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Jab We Met 12 Years Ago

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It’s been 12 years since one of Bollywood’s biggest Rom-com took over our hearts with a beautiful chemistry after Jab we met was released in 2007. 

Imtiaz Ali has always managed to portray extraordinary stories about love, life and friendships that always have a heartfelt impact on us walking out of the theatre. Jab we met is one of those few Bollywood movies which had a Hollywood remake. A Hollywood movie called “leap year” was inspired by the Bollywood classic and also won several hearts. This story about two completely different people and their journey of finding love in each other in extreme circumstances sounds cliche but in this movie, there’s a lot of craziness and laughter with moments of self-realisation and tears.

Geet, a charming bubbly girl who has unrealistic dreams and doesn’t think much, makes stupid decisions and then endure them like they weren’t the consequences of her own actions, a character we can all relate to. She lives her life unapologetically and doesn’t seek anyone’s validation no matter what the outcome. When she comes across Aditya, a serious guy who always had everything planned out for him and had real pride in his thoughtful way of living. You’d think for a man who reckons so thoroughly about everything and is a lot more serious in life wouldn’t face any sort of setbacks and awful times. That’s when the movie teaches you that you could choose to live either way but life would surprise you in every aspect and you would have to face terrible times no matter what. There’s no winner or loser here. 

This movie has also taught us that no matter how hard you hit the rock bottom, tough times don’t last forever and things work out eventually. This might sound like a utopian thought but it’s just all about perspective. The movie took the common problems of the audience and gave a viewpoint for the way out. The hardships of heartbreak, rejection, being cheated on, issues with family, and career problems. How many times have we seen a future with someone and planned everything with that person and witnessed it turning out a lesson for life? It’s true that things don’t work out the way we always want them to. And it’s fine because there’s always a better side to it. It doesn’t always have to be with the person you’ve had a history with. Jab we met made me realise that it’s not about your first love, but the love of your life.

One’s never too grown-up or proud to try the most childish ways to get over things if it makes them feel better. If it makes you feel better to flush down a picture of a toxic ex, DO IT. If you’re not happy with what you’re doing in your life, it’s never too late to start over, go with it and turn things around. And you don’t always have to hate the people who are not in your life anymore, you can always learn from them and thank them and ace in life. 

Let’s not ignore the unrealistic romantic standards the movie has set for us. If the movie was a happy ending for Aditya and Geet, it was a disastrous end for Anshuman. But let’s face it, we have all been at both ends and after seeing the movie, I definitely do not want to be at the third end where I miss my train at Ratlam station and get lectured about how “Akeli ladki khuli tijori ki tarah hoti hai“.

Twelve years and no other story beats that combination of love, laughter and tears. Thank you for all the life lessons better than any Tedtalk.

Feature Image Credits: IMDB

Avni Dhawan

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Bollywood Needs to Do Better

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Bollywood influences and almost the entire population of the nation, and the Hindi movie industry’s understanding of freedom is embarrassing and this is reflected on what they decide to show us on Independence Day.

National holidays are always a reason to celebrate. Even if they do not come with a festival, they prove to be a holiday we never knew we needed. A breathing space, quite similar to a Sunday, but incredibly precious. While our lazy brain cells debate whether or not to spend the day holed up binging on a senseless television show, corporations are at work.

If we could rank holidays on the basis of which can be most easily capitalised, Independence Day would surely be at the top. It does not just carry meaning; it carries immense emotion and history, too. It also helps that independence is a spectrum – any incident in our lives could be loosely tied to the idea of freedom. The sheer number of products and the brands they belong to hence find different ways of associating themselves with this day, and frankly the results are incredibly creative and inclusive. For example, last year Ola’s campaign, #MyIndependenceDay followed Meghna Sahoo, their first transgender driver, getting ready for the day’s work or #UnitedByHope from Benetton.

Although these advertisements are produced by corporations that value profit more than anything else, they push the boundaries and very often start conversations. It is important for imaginations to be filled with myriad notions of freedom and patriotism. Bollywood, on the other hand, seems insistent on feeding us one type of patriotism and one idea of freedom. Judging by what the industry has been serving on Independence Day for the past few years, they seem obsessed with an aggressive and predominantly masculine brand of patriotism.

Let’s consider Independence Day releases of the past five years. Here’s a list for your reference-

2019 – Mission Mangal, Batla House, and 

Saaho

2018 – Toilet- Ek Prem Katha

2017 – Rustom

2016 – Brothers

2015 – Singham 2

It doesn’t take a lot to notice that the protagonist is almost always a dedicated male soldier, a dedicated male police officer, a dedicated father, etc. It’s one man’s fight to save a city or the country.

