How Abhay Deol is CONNECTED to these women

Abhay Deol's debut television show Hum Tum Connected on Zee TV will feature six ordinary women, sharing their lives and baring their souls on national television.

The participants take hand-held HD cameras and record themselves in their own homes, capturing all that they say and do in their most personal space.

They will shoot themselves as they go to work, step out to shop or attend a class. The women, of different ages, will put their innermost hopes, fears, insecurities, mistakes, triumphs, joys and sorrow out there for the world to see.

The show is set to premiere on June 3, at 10 pm on Zee TV.

But who are these women? And what has inspired each of them to live their life in the public glare? We take a look:

Pallavi Burman, 30, fashionable shopaholic, brand manager

Pallavi studied hard, got a career in place and married a boy her parents chose.

She barely knew him and things didn't work out. Though her family could imagine no worse fate, she wanted a divorce. Her parents were deeply embarrassed and she ended up blaming herself for 'not trying hard enough.'

Well settled professionally, she's getting married again to a guy she met at a friend's party. And this time around, she's determined to do everything right. But she asks: Why should it only be up to the woman to make a marriage work?

So, what made her do this show? "I felt this is something different, very challenging because you have to be very honest about yourself. It was fun, but sometimes it was strange because you are on the streets shooting yourself, talking to the camera, people think that you are mad."

The starry-eyed small-town girl hails from a large Jat joint family in Meerut. Having lived forever in the shadows of her super-achieving sister, Mahima wants to make her own mark.

She has been living in Mumbai for the past year, trying to make a career in the glitzy world of films with no support from her typical, traditional family.

"I want to show my struggle and how this film industry works. Plus, to tell people about Mumbai, people like me who have lot of dreams and come here from small towns," says an excited Mahima.

She has a boyfriend in Delhi who does not belong to the same caste. Since things aren't quite working out for her in Mumbai, her boyfriend, just like her family, has been coaxing her to return and get married.

Yet she resists, as she must continue to strive for her dream... and perhaps something else. Will she be able to overcome the gap between her family and boyfriend, and redefine her future?

Preeti is the mother of a two-year-old, who juggles her home, clinic and her passion for bellydancing.

She wants to tick all the boxes -- the conventional ones of 'wife', 'mom', 'dentist' and 'daughter-in-law' -- as well as the unconventional ones of 'independent', 'bold' and 'dancer'. As a result, she grapples when it comes to prioritising.

Preeti says, "I agreed to do this show because I felt this show was beyond reality, with no script, no make-up and I can just be myself. In many ways, it was like looking into a mirror -- sometimes when you watch yourself behaving badly you decide not to do it again."

She quite liked the experience of shooting herself on camera.

"For me, it was a good process of discovering myself making changes and I really enjoyed it. My mom was not okay, but my in-laws were very supportive. A lot of times it happened that when I was with the camera, my husband said, 'what is this? I have just come tired from work and you are shoving a camera in my face.' But slowly all of them got used to the camera," says Preeti.

She craves the love she was denied in childhood, so she fears rocking her marriage too much. Yet her marriage prevents her from being as free as she'd like to be.

She asks herself, "Women marry for love and care -- do I really get that in my marriage?"

With two divorces behind her, she's hit rock bottom and bounced back.

Her daughter is pregnant and Madhavi is about to be a grandmother for the second time. And like a bolt out of the blue, her first ex-husband wants to get back with her.
 
Madhavi finds the concept of shooting herself on camera "terrific".

"It has never happened on television. Plus the idea of shooting yourself was not easy because we generally don't do it -- only on vacations. Being true to your feelings and sharing them on camera, and then coming on national TV is challenging."

Does her ex really want a life with her? Or does he just want closure? She tries to figure out the solution of this long and complicated relationship -- and makes a choice she will be happy with.

"There are people who go through similar conditions or even more drastic ones. It's just about how we (or I) dealt with it, which would make the difference to other women's lives. I think that is the message I want to get across," says Madhavi.