It's a great feeling to see women take the screen. Not only that, they are making it big. We are living in patriarchal society, and seeing women take on the lead roles in movies, is a huge step in right direction for a country like ours. Gone are the days where women are portrayed as the weaker gender, given submissive roles and always serving the male counterpart.
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| photo courtesy: Fillum |
Things began to change in 2011 when Vidya Balan delivered two back to back hits '
No one killed Jessica' and '
The Dirty Picture'. She was given a lot of praise for her acting backed with a lot of awards. After that, she took up a film, where she was a pregnant woman searching for her husband in '
Kahaani', another super hit movie. It didn't stop there. Only more and more women-centric films came out which empowered other film stars to take up encouraging roles.
1. Queen
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| photo courtesy: udayavani |
Kangana Ranaut's Queen, for instance, didn't just break stereotypes but gave women a chance to breathe and feel free and say NO. Abandoned on the eve of her wedding night, and never gone abroad before, knowing little English, she decided to still go on her honeymoon and piece her life together.
2. NH10
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| photo courtesy: intoday |
Anushka Sharma's NH10 in 2015 spoke about a widely dismissed or should I say ignored topic in Indian society, "Honour killings". As rightly said, there are two different worlds within India, the rural and the urban. The film revolves around how Anushka witnessed an honour killing in the rural area. And how she wants to get justice for the girl.
3. Angry Indian Goddesses
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| photo courtesy: afterellen |
Then we had not just a woman character as the lead role, but a bunch of them. Yes, I'm talking about 'Angry Indian Goddesses'. A group of 7 strong-minded, independent working women, coming together to celebrate their best friend’s wedding. This movie talks about out pertinent issues like how women are treated in society.
4. Mary Kom
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| photo courtesy: dailymotion |
Filmmakers have decided apart from making the woman a strong protagonist, should bring out issues that need to be heard such as problems faced by women in society, for example, rape, domestic violence. It doesn't just stop there, filmmakers decided to make biopics like Mary Kom, where Priyanka Chopra is playing the lead and how she struggles to become a boxer.
5. Gulaab Gang
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| photo courtesy: indiatoday |
Finally my personal favourite 'Gulab Gang', a crime drama that strongly focuses on women empowerment. Clad in pink sarees and armed with lathi’s (sticks), Madhuri Dixit is playing the lead, along with her gang of women who are self-reliant. The film shows us how politics is played out in small villages.
6. Neerja
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| photo courtesy: aajtak |
Lastly, Sonam Kapoor's 'Neerja' which is based on a true story, shows us how courage is within all of us. And that we only need to let it out. It revolves around how a plane was hijacked by a group of terrorist, and how Neerja is calm and how brave she was to save all the passengers.
These films are a great sign to see the progress of women in Bollywood films. It also reflects the shift in Indian attitude in the recent times.
Written by
Payal Singh
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