Mission Mangal stands out presenting a different brand of patriotism, one that involves the use of intelligence and team-work. Even though the poster makes it very clear that the male scientist is more important and hence takes roughly the amount of space given to five female pivotal characters, it is refreshing to see that, for once, it is not one man’s fight to make the country proud. In fact, a lot of people were involved and all of them had equally important roles to play.

Isn’t that a much more holistic and realistic approach to understanding what being a patriot is? The ability to collectively make the country a better place? The decision to release these movies on Independence Day has consequences.

They begin to set the rules for what defines patriotism for popular imagination as they set the standard. People fill theatres on Independence Day, expecting this standard and then production houses continue making this brand of movies to suit this standard. It is a vicious cycle.

Another problem with these movies is that they always end well. That one man does succeed to save the city (no surprises there). Independence Day is a happy and proud occasion but independence is a process. It did not end on 15th August and it does not end when the credits start rolling.Bollywood barely tries to scratch the surface on the idea of freedom. The amount of influence they hold on public consciousness is no secret. Yet, they steer clear of uncomfortable conversations. Mainstream production houses never produce films that make you squirm in your seats. Look at the wasted opportunity, our country still houses communities who are yet to achieve an independent existence.

Our movies need to reflect realities, they need to urge us to define our own patriotism by making decisions that benefit the country in some way. We need to stop being fed stories that make us believe that there is no work left to be done, or even if there is, there is a muscular man out there to do it.

Feature Image Credits: The Times of India

 

Pragati Thapa

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Movies versus Morality: Decoding the Rom-coms We All Love

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Different films have been loved and hated over the years for different reason,s and by different people. What remains standing over the years is the debate over Movies versus Morality.

Movies are called a basic source of entertainment; couples watch Romantic-comedies for their movie dates, families enjoy Dramatic-comedies for their family outings, and a group of friends go out to watch their favourite fantasy franchise films that come out. An average middle-class family spends 200 bucks per ticket for plain and pure entertainment purpose, so in this scenario does morality even play a part?

How does it affect a cinemagoer that the film they are watching is regressive, politically or socially incorrect, and offensive to a section of people, misogynistic or plain problematic? The bitter truth is that it doesn’t. We go watch a comedy movie which uses derogatory slangs, laugh at these “jokes”, have a gala time and come back unaffected. Some films fat shame, some are insensitive towards the LGBTQ+ community, while some just do not evoke a sense of diversity, but they are still loved and famous. Old classics like Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham or Pretty Woman are good examples of such films.

Even recent Bollywood Rom-coms or Dramedies like Lukka Chuppi or De De Pyaar De use derogatory slurs to invoke humour. Many found them funny, they did well on the box-office and the question remained the same, should these films be given the benefit of the doubt for the sake of humour?

The obvious answer is no, some might say otherwise, that comedy requires one to be free of judgement and in doing so,  they perpetuate societal stigmas. But anything that does not respect one’s identity is not funny, it is just problematic. I was six when my family went to watch Partner in the multiplex. It came out in 2007 and the experience was fun: the over-priced pop corn, large screen, the whole family together watching a funny movie. At the age of six I laughed at a grown male pretending to be a transgender to enter into a wedding as a wedding planner and this stereotypical representation engrained in my brain. The process of unlearning began early for me to understand that this representation is problematic but, for many this remains funny forever.

Unlike the popular notions, films like The Big Sick, Always Be My Maybe and Bareilly Ki Barfi prove that simpler narratives can also remain funny and distinct without depicting anything blatantly wrong. The former two get representation of diverse American population right, while the latter uses societal norms to critique the basics of our upbringing while remaining funny.

Many critics comment that not all films can have a moral base, the target audience matters along with the budgeting and production. All that remaining, I wonder why many cannot even try to put an effort to get the basics right. Yes, every film cannot be a Raazi, Piku or a Pink but the basics of being funny without hurting any sentiments, that is not a lot to achieve, specially when many shows, movies, and short films already have.

Feature Image Credits: IMDB

Sakshi Arora

[email protected]

 

 

 

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Supporting the Supporting Actors: Riders of a New Wave in Films

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“If you’re a lead actor, people are just waiting to say ‘you’re too old’ or ‘you’re too unhip.’ If you’re a supporting actor, you can just work forever.”

