Most women-oriented films that Bollywood
produced over the years have bit the dust. On
International Women’s Day, hitlist wonders if the tides are turning
Of the many films featuring strong female protagonists that have come and gone, few have been etched onto our collective memory. It may be pointed out that box office success in Bollywood is attributed mainly to male stars and filmmakers spend big bucks to cast known actors in their films. But on the occasion of International Women’s Day, hitlist explores how some films were exceptional as they defied all trends and norms in Bollywood.
If we go back half a century, films like Mother India and Pakeezah — considered two of the finest classics of Indian cinema — were path-breaking movies. Nargis played Radha, a poor village woman who fights against odds to raise her two sons, while Meena Kumari’s Sahibjaan was the epitome of heartbreak.
The former killed her evil son for the sake of preserving justice, while the latter sacrificed her love in the film. Both characters set the tone of their respective films and ended up being huge hits too.
But some things changed in the ’80s and ’90s. While parallel cinema still dared to dabble in films dealing with feminist issues, commercially they were duds, however genuine the intention of the film-maker. Films like Prakash Jha’s Mrityudand, and Rajkumar Santoshi’s Lajja, come to mind. While these movies dealt with the bold subject of women’s triumph, they didn’t work at the box office. Most women oriented films surprisingly recieved poor response.
As if on cue, films with women playing the “hero” of the film failed miserably and consistently. Soon producers feared investing in these films.
Pakeezah centred around the life of Meena Kumari’s character Sahibjaan, who sacrifices her love in the film
However, more recently, the tide seems to be turning in favour of these films with women-oriented scripts gaineing acceptance in the industry. On their part, actresses too are more open to playing protagonists for a change.Filmmaker Gauri Shinde, who made a successful directorial debut with English Vinglish, vouches for the same. “It was difficult for me to pitch the film. I was a first-time director and I was not making a film about a young woman. It didn’t have any item numbers in it, so there were doubts in people’s minds,” she says, adding that it takes a while to draw audiences into cinema halls, but once people start liking a film, word spreads and the film’s collections pick up as well.
While Shinde found it difficult to convince studios with her film, it was a cakewalk for Santoshi. He says, “I was a successful filmmaker and nobody had any problem with my subject. During those days, films with women doing rona dhona worked well with the audiences. My films, Damini and Lajja, took the revolutionary road as they shocked audiences with their treatment of a woman-oriented theme.” |
