is a strategy for consciously crafting drama serials to increase audience knowledge about social issues, change their behavior, shift social norms, and create attitudes (Wang et al., 2020). EE dramas can help by providing a lens that not only involves women's specific gendered roles but broadcasts programs on male identity that address gender equality and express the relationship between men and women (Lapsansky & Chatterjee, 2013). With the help of storytelling techniques, EE drama spreads awareness about a social problem. Still, it is necessary to understand how EE dramas directly or indirectly support women's empowerment and social awareness and how they portray female characters in programs. There is a chance to improve women's status by appealing to audiences' behaviour and providing information about women's social status. The study aims to explore how EE dramas have put forth women's development and social awareness by involving both men and women through storytelling techniques. This study analyzes the content of three entertainment–education dramas Adhafull (Half Full) (2016), Navrangi Re! (Nine to a Shade) (2019), and Life Navrangi (2022). The study traces the lineage of the arguments to the Entertainment-education programs, EE program, women empowerment, the portrayal of female characters, social awareness, and gender equality. This study assesses the research findings in changing behaviour, and the results show that the portrayal of the female characters and direct information about the social issue (gender inequality, domestic violence, health, and hygiene) is essential to motivate women to fight their battles against invisibility by getting inspired by role models and social awareness programs. The outcome explains that EE programs portray women as career-oriented, strong, choosing different career paths, and aware of health and sanitation. This study will spread consciousness in society on recognizing EE programs as a source of social awareness and women's development. The government and NGOs will have a new approach to launching new schemes for social issues by learning about EE drama and the characters' role in persuading an individual behaviour.