-Gilbert Gottfried

Actors in Bollywood and other Indian film industries have been immortalised and worshipped by hordes of loyal fans since time immemorial. By these actors, we obviously mean the heroes and heroines, the superstars who are expected to sport the complexion of Greek goddesses and bodies of Greek gods. This does not mean that these actors are not great performers; it’s just that they have been glorified in such a manner that the support system of the film-the supporting cast get ignored from mainstream discussions. From the angry, young days of Amitabh to the romantic gentleman days of Shahrukh, there was a time when it felt like supporting actors in India were just ‘supporting’ and nothing more than that.

Actors like Om Prakash and Amjad Khan (aka GabbarSingh) got some healthy critical acclaim for their performances, but fell victim to typecast and did not always get the roles that could have tapped more of their Filmfare winning potential. Meanwhile in the West, even popular lead actors like Al Pacino and Robin Williams were being mentioned in headlines for their supporting performances.  However, now the winds of change have started blowing in Indian cinema as well. Last year, Vikram Vedha emerged as a classy edgy Tamil thriller. The handsome middle-aged hunk Madhavan shone in the title role but critics and the audience went gaga over Vijay Sethupathi, who played the antagonist. He was no conventional villain; here we could see a baddie who was philosophical in his approach and could give a memorable soliloquy whenever the script demanded. Rajkumar Rao has become Bollywood’s heartthrob in recent times but in his postmodern political classic Newton, the consensus would agree that the film would not have been the same without the humorous yet realistic performances by Pankaj Tripathi and Raghubir Yadav.

These are just a few of many examples in a new Renaissance in the film industry, with filmmakers trying to get an authentic feel with authentic characters and settings. That might also explain the sudden rise in significance for the supporting artists. Often, the supporting actors are expected to get realer accents, looks, and the whole persona which is characteristic of the dweller of the town or the city in which the story is set. These actors anyway do not need to have a manufactured body and dialogue delivery because the script does not demand them to act sassy, impress the heroine and do other conventional ‘hero’ things. This ultimately leads to lesser distractions and more focus on getting into the skin of the character they are portraying. The newer generations are demanding  a cinema that provides voices from places all over, be it Bareily or Wasseypur, the quest for authenticity in the supporting acts is only increasing.

Nowadays, conventionally handsome hero material boys like Vicky Kaushal are trying to indulge themselves in supporting roles. In contrast, character-actors who started with supporting roles like Sanjay Mishra and Irrfan are getting their faces printed on major portions of film posters as they are being offered lead roles. Magazines like Forbes are proudly showcasing Nawazuddin Siddiqui on their covers. Radhika Apte has emerged as the queen who has successfully colonized the “Republic of Netflix”. This shows that supporting actors are finally getting their due.  They are inspiring the coming generations, and make sure the same is done with determination and raw talent. They are a step towards battling evils like typecasting and nepotism. The ones whose names dwelled in oblivion and did not see the light of the day are now finally basking in the limelight. 

 

Feature Image Credits: The Lunchbox 

Shaurya Thapa

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Radhika Apte and Ayushman Khurrana promote ‘Andhadhun’ at Miranda House

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Radhika Apte and Ayushmann Khurrana promoted their upcoming film Andhadhun in Miranda House today, amidst loud cheers.

In a packed auditorium filled with teachers and students (and some bouncers) actors Radhika Apte and Ayushmann Khurrana greeted the audience for the promotion of their movie Andhadhun. The members of the Miranda House Students’ Union who had organised the event, welcomed the actors.

The trailer of the movie was showcased to the students as well as an unplugged version of a new song Naina Da Kya Kasoor, sung by Mr. Khurrana that was shot in a school for the blind in Mumbai. The audience were extremely appreciative and reacted with loud cheers and claps. Pratibha Jolly, Principal  Miranda House, welcomed the actors, reminding them of the “historical place” that was Miranda House with a number of films that had been shot in the college in the past including Tamasha, Half Girlfriend and Fukrey, and its list of illustrative alumni in the performative arts such as Mira Nair and Nandita Das.

Mr. Khurrana and Ms. Apte thanked the college for inviting them. On the request of the audience, Ayushmann sang two songs. Ms. Apte described her role in the film as “twisted, but true”. She said that she enjoyed the twists and turns that the movie is replete with and hoped that the audience would also enjoy it. The movie narrates the story of a blind piano player (played by Mr. Khurrana) who witnesses a murder. Tabu, a member of the film’s cast was also supposed to be there for the event but could not make it.

