Gloria Steinem once said, “Some of us are becoming the men we wanted to marry." None embody this thought as well as Ankita Bansal on Indian Matchmaking. While the show’s other singles asked matchmaker Sima Taparia to find them tall, slim, and fair spouses, Ankita was looking for an equal. Her passion for her career and fashion brand shone through, even though she didn’t meet the man of her dreams on the Netflix show. And that’s exactly why the viewers got more invested in knowing about her business than her dating life.
Indian Matchmaking fans meet Ankita at work during a photoshoot where they get a glimpse of her “boss lady” avatar. “It’s time to be equal,” she tells the camera as she confesses that the basic interpretation of an independent woman in society makes dating difficult. Just because one is independent doesn’t mean they’re not marriageable, stubborn or arrogant. Ankita reveals how her weight was always a concern for nosy relatives regarding her marriage but she rebelled and focused on her career instead. On her first meeting with expert matchmaker Sima Taparia, Ankita tells her that she’s recently started her garment business where she and sister Mallika look after the designing and manufacture process. Taparia along with a relationship expert Geeta tries to help Ankita find a match for an arranged marriage, but things don’t work out when Geeta passes sexist remarks which Ankita dismisses. She’s also set up on a date that goes well, but Ankita later finds out from a Google search that the man, Ksithij was previously married. Disappointed with the way things have turned out, Ankita meets a life coach through Taparia and decides to make her career and passion a priority over marriage.
Ankita’s storyline on Indian Matchmaking has been a wholesome lesson on women empowerment. Having dealt with body image and low self-esteem issues all her life, Ankita’s career is what really gives her her independence and confidence to fight the world. Her eyes light up when he tells Kshitij about her business called There! a denim-wear brand that she co-founded in 2018. Her brand's website too, speaks about the clothes being the very antithesis of fashion, in how they celebrate the individual before the attire. During her date, Ankita reveals that she first launched the business online, but it being focused on garments, has been picking up pace slowly. Interestingly, it can be noted how Ankita doesn’t display the same excitement when she talks about how long she’s been participating in the arranged marriage process. Indian Matchmaking fans have noticed how Ankita, in reality, got them more intrigued in her business than her dating life with the dedication she showed towards it.
“Marketing your new business on Netflix like a boss,” tweeted a fan about the Delhi entrepreneur, while, “we stan a queen of business and marketing,” wrote another. However, a tweet that really makes one think about Ankita’s business development skills is one that says, “My Indian Matchmkaing fave is Ankita. From the beginning, I got the sense that she hired Sima not very seriously but more tongue in cheek or ironically or maybe for business exposure.” The user continued, “At every stage, she seems calmly even aware of the ridiculousness of the whole system.”
Since its premiere last week on Netflix, Indian Matchmaking is getting flak for its glamorous portrayal of the regressive aspects of arranged marriages in India. Be it the demand of tall, fair, and slim brides by the characters, or even Taparia calling Ankita “non-photogenic,” the show has met with immense criticism via various outlets. All the negativity aside, it was characters that like Ankita that used Netflix's platform to tell stories of breaking societal norms and forging your own path without worrying about “the ticking clock of marriage." Ankita surely came hoping to find an equal match for herself on Indian Matchmaking but left with fans who stayed to root both her and her fashion brand.
All episodes of Indian Matchmaking are now available to stream on Netflix.
Source: There!, Gaurav Sabnis