Bengal is well known for its rich culture and heritage of sweets. With the rise of consciousness around health and innovation in sweet making, the old, traditional sweets of Bengal are dying a slow death much like the culture of joint families which are slowly losing relevance in today’s fast-paced lifestyles.

Zee Bangla in their endeavor to stay connected to their culture and heritage has come up with a new serial titled Mithai. Mithai is a warm, feel-good, story of going back to the roots, and celebrating family values and rituals.

Many sweet businesses have adapted themselves to the modern demand, but there are many more families and independent owners who are still sticking to the age-old traditions and still woo people with their delicacies.

The story revolves around a business family that has stood strong for over 50 years. The Modak family, residing in South Kolkata, is known for its traditional Bengal sweets and has many franchises across Calcutta. The business is three generations old and was started by Shri Siddheswar Modak. The family is the ideal family celebrating relationships. But Siddhartha, the current generation of the family had a difficult childhood as he lost his mother at a young age. He is the modern-day health-conscious man who doesn’t like sweets and has no interest in being part of the family business.

While our male lead has a worldly outlook, the female protagonist Mithai comes from the rural heart of Bengal. Deeply rooted in the heritage and culture of Bengal, Mithai was born to a sweet-making karigar family and is a karigar herself. She makes delicious ‘Monohara’ sweet and comes to Kolkata every day to sell them. On one such day, she is introduced to the Modak family. As she immediately wins everyone’s hearts, she takes up a challenge to get Siddharth to love her sweets. Thereon, she embarks on an endearing journey to bring Siddharth back to the family beliefs and take the business to greater heights.

The concept is entirely developed and produced in house and directed by Rajendra Prasad Das and written by Shaswati Ghosh.

Mithais’ character is played by Soumitrisha Kundu. The actress has acquired the skills of sweet making from ‘moiras’ (sweet maker) for this role and the male lead Siddharth is played by Adrit Roy.

This show will revisit many forgotten parts of Bengali culture especially sweets like Monohara and show the nostalgia of a joint family.

Mithai will be aired from 4^th January, Monday-Saturday at 8 PM.

Priyanka Dutta