However, several complaints regarding the arrangement of such an event during the college hours were raised by students. The issue of allowing commercial events like movie promotions to happen within the college premises was also deemed problematic by several students our correspondent talked to. The volunteers of the event also raised several objections. For instance, Aafreen Fathima of B.A. Programme told DU Beat, “We were told that because they are avoiding bouncers and security, human chains have to be formed. We planned out strategies and got instructions for an hour and a half, but then just 10 minutes before they arrived, bouncers came out of nowhere and asked us all to move, and that there was no need of us volunteers.”

The volunteers were also asked to dance blindfolded for two minutes when the actors were being welcomed and “act surprised” upon their arrival. Amola Shrivastava, a volunteer, said, “At the end the people who were the backbone of the event were not allowed inside the venue and were told off saying that they are done with us. I understand the importance of such events but the way it was organised and we were treated is categorically unacceptable.”

Andhadhun is a romantic thriller film directed by Sriram Raghavan.   It is set to be released on 5th October, 2018.

Feature Image Credits: Vaibhav Tekchandani for DU Beat

Sara Sohail

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Bollywood, Are You Listening?

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The Hindi film industry, right from its very inception has been misogynistic and has sexualised women. Bollywood glorifies homely or ‘sanskaari’. Women deserve better portrayal and it is time Bollywood shunned these stereotypes.

Gal Gadot’s character, Diana in Wonder Woman made me feel so powerful, that my words wouldn’t be able to do justice to describe the feeling. I cried while watching ‘Wonder Woman’, with tears of joy rolling down my cheeks. No, Diana wasn’t the hero’s love interest. She was the female lead in a film directed by Patty Jenkins, a woman. She fought for herself and for others and defended her values and principles. Men around her didn’t feel intimidated. The film got over 50% female audiences in movie theatres, an achievement for the superhero world, which generally appeals to the young and male audience.

Let’s talk about the Hindi film industry where women through the ages have been shown as weak and passive. They are made to have an identity by virtue of their association with male characters. The directors show women wearing skimpy clothes in the dance numbers and use derogatory language against women. Women’s bodies are reduced to tools for control and domination. Women are given significantly shorter, less relevant roles and speak fewer words in films.  It is quite obvious that women, even in the leading roles are replaceable; their presence on the screen doesn’t leave much of an impact or doesn’t take the story forward.

Bollywood has also been successful in normalizing stalking. Men in real life get inspired and keep on pestering and harassing women who reject them. They do not understand the word ‘No’ and believe that a woman who has rejected them is actually just playing hard to get. When they are unable to deal with said rejection, they decide to teach her ‘a lesson’, something that contributes to the revenge centric mentality that is on the rise.  One might also notice how young women are always paired with much older men. Aged women are never given substantial roles to play in films. All women characters talk about in the films are about their boyfriends, husbands and how their lives revolve around them.  Bollywood has also set absurdly high, unrealistic standards for women in terms of having an ideal body which is desirable to men. How a woman should look, dress and behave is also dictated by them.

This does not mean that film or art needs to curtain or portray women unrealistically. However, the portrayal of “real women” is extremely important. We need women who are architects, engineers and doctors, women who have careers and a life outside nurturing other men and doing emotional labour for them. We need women who defy the stereotypes and do exactly the same things as men do, except for harassing others. We need women who are in charge of their own lives and do not let others define their life choices for them. The Dirty Picture, Anarkali of Aarah, Lipstick under my Burkha and Pink changed the perception that women-centric films do not perform well at the box office. They brought the spotlight on women and how powerful and courageous they can be. It’s time that the rest of Bollywood follows suit.

Disha Saxena

[email protected]

Feature Image Credits – Forbes

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Tinsel University: Cultural Icons of DU

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From theatre artists to filmmakers to photographers, the list of remarkable alumni associated with the University of Delhi runs into volumes. The article focuses on some such names for whom the university played a crucial role and who continues to inspire its students.

