The Portrayal Of Women In Movies In Different Time Periods

Movies are a reflection of our day to day lives. Hence they impact and influence various outlooks in our society. Different eras and time periods reflect changing atmospheres and a rise of a women centric world. Rare scenes of women seen as a protagonist in movies is cited. Thus with the help of various articles and research papers we narrowed down to a list of themes that women are being portrayed over the years.

In late 50s women in the cinema were shown as an ideal mother, wife and a dutiful being. The movie Mother India highlights how a women named Radha (Nargis Dutt) has to not only carry out responsibilities towards her family but also towards the society. It shows that although she is in debt she feeds her children and provides them with basic amenities. Women are expressed to have absolute power to control a household. In times of need not only can she cook food and feed them but also work on the fields. The movie emphasises on the strength, a woman has, to make decisions. It also shows how she nurtures and transforms the changemakers of today. A mother has supreme power to influence the minds of the growing children and generation. Even though after her husband leaves her with her kids we see that she supports them and provides the best she can. The movie brings about an epitome of a mother, wife and women in that time. Most of the households in that time reflected ideal women very similarly to what is shown. Also it lays emphasis on how being a female we have an equally important role in the society.

The wife and the other woman is one theme which is flashed in the society till today. The movie Arth released in 1982 is an exemplary story where a wife fights for her existence in her husband’s life who cheats on her. It particularly inspires women to fight for their rights and instead of feeling helpless in such situations, they should lead their own life and become independent. Pooja, the protagonist, is an exemplary character played by Shabana Azmi. In the beginning, she was very dependent on her husband and could not imagine her life without him, then a heavy-hearted woman when abandoned by her husband, waiting with a ray of hope to get him back. And after living an individualistic life for a while, she understands her capability and strength to live an independent life. The innocence and sincerity of Pooja during such miserable and painful phase of her life truly empowers women till date. This classic is a fascinating story of relationships and self-realisations. The difficulties faced by women during that period are still present in every section of the society, where women are still fighting for their rights.

Who said money can’t buy happiness when it’s the basic requirement of survival. Chandni Bar is one of the hard hitting films of early 21st century which conveys how unqualified women face difficulties to sustain in an urban city. Unqualified women are forcefully doing unpleasant jobs to earn living. This movie covers the story of a bar dancer whose job is considered characterless and unacceptable in the society. The story begins with Mumtaz (Tabu), a young girl who moves to Mumbai along with her Uncle. Being poor and helpless she is forced and manipulated by her Uncle to work at Chandni bar as a dancer. One night, Mumtaz’s uncle rapes her after watching her dance. Then after she realises that most of the women working at the bar have been through painful situations in their life due to their ill-equipped skillset. She gets married to a gangster and has two children with him. While Mumtaz wanted their kids to be educated and respected in their future, their children had to face the same problems as their parents as they are trapped in the vicious cycle of poverty. A women’s identity in a society is extremely fragile and their image is being constantly judged. No one would ruin a man’s reputation for doing such jobs as he is an earning member of the family. In brief, this movie represents how the image of a woman is constantly at an edge in terms of being judged.

A very delicate issue like female infanticide is brought out with the help of movies. The movie Matrubhoomi: a nation without women begins with a very crucial statement, “What we see is the solution (female infanticide) today will be our problem tomorrow”. The movie begins with a mother giving birth to her child. However, all the excitement drops when they get to know that the new-born is a girl. This movies pulls out a very delicate topic regarding how female are as important as men. We see that in an entire village there are no girls only. Men who are of 40-50 are single and ready to marry girls who are very young too like 14-15 year olds. Men are excited to fulfil their sexual desires that they watch in pornographic films and hence want to get married. The dowry system is reversed due to a shortage of females. Therefore in order to get married the groom’s family is willing to spend a lot, it is almost as if they are buying the girl. When one marriage gets fixed the village is excited to see a girl due to lack of them or rather none. We see that the family has 5 unmarried brothers and all of them are married to one girl named Kalki as they know they wouldn’t find anyone else. Their Dad also gets greedy after paying so much to get the girl married to all her sons and demands to spend a night with her every week. Even when she gets pregnant they have expectations for it to be a baby boy. Male dominance has always lead to gender inequality. This is a major reason why it got banned to reveal the sex of the child in India. Queen demonstrates the concept of marriage or coming of age as a bluff. The movie starts with how Rani (Kangana Ranaut) has her wedding cancelled as the groom is not ready for commitment. She still makes it to her honeymoon as a solo trip wherein she explores Europe. The movie displays happy independent woman travelling all around the world. Being a part of a middle class family, her abroad trip (honeymoon) was a reward for getting married. Rani embarks a new journey to explore various things in the world and to find herself. She realises that marriage would have trapped her and she would not be able to lead her own life in her own terms. She makes new friends and understands the broad mentality of people abroad. From the clothes to the food to the language, everything is different yet she feels a part of it. She seems to belong there. Rani is portrayed as a stereotypical Indian girl who is shy and unknown to the world. She turns bolder everyday figuring out a man does not complete a woman. The depiction of a female who finds a new direction and realises that marriage is just a bluff. She figures that premarital sex is very common in this generation. It is crazy how quickly our society is getting so very progressive although the conservatism is not fully lost. As we copy the western trends and culture very soon marriage will disappear as a compulsion. In the movie she is also disliked by the society as she is rejected before her marriage which is the stability all parents wish to give their child.

