Kanchi Kaul and Shakti Anand at The Park on Tuesday. Picture by Pabitra Das

From kitchen politics and bedroom banter to surrogate motherhood and artificial insemination, Indian television is finally growing up. Not only are the soaps and serials changing their themes but actors are coming out of the saas-bahu woodwork and living more real characters on the small screen.

Sony?s latest big-ticket production Ek Ladki Anjaani Si, which has replaced Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin in the Monday to Thursday 9.30 pm slot, is one of the new breed of TV serials. The lead pair of Shakti Anand and Kanchi Kaul was in town on Tuesday to promote the month-long serial.

Ek Ladki Anjaani Si, adapted from Venezuelan telenovella Juana Le Virgen, is about 18-year-old Ananya (Kaul) who becomes pregnant after a freak case of accidental insemination at the clinic. The father is 32-year-old industrialist Nikhil (Anand) who is a cancer survivor and desperate to become a father.

?It is a very big show for both of us,? said Kaul, who did modelling before getting into acting. Anand seconded her view: ?The channel?s shown a lot of confidence in us by placing us in the Jassi time slot.?

Anand, who has been busy with the saas-bahu serials himself, is relieved to have finally got a role that is more real. ?In your career as an actor you get to play many people and it is you who can make every role a dream role,? said the man who was recently seen dancing with his wife Sai Deodhar Anand in STAR One?s reality contest Nach Baliye.

For Kaul, the anjaani ladki, a title role in a television serial is a better bet than a bit role in a film. ?I am giving my 500 per cent and I am happy that people are already relating to my character,? she smiled. ?Hopefully, it will grow in the days to come.?