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Magazine
Not much change
This refers to Mahesh Bhatt’s “New realities”. Has the portrayal of the Indian woman changed over the years in our movies? No, it remains the same. A few films like Mahesh Bhatt’s “Arth”, K. Balachandar’s “Aval Oru Thodargatai” and a few others like “Ankur”, “Nishant” and “Mandi” might have been different, but exceptions only prove the rule. Mainstream cinema, whether Hindi or other languages, does not have the guts to defy popular socio-cultural norms. Not even our enlightened women wish to see a new woman in our films. For an average Indian movie-maker, the cacophony of the market place is too loud to be ignored.
T.S.Pattabhi Raman,
Coimbatore
While it was interesting to read about the change in filmmakers’ mindset about how women are portrayed, a lot more needs to be done to portray them more realistically than is done today. What is conspicuously missing in the article is mention of films in langauges other than Hindi, which also make a huge chunk of Indian films. A more comprehensive article would have included talented actresses from the South and from other regions of the country. I hope this will be taken into consideration in future.
Deepa Nagaraj,
Hyderabad
There hasn’t been much change in the portrayal of women from the days of black and white era. They are still considered as objects of sex and desire. The only difference is that then heroines were goody-goody while the vamps had the titillating roles. Today our heroines o both. This is a sad reflection on the modern woman and an insult to her intelligence.
K. Chidanand Kumar,
Bangalore
This refers to Ajit Duara’s “Patriarchal equations” (February 3). In the history of Indian films, only a few feminists have transcended their lives to look into the past and future alike. Our thoughts and actions towards women have been repeatedly subsumed, created and controlled by men. The struggles of women in Indian history have been regulated to footnotes and the sidelines. This is due to lack of commitment on one side and social hurdles on the other.
C.H.M. Prasad,
Thiruvananthapuram
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