From stalking to molesting and victim-blaming we have seen it all in the movies. The actresses in the movies have barely any screen time or dialogues and are always portrayed as the ‘damsel in distress' who needs to be saved by the Hero.
If you say but the script demands it, Okay! Once, twice, sometimes but if every movie has the same plot of a Hero stalking a girl and eventually winning her heart (forcing her to love him) then the scriptwriters really need to wake up and so does Indian Cinema.
Time and again with new songs, dialogues, casting, and plots of the so-called masala movies this idea of treating women as objects resurfaces. This has led to many people believing that they can have their way with a woman, ‘everything is fair in love and consent doesn’t matter. This is normalized to the point where most of us don’t pay any heed to it. Are movies inspired by reality or is reality inspired by the movies?
Where social media booms with fans fighting over their favorite celebs, their tweets, and their personal relationships it is difficult to say that the cinema doesn’t influence people. When the actors are idolized to this extent we must understand that with great influence comes great responsibility.
But what is being normalized is a threat to society. Let us have a glimpse at five things that are normalized in the entertainment industry but are far beyond being normal.
Age Gap
Almost every movie has a flawed romantic pairing between a 50-year-old actor and a 20-year-old heroine. The leading actresses of the ’90s are no longer cast in big movies and the reason is giving a chance to new talent. Why not give a chance to the new male talent as well?
The actresses are not considered bankable enough in the industry because their talent is being associated with age-oriented beauty. The go watchers express no disbelief or concerns when an older male and younger female are cast opposite to each other but the same when done otherwise it is questioned. Why?
Stereotyping Women
There are 3 types of women in the entire Indian cinema; the wretched (bechari) type; who does all the household chores and needs a male to save her from the goons always. The bold (sensuous) type; who often plays a home-breaker and the last being ‘item’ girl; the one who just dances all the while.
Evidently, no effort is taken in character sketching of actresses they are simply attractive, sensuous, submissive, sacrificing, and in distress until the ‘hero’ saves them. Even in that she has no choice but to agree to what her stalker (hero) says because apparently ‘Ye uska style hoinga, hoton pe na dil mei ha hoinga’ (maybe saying no is her style and in her heart, it’s a yes). No is a complete sentence and it means nothing but No.
Pursuing a Woman
Stalking, clicking pictures, singing songs, groping, and threatening a woman come under punishable offense but these ways are glorified by the Indian Cinema for approaching a woman. A very trendy party song ‘gandi baat’ and ‘ Agal and Bagal’ literally normalize not taking no for an answer and harassing a girl if she rejects your proposal.
This ‘man doesn’t take no for an answer’ image of the stars that people idolize promotes serious crime against women and it is important to understand the gravity of this situation. All the roadside Romeos eve tease women singing these kinds of song and it is neither normal nor entertaining. How do these things get approved by the censor board?
Seemingly the most romantic films like Dil Wale Dulhainiya Le Jayenge (DDLJ) and Kal Ho Na Ho (KHNH) normalize some of these trends; wherein the former the movie the hero literally stalks and pursues his love interest in all the possible wrong ways but isn’t ready to marry the girl until her father ‘gives her hand’ forcibly for marriage.
Even in the entire sequence, she has no choice to choose what’s right for her. The dialogue ‘6 din ladki in’ (It takes 6 days to impress a girl) in KHNH again normalizes women having no choice in choosing their potential partners.
Violence
A man who can mark a woman as his territory and threaten to beat her if she doesn’t listen to him is called Romantic in Bollywood terms and this is not even about Kabir Singh the movie that undoubtedly sympathizes with a seriously problematic, toxically masculine character. This was a scene from Dabang where the ‘hero’ threatens to slap the girl he likes. This is not normal.
If you are thinking this is the problem with new films then no you are wrong. The comedy film, Amdani Athani Kharcha Rupaiya shows domestic violence as a fun and comic thing on-screen. The infamous movie Jaani Dushman crosses every limit with many cringe dialogues showcasing the non-existent respect men show towards women.
This must stop because pranking an entire village and faking suicide to marry a girl until her aunt agrees is not heroism it is harassment this is from the biggest hit of all times Sholay. It has been the same always.
‘Item’ Songs
Every Bollywood movie has this unnecessarily introduced dance number in the story to hype up the audience called ‘item’ song. All the beauties of Bollywood would have been a part of at least one such song if not more. From ‘Munni’ to ‘Chiz badi hai mast’ there is plenty wrong with the lyrics and portrayal of women. The mere existence of this name is problematic since it objectifies a woman and she’s a person, not an item.
If the Indian cinema wants to have dance songs then it is not necessary to have a sensuous clip, cringe-worthy lyrics, and a bad name to it. The cinema can do better.
From the casting to the songs all the misogynist aspects of Bollywood are open in the public eye still objectionable and inappropriate jokes on a woman’s body get approved and showed on the big screens. The public, religious groups, politicians, and the censor board raise several questions on the industry when it shows about the history, reality, or a woman-centric film but where do they go when movies glorify indecency towards women?
In a country where misogynist movies are viewed as a source of entertainment, the actors promoting this behavior are glorified and everybody has normalized this portrayal of women where do you think the future is going? Do these things not promote crimes against a woman or is it always her clothing to be blamed?
Written by - Akanksha Sharma
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