Actress Surbhi Jyoti in the Zee TV serial Qubool Hai; a kurta in an Islampur shop inspired by Surbhi’s style as protagonist Zoya in the serial. Picture by Mehedi Hedaytullah

Islampur, Aug. 7: A TV serial is ushering in a quiet revolution in the markets of Islampur as young girls are frantically hunting for a certain kind of jeans as the Id fashion statement.

The jeans-clad Zoya Farooqui reaches Bhopal from the US to search for her father in the Zee TV serial Qubool Hai. She agrees to get married to a person chosen by her relatives but runs away from the wedding venue when the groom’s family tries to force her into the marriage.

She keeps looking for her father while staying with a local family.

The pretty, trendy Zoya, played by Surbhi Jyoti, is happy-go-lucky and messy in her habits, and the handsome, rugged Asad, who belongs to the family, is stern and conservative in his mindset, and of course, they fall in love.

As they get on to the roller-coaster ride of their passionate love affair, their relatives conspire. But Zoya with her blend of tradition, rebellion and contemporary cool survives the tortuous murderous schemes and keeps winning hearts, on the screen and outside it.

For many young Muslim girls across the country she is a role model whose jeans are also an inspiration. As a result many girls from Islampur will be wearing jeans for the first time. Zoya-style jeans and kurtis are a rage this Id as are other clothes worn by Zoya.

Qubool Hai is a register of the community’s encounter with modernity, especially in the lives of women.

Minnat Parveen from Islampur, a second-year BSc student of Siliguri College, said she had bought jeans and a full-sleeved top for Id inspired by Zoya. She will be wearing jeans for the first time.

Minnat, whose father is a schoolteacher and mother a homemaker, was not allowed to wear jeans before.

“I like Zoya,” says Minnat, because she is different.

But the dresses she wears are decent.

“In an episode, she was attending a religious event wearing jeans and a shirt. Some people object to the kind of dresses she wears. But Asad’s mother, protesting strongly in Zoya’s favour, says that it is enough for the heart to be pure. Nek irada chahiye. If we carry pure desires in our heart, Allah will grant us our wishes. The dress doesn’t matter,” says Minnat.

“Besides, the lady pointed out that the dress did not expose Zoya in any way. I had asked my parents many times to allow me to wear jeans. They had refused. But my mother watches Qubool Hai and likes it. So, she understood this time,” says Minnat.

Her mother Jasmin Parveen agrees.

Like Minnat, Nilofar Parveen, a second year pass course student of Islampur College, is soon going to don the “Zoya dress” — her first pair of jeans with a kurti.

“I have been asking my mother for a pair of jeans for a very long. But now, I have got them because my mother also likes the serial,” she says.

Nilofar’s elder brother, schoolteacher Hasib Raja, says he allowed his sister to wear jeans because of the values associated with them in the serial. “We need purity of intention. Nek irada,” he says.

Selina Parveen has bought jeans and a long white kurta. Earlier, she was also asked not to wear jeans. But her mother Shamima Khatun, a homemaker, said she watches the serial and approves of her daughter’s choice.

Other than jeans, anarkali and churidar sets, worn by Zoya in the serial, are a rage.

Rumpi Taj has bought one.

Zoya’s style is also popular in Kishanganj in Bihar, about 25km from Islampur.

Owners of garment stores in Islampur said customers mostly looked for “Zoya dresses”.

Shop owner Bhola Sheikh said earlier, very few Muslim girls would buy jeans.

Avinash Chowdhury, also a shopowner, said the dresses were priced between Rs 1500 and Rs 4,000.

Another shopowner said TV serials often started new trends and adding, “Zoya dresses” were a craze all over north Bengal.

“The serial shows true respect for women. If we don’t have that, we can’t stop crimes against women,” says Minnat.