Roles Of Women In Hindi Films Media Essay

Roles Of Women In Hindu Films Media EssayBollywood, the second largest exposure industry is widely known for its form of creative art. It is a form of art with the talent to entertain, educate, and reflect and shape our sense of who we argon and our understanding of the social club in which we live. In Hindu films in that location exists the hero and heroine, however gender hierarchy can be seen and importance is imposed on the male actor. angiotensin converting enzyme would agree that the Hindi film industry is male-centric, with limited space for feminines to be versatile in the function they goldbrick. The designs play by the heroine ar near replicated by the comparable guidelines seen within the Indian society. The Indian society is an crook to Bollywood and is what shapes and defines the roles vie by womanlys in films. It has been quoted if the image of women in the celluloid is submissive or secondary, it is the society who is responsible for it . . . filmm akers, adjudgeing in mind the commercial feeling of films, simply highlight what exists1. The enactment of women in Hindi films has been stable in correspondence to the norms and values contained in the Indian society.India is known to be a hierarchal society, whether it is religion, northern or southern Indian, all groups of people argon ranked according to various qualities. Within gender hierarchy, men excel women of the same or similar age, and senior relatives outrank junior relatives2. This same concept is taken into the Hindi film industry where more focus is created on the male actor. From the beginning of the film process importance is on the male. For grammatical case within the internal aspects of film processing the second stair is acquisition of selecting male role and hence followed by female acquisitions3. None the less, females are a priority in films however their portrayals in films are steady and follow certain guidelines according to the roles played.Ind ian society has numerous norms and values, one beingness the role played by an person in the society. In Indian society the dominant forms of how women are seen are either as the nurturing make, innocent wife, the vamp, or the educated novel muliebrity. mavin or more forms of these roles are forever and a day visualised in Hindi films. With these roles come specific characteristics that are viewed in the society which are then followed and expressed in Hindi films. For example it is considered ideal for a woman in Indian society to encounter characteristics that involve, passive, victimized, sacrificial, submissive, glorified, static, one-dimensional and resilient4. These are the traits that are then brought into the film which not only reflect culture, precisely to a fault shape culture.India is a phantasmally composite society with dominancy in the complex religion of Hinduism. In tralatitious Indian society there were certain(prenominal) and essential norms of beh aviour that were usually passed down from previous generations. For example Sita, from the Hindu mythology of Rawhitethornana was seen as ideal woman and ideal wife as she was firm faithful to her hubby and obeys his wishes unquestionably5. Hindi films have achieved this ideal of wifes self devotion. The Indian society is known to be restricted to strict rules and regulations which are to be followed by women. The moral of the Indian society states no independence in women and that she should always be under the guidance of another(prenominal) significant male. For example a female in childhood is subjected to her father, in youth to her hubby and after to her children. This interpretation of females can be seen in the film catch India tell by Mehoob Khan. This film reveals the ideal characteristics of a mother played by Nargis. At the beginning of the movie it seen that she plays the typical role of a female who is married in an Indian handed-down manner. The song Pi Ke Ghar Aaj Pyari Dulhaniya Chali is a significant with the line that states that it is a womens fate to leave home. This applies to the traditional moral of the female being passed on from the authority of the father to her husband who now she must be committed to. This is seen in the character. Dharma referring self-subsistence or a universal law or norm, which applies at the moral, the ritual and social level6. This is another religious and mythological aspect that is inflicted upon women. This is also portrayed in the film through and expressed in the song Duniya Men Hum Aaye Hain. present the lyrics in the song express that the only honour that a women has in her life is a womens dharma. In context of the movie it states that a women may overcome her conflicts except with the conditions that are still expected with the role of a mother. After her husband leaving her she still has hope that he leave return and keeps faith and raises her children on her own sacrificing e genuinelyth ing she has. This shows the over stress on the love for husband and the duties she has as a mother. It can be seen that in any case, in Indian society the first priority of females is to always keep in mind the norms and values placed on them as females. One may argue that these norms and values have changed within the Indian society with the advancement of modernization. However, the lifestyle may have changed in roles of mothers, but the beliefs of the values and norms still exist. For example Kal Ho Na Ho directed by Nikhil Advani is a film set in New York with a modern setting. The role played by Jaya Bachchan shows similar characteristics of a mother which were portrayed by Nargis in Mother India. Jaya Bachchan, also a widow female in the film experiences many difficulties out-of-pocket to her husband committing suicide. correct though the true reasoning behind the suicide is known by her, the blame is turned towards her by her mother-in-law. However, this does not stop her from being