Another the part in the movie we see is that people are willing to do disrespectful jobs such as a stripper just because it pays them well. Also we see that how in the start when she goes to the hostel she feels awkward to sleep around boys but then she adapts to it and has a lot of fun. It gives us an insight that how Indian mindset gets contradicted and opens up to a different reality. Also, her ex fiancé gets a pictures of her enjoying alone he seems to be furious to see it. It is almost quotes up “why should boys have all the fun” moment in the movie. In addition, the movie passed the Bechdel test which is an extremely rare sight to see. Angry Indian Goddesses is a movie covering story of seven different women from different walks of life. The film is a brilliant showcase of women fighting against misogyny in their respective lives. Struggling to be heard in the male dominant marriages to facing the lecherous looks walking down the streets, women are fighting gender inequality in various phases of life. The film takes a great plot twist by using ‘gay marriage’ breaking the stereotypes of marriages in India. The first half of the film is a fun-filled ride with conflicts, fun with old friends and roaming around in Goa, hitting on the handsome neighbour, etc. But the falter occurs from the part when the tragic mishap is shown with a slap on the face of male chauvinism. The event becomes a plot ploy to justify the title Angry Indian Goddesses. After various sequences of incidents where men underestimates the women power terminating with the rape of Joana is the place where ‘anger’ kicks in leading to the murder of rapists. The after climax is a bit insensible where a policeman comments on shorts dresses of women and their smoking habits (its Goa dumdum). In the last sequence of church where everyone takes a stand for murder is unrealistic considering the present Indian society. This stresses on how two woman marrying each other is not acceptable in this conservative society of India. However, now Section 377 has legalised LGBT but people will continue to criticize the crowd.

Similarly, another uncompromising film “Pink” which talks about the ‘character assassination’ every woman undergoes because she chooses to be independent. The story revolves around three young women who are self-sufficient and living in Faridabad. The first half, deals with how the lives of these women get affected one by one because of the unrest created by Rajveer and gang. Minal gets blackmailed and molested for filing a complaint against them. After few days, Minal is arrested by police due to fabricated facts about the event. The second half is followed by the advocacy of Deepak Sehgal, a renowned lawyer, fighting judicial case for girls. A series of interesting and chilling courtrooms arguments ensues in the following days. Where Deepak kept raising sarcastic points from the witnesses’ opinion, who portrayed a stereotype for women as prostitute if they come home late, have consensual premarital sex, move out their home, want to be independent, drinks and so on, but none of these apply to men. Towards the end of the trial, Rajveer becomes enraged by the lawyer, stating that the women “got what they deserved”. Here, they have also emphasized on the word ‘NO’. When one says ‘NO’ irrespective of the scenario, it shows their discontent towards it. So people should respect and understand it. This movie is about the struggle a woman faces in the society, strives hard to break the norms and fight for their identity. On the other hand, we see the advantage taken by the people with political background and playing with the Indian Law.

Mary Kom spills out the life of an Indian woman boxer who went through a lot of ups and downs and overcame all obstacles to fulfil her dream. It is an inspirational tale which motivates the youth and those with a vision in their heads. It shows how women can make their own future just with working hard and being committed. Mary Kom fights all the odds to do what she does the best. Her success and her victory in the Olympics are a fruit of her efforts. However, we see that as the movie proceeds and she gets married and has children her responsibilities change. We see that she is expected to take care of her children and must put a halt to her career. This maternity phase is a stage of life only a woman goes through and hence sportswomen after pregnancy leave their career. Also, being a woman, we see Mary must carry out household responsibilities. Nevertheless, she still gets back in the game by convincing her coach that she is still capable. This clearly expresses how the life of bold and empowered women are also constrained.