While researching for this article, I bumped into some surprising names I had no idea were part of the University, a humbling reminder of the generations of history that this place has kept hidden. While we have all heard of Shahrukh Khan’s Hansraj and KMC being called the “Bachchan College”, there are many others in the field of entertainment and arts who used to walk the same corridors as we do today. Here is our not-so-comprehensive list of notable alumni in such (and allied) fields:

  1. Deepa Mehta: The critically acclaimed director who shot to fame because of her films like Fire (1996), Earth (1998), and Water (2005) is an alumnus of Lady Shri Ram College for Women in philosophy. While some have called her a transnational filmmaker, Mehta’s films have often broken boundaries such as Fire, a fierce lesbian love story that hit a whirlpool of controversy with its release. The film stars Nandita Das, a Miranda House alumni and Khulbushan Kharbanda, a Kirori Mal graduate.
  2. Rohit Bal: A leading fashion designer in India, Bal hails from Kashmir and is a graduate in history honours from St. Stephen’s College. The city also saw him starting his career with his brother Rajiv Bal in 1986. Today, Bal’s collections are sought after all over Bollywood and many celebrities like Arjun Rampal, Kareena Kapoor, and Shilpa Shetty have walked the ramp for him.
  3. Anjolie Ela Menon: Veteran painter and Padma Shri awardee, Menon is a graduate in English honours from Miranda House. She is now considered one of the leading contemporary artists of India, her paintings beings showcased in major collections all over the world.
  4. Anurag Kashyap: The gritty, “director of the masses”, is an alumnus of Hansraj College. Kashyap’s films such as Gangs of Wasseypur (2012) and D (2009) have been both commercial and critical successes pushing him into the limelight.
  5. Manoj Bajpayee: National Award-winning actor Manoj Bajpayee studied in both in Satywati College and Ramjas College, immersing himself in the campus theatre scene during his college days. As he told Times of India, “Those three years of DU were life-changing for me. I went from someone who could not read the front page of the Times of India to reading George Bernard Shaw and Shakespeare.”

 

Feature Image Credits: 24 Update News

Sara Sohail

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Rajputs versus Khiljis: Reviewing Movie Padmaavat

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Malik Muhhamad Jayasi of Awadh penned a poem in the sixteenth century, glorifying the beauty of Rani Padmini. She, whose existence is itself a controversial issue, did not fail to enamour the readers of the poem and the spectators of the movie through the legend of her beauty and bravery.

After many contentions to the release of the historic movie Padmaavat, it was finally showcased on the 25th of January – almost two months late after the original release date. Sanjay Leela Bhansali is an artist of great taste and has a penchant for the historical Indian royal portrayals. From Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999) to Bajirao Mastani (2015), this producer and director has never failed to awe the Indian audience. This movie is one of the most expensive movies Bollywood has ever produced – with a budget of over Rupees 200 crores.

This movie, Bhansali’s magnum opus was originally titled Padmavati, after the name of the poem Padmavat by Jayasi. The title was modified as the filmmakers have attributed their creative source to the fictional poem, and not history. The existence of the events described in this poem has little authenticity. Though Alauddin Khilji had won Chittor, during that period there is no mention of any character as Padmavati in history. Historians point that not even Amir Khusrau (prolific writer of Alauddin’s court) mentioned Padmavati and the ruler’s longing for her. However, Rajputs claim the existence of Rani Padmini of Chittor.

The entire cast has been terrific throughout the movie. Ranveer Singh played the tyrannous Alauddin Khilji, Deepika Padukone portrayed Rani Padmavati, and Shahid Kapoor depicted the King of Chittor Raval Ratan Singh. From the very first look of Padmavati, Deepika portrayed feminine delicateness along with Rajput valour with finesse. The onscreen chemistry of the King of Chittor and the Rani was missing but the grandeur of the couple and their heroism while fighting the tyrannous Khilji was portrayed perfectly. Alauddin has been portrayed as the oppressive ruler who longs for Rani Padmavati after he hears about her from the traitor of Chittor, Raghav Chetan. He contrived the Rajputs to possess the beautiful Rajput queen. After the foreseen defeat of the Rajputs, Rani Padmavati and the women of Chittor commit jauhar (self-immolation) for the sake of their honour. The very last scene has been applauded by many, as the queen stepped into the burning pyre in the entrance of the fort – marking a great sacrifice in the name of the kingdom.

Despite all high alerts due to the upheavals by the Karni Sena, this movie is worth the wait and money. It is an amalgamation of considerable hard work from all the artists involved and deserves to be thoroughly appreciated.

 

Feature Image Credits: India

Radhika Boruah
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Bollywood Imitates Life and Vice-Versa

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Bollywood movies take inspiration from real life but commits mistakes as well. People take the liberty of imitating anything from Bollywood which they need to careful about.

It is widely acknowledged that art imitates life. Movies as art forms constitute a big part of our lives. Movies take inspiration from real life whether the genre is comedy, romedy, action or horror.

