Television
Leena Gangopadhyay is the script writer for popular Bengali serials including 'Ishti Kutum', and 'Andarmahal'.She has also co-directed two Bengali films 'Maati' (Earth) and 'Sanjhbati' (Evening light).
Her serials have been remade in multiple regional Indian languages. 'Sreemoyee' written by Gangopadhyay was made in Hindi (as Anupama), Kannada (as Inthi Nimma Asha), Marathi (as Aai Kuthe Kay Karte), Malayalam (as Kudumbavilakku), Telugu (as Intinti Gruhalakshmi), Tamil (as Baakiyalakshmi). Yet another serial written by Leena Gangopadhyay 'Mohor' was remade in Kannada as 'Sarasu', Hindi as 'Shaurya Aur Anokhi Ki Kahani', Malayalam as ‘Koodevide', Marathi as ‘ Swabhiman – Shodh Astitvacha ’, Tamil as 'Kaatrukkenna Veli’ and Telugu as 'Guppedantha Manasu'.
While Leena Gangopadhyay's serials have been popular, controversy has not been far behind. She has been criticised and trolled on social media for writing stories that are regressive, called to end a few of the serials with reasons cited including lack of originality in storyline, repetitiveness in plot, the negative influence on society like the serial Guddi [7] and lack of sensitivity in portrayal of a community or people like Ishti Kutum. [8] However, Gangopadhyay, believes that we cannot call the serials progressive or regressive. In an interview with The Telegraph, she said “Writing for television is very different from writing novels. An author can be selfish but a scriptwriter will always have to keep her audience in mind. Television is after all a reflection of society. You cannot deny what exists in society. Regressive points of view exist. That is why we have them in television serials”. [9]
