We have never portrayed weak female characters on screen: Doordarshan DG

Doordarshan has never portrayed weak female characters on screen, a top official of the public broadcaster that has given iconic female characters like Shanti and Hum Log's Badki and Chutki to the television audience of India said on Friday.

Addressing the gathering at the curtain raiser function of the Second Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) International Dance Festival on the occasion of International Women's Day, Supriya Sahu, Director General of Doordarshan, said the kind of programming the public broadcaster does, has always been path-breaking.

"We have never portrayed a woman in a role where she is shown as someone weak, who cannot take decisions and as someone who is not capable of achieving anything, contrary to what many channels have," she said.

Doordarshan is known for its popular shows like "Buniyaad" and "Hum Log", which had strong women characters.

In partnership with the ABU, the public broadcaster will host an international dance festival on Saturday, where 120 artistes from 11 countries will showcase 20 traditional dance forms.

Performers from Malaysia, Indonesia, Fiji, Maldives, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and India will be participating in the festival.

The event based on the "United by Dance" theme would bring everyone on one platform since music and dance had no specific language and aimed to bring various dance forms from across the world on one stage, Sahu said.