The subtitle says it all: how and why Bollywood found it worthwhile to explore the reality of the millennial women who are thriving in India-small part of the demographics but influential. The market met the needs of contemporary women who are independent with freer attitudes to relationships. Advertising discovered in the actors who portray the millennial woman, brands and brand ambassadors. Bollywood rom coms of the last two decades reflect this new-found freedom, defying patriarchy that still defines our society. It celebrates the non-conformist, subversive woman as the hero with stories that unequivocally said No means No. Most daringly, iconic characters like Choti Bahu, Paro, and Chandramukhi are transformed into today's women with the power to change their lives and fate.
"Rao's perspective is marked by her framing and positioning of cinema within a wide and in-depth socio-political and cultural context. This book is no exception. It repeatedly underscores the truth that Indian cinema and all those who create cinema do not function or exist in a socio-political vacuum."
Maithili Rao is a freelance film critic who has written for many national and international publications. She was a lecturer of English before switching to writing on cinema. Her special interest is the portrayal of women in films. She contributed chapters to many publications on Indian cinema before coming out with her first book Smita Patil, A Brief Incandescence. She co-edited the recently published The Oldest Love Story, A Motherhood Anthology.
The answer to the subtitle of this Preface lies in the question itself. Bollywood looks for means to brand itself anew, reflecting its response to new challenges. We think Bollywood is too much with us and have a love-hate relationship with its overwhelming presence in our lives. We are often guilty of dismissing it as mindless entertainment. Cinema has to evolve beyond escapism to survive in a world brimming over with al- ternate, edgy content that you can see on your smartphone. That is incentive enough for Bollywood to move with the zeitgeist. Globalization has seen the zeitgeist change at a pace never felt before; what took a couple of generations earlier now happens in less than a decade.
According to economists, the world has seen de-globalization post 2008 crisis. However, culturally, globalization seems immune to these market forces. It is an irreversible, ongoing process. Bollywood continues to imbibe cultural values and narrative modes from trusted Hollywood while European and Korean cinema seems to be the new flavour for those in search of something different-what Bollywood calls hatke. Directors with eclectic tastes and more artistic sensibility derive inspiration from wherever they find it: the Hindi heartland for auteur Vishal Bharadwaj's Shakespearean adaptations, to the latest live-in relationship caper Luka Chuppi (2019); avant-garde Europe, for thrillers Badla (2019) from the Spanish Contratiempo (2016) and Andhadhun (2018) from the French short L'Accordeur (2010); Salman Khan's super hit Bharat (2019) remade from the huge Korean crowd pleaser Ode to My Father (2014). The re- freshing difference today is either the remake rights are bought or the in- spiration acknowledged in the credits. It is very different from the blatant plagiarism of scenes, or whole stories, music-so rampant before satellite TV came to our skies. Copycats are easy to catch. Our own regional cinema is a source for remakes-could be a delectably different rom com like Shubh Mangal Savdhan (2017) from the Tamil original Kalyana Samayal Saadham (2013) to the toxic misogyny of the violent hero Kabir Singh (2019) based on the Telugu megahit Arjun Reddy (2017).
'Main Chup Rahungi' (I shall remain silent) was considered a virtue for Indian women in the sixties. Little wonder then that it became the title of a popular Hindi film starring Meena Kumari.
You know a society from the way its cinema portrays women. Popular culture, cinema included, prefers the easy option of peopling its story with familiar stereotypes. This is undemanding entertainment where the audience knows what to expect, of course with minor tweaks for novelty. But there has always existed another way of making films, where characters and situations reflect the overt and covert changes in society-attitudes, deeper concerns, and acceptance of what was once considered risky if not taboo. Our cinema once had this alternative to the mainstream. The Parallel Cinema in which I grew as an actor and person had space for real women and wider social concerns, all told with honesty and in a realistic style. I remember being advised against doing Ankur because Lakshmi (the character I played) steals rice! 'You will be stamped to play negative characters if that shot is not removed' said the know alls. Of course it was not and I remember feeling empathy for Lakshmi rather than condemnation. What fills me with new hope for a better cinema now is the large number of films that are engaging, intelligent, and give women agency. This has happened in the last two decades. Thankfully, these films have wider reach because of multiplexes and good marketing. Whether it was the birth of a new millennium bringing with it expectations of hope for the better, or the sweeping changes brought in by globalization, there is greater skill and sophistication in how we tell our stories now.
More important are the women who tell their own stories-as directors, writers, and actors. They are the face and voice of the educated urban woman all around us, making her mark in many fields. Speaking of Hindi cinema, there is now a thriving group of women making films that speak in original voices, with a new sensibility that has found its personal expression.
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