Rise of the powerpuff girls

For a long time, Bollywood has been blamed for stereotyping women, some times as a damsel in distress who needs to be rescued by the hero or as an eye candy whose only job is to look pretty, through good times and bad. And then, there's the third kind that surfaced.

There were glimpses of some pathbreaking, women-oriented themes in films like Deepa Mehta's triology, 'Black', 'No One Killed Jessica', 'The Dirty Picture', 'Kahaani' or the recently-released 'B.A.Pass'. But these were just a few, and strong women characters still hadn't found a sound footing.

All that seems to be changing, slowly and gradually, with films like 'Gulaab Gang', 'Mardaani', 'Bobby Jasoos', 'Mr. Joe B Carvalho' and 'Revolver Rani' lined up for release one after the other.

While Madhuri Dixit plays a social crusader in 'Gulaab Gang', Rani Mukerji plays a tough cop in 'Mardaani', so does Soha Ali Khan in 'Mr . Joe B Carvalho' and Kangna Ranaut plays a gangster in 'Revolver Rani'. We talk to people in the film industry about this trend.

Bollywood actress Pooja Salvi, who made her Bollywood debut with Rohan Sippy's romantic comedy 'Nautanki Saala', agrees that this change is apparent, mentioning how her role was not just about looking glamorous but was an important character in the story. She says, “After movies like 'Kahaani', there are many scripts floating in the industry where women have central roles in the storyline. There is a change in the way people now cast actors; even newcomers in the industry are now looking for roles in which they can show their acting skills. Now women-oriented roles are appreciated and acknowldged by the public. Hence, we can expect a change in the status of female actors in the industry in near future."

Filmmaker Kapil Sharma agrees that the audience has become receptive to the complexity of womanhood in films but feels that the change is not yet complete. “Though I accept that there has been an increasing change because the audience has started accepting women in a variety of roles. But I won't say the process is complete. Despite a strong character, we still somehow fold those characters into existing Indian patriarchal structure and they seem to become slightly secondary to the man. We're still a little far from showing women equal to the man. But we have come a long way, which is a huge testament to the change in the Indian audience," he shares.

Actress Aditi Rao Hydari, who won appreciation for her role in 'Murder 3', shares, “'Murder' started off as an erotic thriller franchise that made a lot of money. I have a lot of respect for the producers and their courage to change that to a niche woman-oriented film and still make it commercially successful. I feel cinema is also about glamour, clapping and dancing in the aisles and whistling at interesting scenes or characters. Strength of a character and its desirability are not mutually exclusive. If an actor is talented and beautiful, it should be a blessing for her."

She adds, “There should be a need for good content and fun characters. Ideally, women-oriented films should not be a 'trend'. They shouldn't be taken as the kind of films that people make to feel credible and sensitive, while they make other kind of films to make money. What I hope for is that one day they will be treated at par with a script written for a hero."