loyal to her husband as she stayed widowed and to the challenge to raise her children and show her idolatry to her husband. Throughout the film we see that she still supports her husband when people including her miss talk negatively about him. Here she is also in the struggle of raising her children up on her own and sacrifices all she has to raise them and keep them happy. In both Kal Ho Na Ho and Mother India the role of the mother can be seen to be dedicated with the qualities of self sacrifice, devotion, and religious beliefs.If not seen as a traditional woman with traditional values, in Hindi films the female is then portrayed as the vamp or modernized women. Bollywood shows both the traditional and modernity of females, yet tends to portray the modern as immoral and favour the traditional aspects. The vamp is usually portrayed as morally dishonoured person and associated with e actuallything that is disagreeable about the west7. Again this is repayable to the no rms and values seen in the Indian society. In this case women are seen as decorative objects and used for fun. Courtesan is another common role played by women which is attended for an arousing effect upon men. These types of roles are usually associated with protagonist character. The female is seen modern and revealing garments and becomes an object of male desire. In many films with picturization of this role of female is usually seen to be glamorous and captures the females beauty in a sensual manner. An example of this is seen in the movie Sholay directed by RameshSippy in the song Mehbooba Mehbooba. Here the female dancer appears very variant from the other female lead roles. She is there for entertainment and to add glamour. Her clothes are revealing and she is used for the pleasure of the antagonist. A similar but slightly antithetic stroke is also seen in Kal Ho Na Ho with the song Its the time to disco. The difference in this song is that the lead female is in the son g but is portrayed with a different characteristic that is not the usual in her role. Here Naina (Preity Zinta) is raised in New York but is a casual girl. In this particular scene the audience sees that her attire is modernized, but not revealing. However, in the song a different perspective of her is seen when she gets drunk. Her clothes become more revealing and her actions are different. This is intended to show how a female may act when they go outside of their boundaries of the Indian society and the consequence of it. Jaswinder (Lilette Dubby) in the movie is would be seen as the vamp in the movie as her clothes are trendy and she is flirty around men. Not only are women who arent seen in traditional clothes seen as vamps, but also those who dont obey traditional rules. These would include those who are adventurous, independent and have values different from the norms. Thus, women commonly in Hindi films are either the modernized seductive role or the sophisticated tradition Indian women.There are many women in the Bombay film industry. Many have reacted with different opinions on how females are being portrayed. For example quoted from Ayesha Jhulka, an actress You have to take over the fact that its a male-dominated industry. And you have to accept that essentially heroes are given much more importance than the heroineSo its transgress to accept it and then carry on. You have your own place which aught else can take. What you can do, the heroes probably cant do8. Another opinion quoted by the actress Shabana Azmi The one thing that hasnt changed only superficially I think, is in its portrayal of womenI think its a waste if you dont offer them and give them roles that are on par with their heroI think that would be very interesting, and basically do films that are pro-women8. Lastly. Actress Ritha Bhaduri states At the moment I think character roles have more to say than the female heroine, actressThere are very few films that are women-oriented, or have a women dominating the safe and sound thing8. From these opinions of several actresses it can be concluded that many actresses are cognizant of the stereotypical roles given to women in Hindi films. They do feel that there isnt much importance given to their roles, but also know that a film without a complementing female role would not do very well in the box office. Even though the roles of females are impelled by the aspects in the Indian society, actresses have continued to accept the roles and play them according. As stated previously the main cause for this orientation is due to what takes place in the society. As the Indian society makes different progression a change in female roles in Hindi films allow also be seen.In conclusion, the female roles played in Hindi film are very restricted and do not have space for variety. Either they are seen as objects to add glamour and entertainment to the film or they are portrayed with important roles such as mothers but with ge neral Indian societal values that come with that role. The Indian society has a main impact on the portrayal of women in Indian cinema. The Indian society has been shaping the role of women in Hindi filmsEndnotes1 Boot, Gregory D. Making a Woman from a Tawaif Courtesans as Heros in Hinidi Cinema. New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies, 2007 3 (http//www.nzasia.org).2 James Heiztman, Robert L.Worden. India demesne Studies. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data, 1995 235.3 Class lecture (Vishwanathan 2010)4 Pattanayak, Saswat. Women journalists in Hindi Filmshttp//saswat.com/articles/bollywomen.htm.5 Chap. 5 Indian favorite Cinema A Narrative of Cultural Change, by Wimal Dissanayake K. Moti Gokulsing, 79. Trentham Books, 2004.6 Chap. 6 Indian Popular Cinema A Narrative of Cultural Change, by Wimal Dissanayake K. Moti Gokulsing, 39-44. Trentham Books, 2004.7 Wimal Dissanayake.79.20048 In Bollywood a guide book to popular Hindi cinema , by Tejaswini Ganti. 187-192 Routledge