Portrayal of Women in Mainstream Vs. Ar Cinema
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This document discusses the portrayal of women in mainstream and art cinema in India. It provides a brief history of Bollywood and analyzes how women have been depicted from the 1930s to present. In mainstream films, women's roles have largely been reduced to decorative objects for male pleasure or upholders of tradition. In contrast, parallel or art cinema presents more realistic and complex portrayals of women, addressing topics like sexuality, violence and social issues in a way that challenges stereotypes. The document debates whether cinema should prioritize entertainment or social change through its influence on society.
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Portrayal of Women in Mainstream Vs. Ar Cinema
- 2. Outline • History of Mainstream Hindi Cinema • Analysis of Women-Centric Hindi Films • Mainstream vs. Alterna>ve Cinema
- 3. Importance of Indian Cinema • Indian films are screened in 100+ countries • Watched by nearly 4 billion people worldwide • Indian film industry produces 1000+ films each year in more than 20 languages (Hollywood less than 400 films per year) • 90% of revenue from non-English films
- 4. Brief history of Bollywood • The first Bollywood film Raja Harishchandra (1913), directed by Dadasaheb Phalke (silent) • First film with sound Alam Ara (1931) • First colored film was Kisan Kanya (1937) • Setback in 1940s (WWII, Par>>on & violence) • 1950s commercial films with songs, music, drama
- 5. 1930s-1940s
- 6. 1950s
- 7. 1960s
- 8. 1970s
- 9. 1980s
- 10. 1990s
- 11. 2000s
- 13. Golden Era of Bollywood • 1950s to late 1970s • Rural India, vibrant tradi>ons, rela>onships, norms and ethics of Indian society, issue of poverty, socialist ideas, social evils, etc. • Male lead, but women were given considerable roles and space • Melodious songs Kaagaz Ke Phool, Mother India, Pakeezah, Half Ticket, Padosan
- 14. Bollywood Heroines 1980s • 1980s was an ac>on era • Heroines lost their strength and space to the hero • Heroines reduced to being a glamorous component of the films, dancing around trees, being kidnapped, raped or killed • Rape scenes were long & glorified, male gaze took over • Few excep>ons included actresses like Shri Devi (Himmatwala) ‘Is Sridevi a hero?’ (Show>me, Sep I987)
- 15. • Films were shifed towards an urban segng • Heroines were shown liberal, literate, wearing fashionable clothes, with a set upper limit (Mohra) • Films were male-centric, heroines’ existence was to add glamour & masala • The more India became global the more Bollywood films regressed • Post-liberaliza>on 1990s, brought western influence, technology, & technique …and a desire to hold our ‘Indian-ness’, and women’s roles started to reduce to decora>ons & homemakers, bearer of ‘Tradi>onal Indian Values’ & ‘Sanskri>’. Bollywood Heroines 1990s
- 16. Super hit of late 1990s • Love above All, Career at the Bomom • Find a life partner & keep him • Ambi>ous women’s portrayal not in good light (Biwi no.1)
- 18. Changing Roles of Vamps • Moral vs. Immoral • Dichotomy of heroine & vamp slowly disappeared • The heroines started to dressed boldly and provoca>vely as the bad girl of old >mes
- 20. Name the movies related to: 1. Patriarchy/ Strong male lead 2. Ideal Woman/Ideal Mother 3. Indian values 4. Extra-ordinary love story 5. Love Triangle 6. Extra-marital affair 7. Size zero 8. Robbery/ Gangsters/ 9. Heroic act of hero saving heroine
- 21. Name the movies related to: 1. Domes>c violence 2. Dowry death 3. Rape & Jus>ce to vic>m 4. Sexual abuse 5. Sexual harassment at workplace 6. Acid amack 7. Self-esteem of women 8. Trashing thin body image of girls 9. Female sexuality
- 27. Comparison Mainstream Cinema 1. Utopian/Ideal world 2. Limited Subjects 3. One point of view 4. Establish Stereotype 5. Female Sexuality is a taboo Parallel Cinema 1. Real world 2. A wider subject range 3. Contradic>ons & mul>ple views 4. Challenge stereotype, show mul>plicity of the real life 5. Female sexuality is addressed
- 28. Analysis of Women-centric Hindi films • ‘Real women & men’ & their life situa>ons • Women characters possess agency to break the exis>ng power structures, and nego>ate their own posi>on within the structure • Women not presented as objects of male gaze • Cinema’s aim is not to entertain a par>cular class of society, rather it a quest for social change through entertainment
- 29. Few Parallel Films 1983 Arth Mahesh Bham Extra-marital affair and unfaithful spouse 1995 Bandit Queen Shekhar Kapur Rape, Sexual abuse, Caste system, Child marriage 1998 Fire Deepa Mehta Homosexuality, infidelity and infer>lity 2001 Daman Kalpana Lazmi Domes>c &marital violence 2005 Water Deepa Mehta Widow pros>tu>on, child marriage and widowhood
- 30. Biwi No. 1 Vs. Arth • Category • Subject & its treatment • Portrayal of Female lead • Portrayal of the Male lead • Portrayal of the ‘Other Woman’ • Stereotypes • Symbols • Male Gaze • Women’s agency Compare these two movies based on the criteria given below:
- 34. References • Agarwal, Ruchi (2014), “Changing Roles of Women in Indian Cinema”, Silpakorn University Journal of Social Sciences, HumaniCes, and Arts Vol.14(2) : 117-132 • Bagchi, Amitabha. (1996). Women in Indian Cinema. Retrieved from hmp://www.cs.jhu.edu/~bagchi/women.html • Sarkar, Srijita (2012), "An analysis of Hindi women-centric films in India.” Electronic eses and DissertaCons. • Tere S. Nidhi (2012), “Gender reflec>ons in mainstream hindi cinema”, Global Media Journal – Indian Edi>on Vol. 3/No.1 • Ahmed, S. Akbar (1992). ‘Bombay Films: The Cinema as Metaphor for Indian Society and Poli>cs’. Modern Asian Studies 26, 2 (I992) • Laura Mulvey (1988), ‘Visual Pleasure and Narra>ve Cinema’. In Constance Penley (ed), Feminism and Film Theory, New York: Routledge
- 35. • Burra, R. (ed.) (1981). ‘Film India: Looking Back 1896-1960’. The Directorate of Film Fes>vals, New Delhi. • Interview with Shoma Chamerji- Role of Women in Indian Cinema, October 8, 2010. Source: hmps://oorvazifilmeduca>on.wordpress.com/2010/10/08/ interview-with-shoma-chamerji-role-of-women-in-indian-cinema/ #comments • Ghosh R. Arup, “Post-Colonial Feminist Theory and Film, Source: hmp://www.angelfire.com/ar/ view/2.html
- 36. Thank you!