"Women are born to make sacrifices for men."
"Dare to Win hearts" poster
This quote comes from the 1995 Bollywood classic Film Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. The heroine Himmler (Kazor) falls in love with the male protagonist Rachi (Shah Ruk Khan), but her family has already arranged a marriage for her, and her mother asks her to sacrifice her feelings for her father's wishes.
Set against the backdrop of India's traditional patriarchal society, the film shows the heroine's story from awakening to striving to get rid of the shackles of traditional worldliness and boldly and firmly pursue her love. Kazor successfully portrayed the character of a new-age woman with an independent personality and a strong personality.
For Bollywood, one of the world's largest film production sites, the road to portraying the true face of women has been bumpy. Especially in the field of Hindi cinema, mothers on screen have long been portrayed as housewives succumbing to patriarchal pressures.
Mother India poster
For example, in the 1957 film Mother India, the ideal Indian woman was portrayed as the daughter of the state— both fully responsible for the family and loyal to her country. They have no independent personality, no life of their own, and are more like vassals of the family and defenders of feudal laws.
Stills from Mother India
But fortunately, this stereotype is being challenged.
As the globalization and liberalization of the Indian film market accelerated, by the 1990s, the surge in overseas audiences forced Bollywood producers to begin to pay attention to the viewing needs of film audiences. As a result of the conflict between the traditional female figure on the screen and the new market demand, Indian films began to rethink how to portray more realistic female characters.
Bollywood filmmakers began to portray women as a complete and three-dimensional person— an independent and self-expressive person at the helm of destiny, rather than a dramatic flat image in people's minds.
And in recent years, growing investment by international film giants like Netflix in India has also accelerated the shift in female characters in Bollywood films.
"Capital helps to make character creation more free, to help new voices emerge," says Sociologist Beheroze F. Shroff, a professor at the University of California, Irvine, "and international audiences on streaming platforms tend to prefer to see women play different roles, which makes them feel more engaged."
So what are some of the Indian film works in recent years with the theme of portraying real and three-dimensional women? Xiaobian has selected 3 of the most discussed works for everyone.
1
Tribhanga
Poster of "Three-Bending Style"
The film "Three Flexes", released on Netflix in January, is directed by the famous Indian actress Renuka Shahane, and starring Kazor, the heroine of "Win the Heart" mentioned at the beginning of the article. The film tells the story of three generations of women in a family in Mumbai from the late 1980s to the present day – grandma Nayan, mum Anu and daughter Martha – and touches on many of the uncommon female topics in Bollywood movies, such as single mothers, sexual harassment and family relationships.
"My mother always shared her mistakes with me," Shahane said in an interview with the film, "and the joy of growing up with her was that I could see her as a 'person.'"
Renuka Shahane
The three women portrayed by Shahane in the play are "real people" who have both strengths and weaknesses. They are all independent women with their own successful side, but they have also hurt each other because of their shortcomings, causing the family to drift apart over time and allow misunderstandings to form the Berlin Wall between them.
"Three Qu Quills" begins with Nayan's illness and hospitalization, telling the story of the broken family reuniting in the process of caring for Nayan, and resolving their differences, understanding each other, and finding themselves.
Actor Kazor said of the heroine she plays, Anu, "'Triflexion' is an ode to all women and their beautiful imperfections. We need to accept these imperfections and live our lives our way, as Nayan, Anu, and Martha do in this film. ”
2
Their Secrets
Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare
Poster of "Their Secrets"
Their Secret, also translated as Dolly before and Katie after, is directed by Aranqueretta Shrivastava. The film tells the story of a disillusioned Delhi wife Dolly and her cousin Katie, who came from the countryside to Delhi to chase her dreams, with their own secrets and dreams, on the road to freedom, and finally discovered and fulfilled themselves.
Dolly, a mother of two in a middle-class family, has recently had trouble with her life. She finds herself losing her sexual desire for her husband, Amy. She felt very remorseful and kept trying to cure this "disease".
Cousin Katie came down from the countryside to Delhi to chase her city dream and borrowed a house from Dolly's house. Through her work at the call center, Katie meets Pradeep, a "scumbag" who hides her married identity. However, the paper package can not hold the fire, Pradeep's lies are soon exposed, and Katie, who is immersed in sweet love, has to face the dilemma of morality and love.
The two people in the film continue to explore and search for themselves in their respective lives, and gradually understand each other and redeem each other through the conflict of ideas and choices. Dolly eventually realizes that the problem is not herself, but the marriage that killed her ideals and desires, and she decisively chooses to divorce and start a new life. And Katie also resolutely gave up this wrong relationship from the beginning, threw herself into her career, and seriously struggled with the goal of a strong woman.
Dolly and Katie had different upbringings and life circumstances, and they initially criticized each other's life choices, but eventually, they realized they weren't much different. Deep down, as women, they are looking for the same thing, longing for the same freedom.
The film revolves around women's sexual needs and desires, and is a declaration of rebellion against women's moral kidnapping, gender bias, and female stereotypes.
3
"My Girlfriend's Wedding" Veere Di Wedding
Poster of "My Girlfriend's Wedding"
Compared to the slightly heavier plot of the first two films, the overall look and feel of this movie is much lighter, and it tells the romantic comedy story of 4 girls looking for true love.
Kalindi, Avni, Sakshi, and Meera are four very good girlfriends. Kalindi agreed to the marriage proposal of her boyfriend of two years, Rishabh, so that the long-busy girlfriends of their respective lives got back together with different troubles.
Kalindi has always been very afraid of marriage because of her original family, and although she agreed to her boyfriend's marriage proposal, her heart was still wavering. Avni is a lawyer whose parents have been urging marriage, but she still waits for the person she really likes to show up. Sakshi divorced her husband and returned to her mother's house to live with her parents, but because of this matter, she was often discussed and ridiculed by the seven aunts and eight aunts. Meera, despite her family's objections, married John the American and broke with her family, and although she missed her family, she could no longer greet them.
Originally, they did not intend to talk about these troubles to each other, but on a trip to Thailand, the girls opened their hearts and told each other the things that bothered them, they helped each other sort out the key to the problem, and finally decided to return to India and bravely face their own problems.
In the film, nothing can stop the four women from acting their own way, even if such a life exhausts them.
The above are the three movies recommended by the editor, I believe that with the shackles imposed by traditional customs on Indian women are gradually broken, Indian movies can create more real three-dimensional, deeply rooted female characters.
(Exclusive to China-India Datong Network)