Vidya Balan is the talk of the town. The Dirty Picture , loosely based on the life of late Tamil actress Silk Smitha, is on its way to becoming one of the biggest Bollywood busters in recent times.

Balan is the pivot of the film whose performance has come for lavish praise. The Dirty Picture could have so easily been dismissed as an exercise in smut but has, instead, won her rave reviews.

Does this only have to do with Balan? The reactions to the film also mark a growing maturity of Indian moviegoers over the years. Yesteryear's leading ladies of Bollywood would have had to think twice before accepting a role like this one. You could not blame them for cinema was a reflection of society which was then a lot more prudish.

Little wonder, therefore, that audiences went for their smelling salts when Chetna hit the screens in 1970. Here again, a woman was the central theme but the poster was enough to send shockwaves all around. Rehana Sultan, who played the lead role, just could not shed the image associated with Chetna and her career was impacted in the process.

Incidentally, during the making of this film, she was shooting simultaneously for Dastak with Sanjeev Kumar. The story was, again, considered a bit too bold for those times. The best part is Sultan ending up winning a National award for her role in Dastak but she was already branded thanks to Chetna and just could not get the bigger breaks in Hindi cinema.

This is not to suggest that women were relegated to the sidelines in films. On the contrary, there are a number of movies where they held centrestage. The list is endless and includes Sadhana in Woh Kaun Thi and Mera Saaya , Sharmila Tagore in Anupama , Waheeda Rehman in Guide and Khamoshi , Jaya Bhaduri in Guddi and Hema Malini in Seeta Aur Geeta . However, all these films were part of the regular commercial stream though it could be argued that Guide was bolder in contrast but still polished enough not to shock audiences.

The problem began when filmmakers like BR Ishara (who directed Chetna ) began exploring subjects which were starker in comparison. Viewers were shocked because they were not ready for the transition. It was OK to see this in American movies, they reasoned, since they were meant to be ‘bold' anyway but completely unacceptable in Hindi cinema. The dark side belonged to the vamp and not the leading lady.

Change was, however, setting in especially with Zeenat Aman and Parveen Babi unleashing the confident, western woman who was pretty much in charge of her life as evident in Hare Rama Hare Krishna and Deewaar . Along the way, women-oriented subjects of the 1970s such as Aandhi and Mausam clicked with viewers. Yet, Aaina, released during this period, was a damp squib possibly because the theme was more unconventional and jolted viewers.

There is no question that Shabana Azmi and Smita Patil played a big role in changing the portrayal of women in Hindi cinema. Films such as Bhumika , Arth , Mandi and Aakhir Kyon had people sit up and take notice. Society was also in the throes of change with women increasingly coming into their own. TV serials like Rajni (with Priya Tendulkar in the lead) in the mid-80s also drove this point forcefully.

Has Hindi cinema managed to capitalise on this momentum with more realistic women-centric themes? My friends tell me that Bengali and Tamil films are still way ahead but this again is open to debate. Balan has shown that it is cool to be different so long as you have the talent. She proved it in Ishqiya and has now hit paydirt with The Dirty Picture .

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