2 years, 1 month ago-
Bollywood, which is no doubt the most popular film Industry in India and one of the most popular film industries of the world boasts many iconic films and many actors and actresses have shot to fame due to Bollywood. Yet, it has its faults. One of them being the portrayal of women in films.
Women have been subject to many stereotypical roles such as the damsel in distress, the seductress, the reward for the hero and so on. Women are much more than male arm candy. They are their own people. Women are often seen as secondary in Bollywood movies since the male hero is much more important.
Movies promote toxic masculinity and toxic relationships. Many romance movies have the plot where the girl rejects the boy but the boy tries to do everything in his power to date her and at the near end of the film the girl has a change of heart and they live happily ever after. They also glorify stalking, lack of consent and rape. You might be wondering why this even matters because this is just a movie and that this doesn’t happen in the real world. Young men admire these heroes onscreen and when they see their hero enacting these types of behaviors, they feel that it’s okay and they would want to do the same thing to their crush. We have to understand that there is a difference in what we see and what we do. It’s fiction, and this is our real life. We will suffer the consequences of our actions if we’re not careful and that love isn’t all sunshine and rainbows.
Male directors, scriptwriters and producers outnumber the amount of female directors, scriptwriters and producers. Some male directors do not portray women in their films well. Most of the women in their films are based on misogynistic stereotypes and sexism.
Fortunately, there are female lead films which are popular and are directed by Women, one of the examples being English Vinglish directed by Gauri Shinde. Raazi is also a good movie with a female lead who isn’t a stereotype.
The times are changing. People want to consume media which is free of stereotypes. Women are raising their voices more and some are actually listening. I hope that there will be more female lead movies which aren’t stereotypes. I hope that movies will be enjoyed by all, and not just the target audience.The story of every hero is incomplete in Indian cinema’s history without saving the heroine, the heroine, the “damsel in sorrow.” Though women’s participation has been vital in Indian cinéma, the question remains, is it an important instrument for constructing a patriarchal empire, or simply a stereotype? It’s time to look back at the movie “Kabir Singh” which breaks records at the box office, and people applaud the person in charge for all the wrong reasons. It’s worth telling the story of Kabir Singh, but in Indian cinema, there is a load of obligations besides the representation of such a problematic subject. Justifying the defective behavior, particularly as Sandeep Reddy Vanga did, does not help. The reason why we have to look at this issue, not just push it apart, is that these films have a widespread impact on our culture. In India, the movie business has expanded to represent our companies nearly not only in India but internationally. The industry has grown in India. With approximately 1000 films made annually, India’s film industry is the largest in the world. Indian films have an audience of almost four billion. Everything can be traced back to the movies from the way we dress up in areas we wish to visit throughout the world to even the romance in our lives. The burgeoning film industry showcases stories of individuals of various kinds. The regional film industry is now thriving too, and people are seeing movies in the language of their region. Cinema has become the most popular medium of communication, being affordable and widely accessible. Women have evolved over time in Indian cinema. Women have played mostly decorative items for a long time in Hindi movies. Or they are more likely to be presented as victims and martyrs, even in films with key parts. Films like “Kunku” have seldom been shown as powerful women who can raise their voices against injustice, rebel, and make their own political statements. In our films, our problem is more than that, since most film-goers in theatres are men rather than women, it has become a means to get the audience involved. That leads us to the issue that we first of all have to address. Reel versus Real! Real! When it comes to screens, female performers often engage in roles that are highly inappropriate for women, without truly thinking about the probable ramifications. Today though, the potential impact of such a reel portrait on society is being steadily realized. Over the years, we have both had a beneficial and a negative effect on everything we’ve watched in movies. Well, it is over and cannot be dismissed. Since we have realized that films have such a huge effect on our society, we can also ensure that women are respected.
Media plays a huge role in shaping someone’s opinion, especially youth. And if today’s youth is influenced by something the most, it has to be Bollywood movies. Bollywood movies have been known to be very misogynistic and sexist by their very nature. They have been known to glorify toxic relationship traits and objectifying women’s bodies countless number of times. They have either presented women as someone to be worshipped or someone to be constantly ridiculed and berated, they are rarely presented as normal human beings. Women’s narratives are taken away from them are just used for the propoganda purposes of big media houses.
The contemporary actress Anushka Sharma was recently noted saying,
“It was liberating for me to stand up and do this for myself. I was done seeing myself as an accessory and I vowed that as a producer I would not allow any woman to be portrayed regressively. So, my film choices and then my productions are a testimony to the fact that I’m committed towards sparking a conversation in society about equality, self-respect and empowerment.”
As things are changing in the society, so is the portrayal of women in movies. There have been numerous movies in the present day where women are portrayed respectfully and presented as characters with depth and not just two-dimensional supporters.
So obviously, things have changed both in real as well as reel life. But we still need to work on the betterment of how we treat women, be it in the society or in the movies, a change needs to be made towards the better!
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