Bollywood movies have been the flagship of the Indian entertainment industry for decades. A typical hero beaming with toxic masculinity, his obtuse love interest whose only goal is to get married, a villain, and at least a gazillion scenes where everyone breaks into a perfectly
synchronized dance: all these elements amalgamated together concocted a highly pursued recipe of most Bollywood films in the 80s and 90s, which have, unfortunately, typecasted the Indian film industry. Being a billion dollar industry and the leading film market in the world, it is natural that these movies would have a gargantuan impact on social conduct in society. This bestows substantial authority on Bollywood and, as Uncle Ben in Spider Man said: “With great power, comes great responsibility.” Has Bollywood abided by that? I’m talking about the exhibition of overt misogyny in Bollywood amongst many other things.
Bollywood movies have never shied away from objectifying women, using sexism and body shaming as comic elements and even showing them as a normal part of life. These have been normalized since the 50’s as found in Raj Kapoor’s Awaara, where the heroes stalked and teased their lady loves until they gave into their charms. These films have had a long-standing history of representing misogyny, sexism and sexual abuse of women through the rose tinted glass of romance where the plot is stuck to the same boy-sees-girl, boy-likes-girl, boy-gets-girl formula. Even a 2002 study of Hindi Language movies from the 90s had reported that moderate sexual violence against female characters was depicted as fun, enjoyable and a normal expression of romantic love. Eve-teasing, as defined by Bollywood, is a phenomenon where a male character, usually a protagonist, harasses and harasses and harasses, until he finally gets the girl, which has been seen as a big problem across South Asia.
Although depiction of women as a glamorizing component began in the 80s, Bollywood’s tryst with misogyny has been seen even in its nascent stages: with male protagonists and secondary female characters subject to the man’s sexual attraction, which was accepted in the predominantly patriarchal society. Sexual harassment is an open secret in the film industry. It is not unusual to see scantily clad women in sensual Bollywood item numbers; singing and dancing as they gazed upon by a bunch of men throughout the songs. Along with this, stalking, eve teasing, rape and sexualization of women are a recurring theme in Bollywood hit films. For instance, the 2015 neo-noir Varun Dhawan starrer Badlapur tilts towards the more extreme end of misogynistic portrayal in Indian cinema, and was criticized for its “glorification of rapists”. It was jarring to see the superfluous moment where Huma Qureshi throws come-hither looks at Dhawan during the song and dance accompanying the closing credits, especially because Dhawan’s character repeatedly raped her character, according to Indian film critic Anna Vetticad. Similarly, it was terrifying to see the crowd cheering Kabir Singh’s violent anger outbursts and misogynistic antics. Kabir loses Preeti and is so heartbroken that he goes on a bout of alcohol, drugs etc. like anything and the people around him blame the girl for his downfall. Unfortunately, these scenes never seemed to be contained within the walls of the theatre, as visible in the daily news.
Numerous studies have proven a link between what people see in the media and how they behave in everyday life. “Unable to handle rejection, a 27-year-old stabs woman in Mangaluru”, “A jilted lover from Delhi attacks girl for rejecting advances” and even, “In 2015, a man of Indian origin in Australia was found stalking two women after being influenced by the normalization of stalking in Bollywood movies”. It is true that just watching Kabir Singh is not going to turn the men into abusive lovers, but the way it celebrates the character of Kabir gives approval to the perpetrators like the ones in the previously mentioned news.
Not only films, but in the songs which are packaged and sold with bouncy beats, trending artists, glamorous costumes, popular celebrities and larger than life video sets, rappers are telling us that our waists need to be smaller, dresses shorter and heels higher. Bollywood has basically confused romance with harassment, which is extremely dangerous because that’s what the impressionable younger demographic of the Indian diaspora is assimilating: that unhealthy persistence is the way to get the girl. The Me Too movement has helped start the conversation, but is Bollywood listening?
These things had started back in the day due to the lack of women writers, which gave way to the distorted, biased and stereotypical portrayal of female characters by male writers. One of the main ways we’ll see change is when more female directors are able to helm the scripts and make films for women and by women. While socially empowering and women-centric movies are growing in numbers, it is a long way for us to move away from the deep-rooted trend of misogyny and sexism in Bollywood movies.
- By Isha Gupta
B.A. Economics (Hons.)
(Edited by Bisni and Pallavi
Art curated by Pallavi)
A very well written piece, absolutely loved the elaboration and throwing the limelight on the much needed aspects.