Feminism & Art

Feminism & Art

I sorely miss watching a good film in a cinema hall with popcorn and coffee. The joy of watching films full screen, in a darkened hall is a delight to my senses. My perfect date remains a good film with caramel popcorn and coffee.

But I must admit that Indian films with women being the main protagonist are far and few. Most commercially successful Indian films revolve around the hero, the heroine, the villain and the vamp.

There are films like Masan, Thappad, Newton, Aligarh, Death In The Gunj Etcetc These make for the most enjoyable time spent watching in awe the power of cinematic excellence and story telling.

Looking back at popular films with ludicrously made up sets. My favourite remains the vamp. She to me, always seemed to be having the most amount of fun. She flirts uninhibited with multiple men, drinks and enjoys her life.

In these stories the heroine is portrayed as a virgin who is shy. She is also okay being slapped once in a way by the hero.

The villain and the hero both lusts after the comely, silent heroine. She is clueless about pepper sprays or self defence classes. The hero is her only saviour.

Kabir Singh was the perfect example of a macho film that had much less to offer to an intelligent viewer. But sadly the film was a major hit.

In this film the heroine was given very few lines, she just had to look pretty and get slapped by the hero who is crazy and wets his pants overdosing on drugs.

This film had left me feeling disgusted.

With the new wave of feminism. More women are getting aware of the false image of docility we are fed with. I do await for halls to reopen and more films with the heroine as the main protagonist.

We need story lines where she must be admired for having kissed many frogs before she found her prince. She must love her single malts and must he portrayed bold in the boardroom and in the bedroom too.

Today film viewing has changed with Netflix, Mubi, Amazon Prime, all in the comfort of your home. We don’t know when halls will reopen and it will be house-full again.

But as I wait for things to become normal. I hope there are more women centric films all ready to be screened in halls across India. Storylines with heroines who have fought the pandemic, heroines who stood up against domestic violence, heroines who started a home career, heroines who dared to say No.