Mona jaisi koi nahi -- DC

She wooed the nation with Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin. And now, six years later, Mona Singh is back as a devoted mother of three in Kya Hua Tera Vada. For those of us who had almost forgotten that Mona has the ability to perform emotional scenes in a restrained manner, this serial sure is reminder of her forte as an actress.

The scene where she watches her daughter wistfully eyeing a tennis racket as she wrestles with her conscience to buy herself an ex-pensive sari strikes a chord. Or when she quietly goes about her work as her husband vents his anger out at her, she is subtle and effective. Mona, who plays her namesake, is married to Pradeep (actor Pavan Shankar) for a decade. Pavan is the average middle-class working professional who is desperately working hard for his promotion — one that will help him provide his wife and kids a better lifestyle. But, his superior passes off Pavan's project as his own to the big boss, while Pavan feels helpless and angry. Pavan Shankar is a highly underrated actor with boy-next-door looks that actually work to his advantage in this serial.

The opening scene of a chirpy Mona smiling through piles of work as the bai doesn't turn and waking up her kids with a radiant smile seems exaggerated, almost as unreal as those models in television ads, who wash clothes with bright smiles, not a hair out of place. No homemaker appears this patient when she is confronted with soiled vessels and three school -going kids first thing in the morning. But thankfully, the narrative gets more realistic as the serial progresses.

The serial highlights the woes of a married couple who yearn for some intimate moments but are trapped in the daily routine of raising three kids. The first episode is promising enough to make you watch this serial. Meanwhile, in Na Bole Tum Na Maine Kuch Kaha which began a few weeks back, Megha Vyas, who plays Sunita a widowed mother of two kids, continues to spar with Mohan a newspaper re-porter who helps her daughter place a matrimonial ad in the newspaper.

Akanksha Singh who plays Megha appears much too young to play the role of a widowed mother with an eight-year-old daughter. She also appears somewhat expressionless in crucial scenes, so it's tough to figure whether she is sad, angry or indifferent. In comparison, her co-star Kunal Karan Kapoor who plays Mohan, fits the role of a maverick reporter and is a tad better than her performance wise. The serial attempts to promote widow remarriage, which is a great social message but you also know as the characters spend time with each other, even if it is to argue, they will fall in love eventually.

Both these serials show a lot of potential for they have at least attempted to highlight real issues that families face. Now it remains to be seen how they evolve over time!