Over the decades, Bollywood has imitated from life and produced movies like Mary Kom, Guru, Border, Chak de India, No One Killed Jessica and more. By turning a real-life story into a movie, it reaches masses that are free to form their interpretations of the same. Turning a real-life story into a movie gives a personal angle of the story to which people connect.
Some people complain that certain movies paint a rosy picture or don’t portray reality. For instance, the extravagance or grandeur of movies like Dil Dhankne Do or Ae Dil Hai Mushkil don’t lie entirely. To some extent, they showcase the reality of the upper strata or relationships in their crudest form.

On a funny note, Salman Khan’s signature step of Dabaang movie was inspired from his makeup-men or security guards. Movies like Dabaang and Singham try to reinstall our faith in the police force. We often come across similar stories.
To add to the touch of reality, celebrities often shoot on real-life locations and even campuses like Delhi University, IITs or IIMs. It so happens that most of the students seen in such movies are actual students of the institutions.

One of the most heated debates of recent times has been the endorsements of skin-lightening creams. Why does the country require them? It’s because girls are conditioned that beauty is only about fairness. When people started accepting their bodies, Bollywood changed its perspective too.

There are numerous instances that people imitate Bollywood as well and I don’t just mean clothes. Smoking is often portrayed in the movies as cool which the youngsters have adopted too. People are made to believe that drinking alcohol helps in solving problems but it never does. Bollywood movies often validate stalking of women by whistling or passing lewd comments. It even normalizes the fact that pursuing a woman aggressively will make her fall in love with you but all these notions are so incorrect.

There have been incidents in the past when young kids would imitate movie stunts endangering their lives but such things have finally stopped. But people often take inspirations from Bollywood movies to plan and execute thievery or even murders.
Both Bollywood and people need to be careful of what they portray and imitate.

 

Feature Image Credits: The Edge

Prachi Mehra
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Sexism And The Big Screen

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Recently, with the movie mogul Harvey Weinstein being accused of sexual misconduct by various female celebrities, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Ashley Judd, etc, we are bound to think about the ugly insides of this superficially glamorous industry. All of woman kind, from the subjugated woman working silently in the kitchen to the A-listed women with the commanding personality seen on the bigger screen, everyone at some point has been victim to patriarchy and male chauvinism.

In all of history, the film industry, primarily Hollywood and it’s Indian compeer, Bollywood have been reinforcing sexism. Over sexualizing and objectifying the female characters has always been a marketing strategy. Women in the film industry are often seen as a sum of their sexuality, rather than their talent.

The sexism existing in the film industry is too transparent. In mainstream commercial Bollywood films, the institutionalization of the “item” songs, derogatory lyrics, dialogues like “Marriage se pehle ladkiyan sex object hoti hain aur marriage ke baad they object to sex” – Kambakkht Ishq suggest the blatant sexist nature of the industry, while depicting the idea that the ultimate goal of the woman is to satisfy the male gaze. In this adulterated industry, too often the commodification of women is sugar coated in the form of entertainment.
In an entertainment driven country like India, things seen on screen have a great influence on the larger audience. The over sexualized content, results in the increasing brutality against women. “For most Indian men, social interactions with the opposite sex are severely limited. What they see on screen guides much of their perceptions of women,” opined journalist Ruchika Tulshyan on Forbes. “Portraying women as sex objects has far-reaching ramifications from normalizing eve-teasing and stalking, to glorifying rape and murder.”

Other than being constantly objectified, actresses also encounter other problems in the face of this corporate misogyny like the disparity in the wage gap, where an actor is paid more on the sole basis of the fact that he is a man. The idea of the male breadwinners is outdated but the paychecks do not reflect that, because the pay is not at par. The women in the industry are also verbally and sexually harassed. A little cleavage turns into sensational news, interview questions directed towards knowing which of their co-stars would they rather sleep with, or being propositioned with various decadent conditions for a role.
The position of female actress in the film industry is a strenuous one. She is made an object of scrutiny. Where everything she does bears numerous repercussions. Barring few exceptions, mainstream cinema in India “has a “patriarchal, sexist and misogynistic” character,” says Ranjana Kumari, Director of Centre for Social Research and member of the National Mission for the Empowerment of Women . “Our cinema exploits the Indian psyche and the mindset that has sexist notions about women’s bodies and this is used and exploited by cinema. Barring some films, where women have been in lead roles or acted as protagonists, in most cases, women are used as a representation of good bodies. This is done to titillate,” she adds.

 

Feature Image Credits: Tes Teach

Trishala Dutta
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