Bollywood wakes up to women-oriented themes!

In the last 10 years or so, the much ridiculed Bollywood has delivered some remarkable women oriented cinema – a fact that somehow went unnoticed. If you add the number of strong women characters, who have a personality of their own in largely “masala” entertainers then let me tell you this that in the last decade Bollywood has surprised us. I will not call all of them “feminist” characters or the movies had a “feminist” stand. These were compelling entertaining tales, where a woman or bunch of women stood in the centre. I would want to mention some of them here.

Madhavi Devi of ‘Sahib Biwi aur Gangster’- is one of the most mysterious seductresses delivered on screen in the last decade or maybe even two. Madhavi Devi (Mahi Gill) is magnetic. She is vulnerable. She is also vengeful and is full of deceit.

Throughout the movie her unpredictability keeps you hooked and scared, both at the same time. This one was a sleeper hit because of Madhavi Devi to a large extent. She was also the pillar around which the entire screenplay moves. A woman, who breaks the rules and does not give a damn; Madhavi Devi is a character to watch!

Shashi Godbole of ‘English Vinglish’ - Delivered by Gauri Shinde and played by Sridevi Kapoor; Shashi Godbole existed in Mumbai but trust me she could be there in any house across India. A woman who is taken for granted by her entire family comes out a winner in the end. This character uses her silence, determination and patience to come out as a winner.

The moment, where she chooses to sit down and make her ladoos for a wedding and skips her English test defines her value system and is one of our most underrated cinematic moments of sacrifice. Shashi Godbole is a woman who does not fight for her rights but is not a doormat either, a fine balance if you ask me.

Nina Verma of ‘Cheeni Kum’ - is as much the most charming headstrong woman you could run into as much as it is the indicator of the fact as to how the Bollywood brigade and the directors down south totally wasted Tabu. Nina Verma showed us that glamour could be intelligent too.

Nina is a woman, who had the most rational heart in place when it comes to choosing a man even older than her father. ‘Cheeni Kum’ could make you a fan of Tabu for life. The remarkable scene in the film was when she stands up to her father and refuses to give in to his emotional blackmailing.

Vidya Venkatesan Bagchi of ‘Kahani’- is about woman who comes to Kolkata to find her husband, who has disappeared. Nothing can stop Vidya Venkatesan Bagchi (Vidya Balan) in the quest, neither CBI nor a dreaded killer. She keeps coming at her enemies till they crumble and are defeated.

She is a helpless woman, who turns out to be a deadly scorpion. You would not want to get on the wrong side of this lady. When you walked out of the theatre after watching this one, it was difficult to decide for the acutest observers of cinema as to whether the character made the movie or the movie made the character. If you have not yet watched ‘Kahani’ you have missed the spunkiest character created for a woman in Bollywood till date.

Silk of ‘The Dirty Picture’ - They made an icon out of a woman, who was till then considered by many as a low moral dancing girl of the south. Silk (Vidya Balan) is a woman, who is blatant in your face attitude filled go-getter; stops at nothing till she gets what she wants, only to discover the heartbreaking loneliness and betrayal that one faces, when one reaching the top.

By: Rahul Deo Bharadwaj http://thesocietyasiseeit.blogspot.in