What men want women to be

M other Maiden Mistress – Women in Hindi Cinema 1950-2010 , a book tracing the role of women, was launched by Shabana Azmi recently. Written by Bhawana Somaaya, Jigna Kothari and Supriya Madangarli and published by Harper Collins, it is an interesting presentation of the portrayal of women over the years.

Shabana Azmi seemed to be the right choice for the launch as the actor has played all three roles – mother, maiden, mistress – and more! As she so candidly and appropriately pointed out, women in cinema must be portrayed as evolving rather than vengeful. “What is the difference between a man and woman if we show her taking revenge and killing! A woman has the strength to move on and become stronger and this quality makes her stand out,” pointed out Shabana.

Bhawana Somaaya, former editor of Screen , has written ten books on cinema that includes biographies of Hema Malini and Amitabh Bachchan. “I was thinking of a book on women and discussing it with Shabana and she said there are plenty of books on women but your book has to be the best! This was the beginning of Mother Maiden Mistress ,” she said.

Making an observation about cinema reflecting life and vice versa, she said. “As a film critic I believe every theory established can be demolished with another example. India lived in multiple centuries and there are very regressive women (and men) then and now. The good thing is that cinema inspired those who were oppressed and helped them.” She added that the book came in four parts – showing the women from a socio-political angle, as protagonist, in the dressing room, and with a character sketch.

Talking about the book, author Supriya Madangarli observed that Bollywood began initially with the myth of the ideal Indian woman and this image was thrust upon audiences. “This image was what every Indian woman should be even if it contradicted the reality of life. In the 1950s and 1960s the vamp died and some of her qualities came to the heroine. Any heroine who went down the wrong path, came to a bad end,” she said. “The woman underwent a further change and could now expose on screen. This was not an expression of freedom or liberation but to draw audiences.”

The book traces the journey of the women and shows how they could be warriors but were always submissive at the end. “We have shown the image breakers and the ideal woman. With the book we wanted to get down to the roots and see how these images were created,” Supriya clarified. And as one reads the book, there is a realisation that change has happened and there has been a lot of rebellion but women still have a long way to go on screen.

Flashback

The first woman protagonist in Hindi cinema was Taramati, in Dadasaheb Phalke's Raja Harishchandra (1913). The role was enacted by a man as cinema was considered a profession beneath the dignity of ‘respectable' women, even if she was playing a pious, ideal wife on screen.

It would seem that Hindi cinema has come a long way since then, though the journey that Mother Maiden Mistress makes through six decades of cinema ends with the realisation that the more things have changed, the more they have remained the same.

Through six decades of Hindi cinema history, the book brings to life the women characters that peopled cinema and the popular imagination, and shaped fashion and culture. It records and reviews the portrayal of woman in Hindi cinema – the mythical, the Sati-Savitri, the rebel, the avant-garde, and the contemporary.

To get a better idea of where these characters come from, the book shows the society that the filmmakers lived in, the socio-political milieu of the particular decade. We look at what kinds of films were made during that decade and what were the dominant features of women protagonists at that time. In this context, certain protagonists are chosen and discussed in detail.

The Changing Sari

The ‘Dressing Room' section traces the movement of clothes in cinema. “The simple sari has come a long way. From Meena Kumari dressing up in Sahib, Bibi aur Ghulam in a sari that covers her entire body, we now have the modern, navel-showing sari worn by Priyanka Chopra where she has a bikini top as a choli. Earlier the heroine would dress up for the hero, now she dresses up for the audience and the sari has come full circle. From being a cultural outfit, it has now become very modern,” observed Jigna Kothari.

By looking at the way women were dressed, the highs and lows of fashion are also discussed, apart from the character of the protagonists. There are also the first-person narratives about a leading actress from each decade – Waheeda Rehman, Asha Parekh, Hema Malini, Shabana Azmi, Madhuri Dixit and Rani Mukherjee. They take a close look at how some of the iconic characters of Hindi cinema came to be.

A Long Journey

Sometimes it got frustrating while working on the book, admitted Supriya. “But it was surprising to see movies that were rule breakers, where women characters came out strong not because she was an ideal wife, mother, sister but where she stood her own ground. V. Shantaram's movie Teen Baati Chaar Rasta shows a very ordinary girl who speaks out against the ‘hero' who expected her to be a fair beauty after listening to her voice. There were surprises on the way, especially from a time period that didn't recognise the power of women,” she added.

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