"Feminism is being true to yourself. In this era, 'feminism' has adopted a corrupt identity and women do not want an association with such a term. The social stigma in this age has depreciated the literal meaning of feminism. I would call myself a feminist. According to me, Indian cinema is a propagator of evils like patriarchy and therefore, helping in emancipation and empowerment of women."" These lines were said by Kalki Koechlin in an interview where she was asked to draw a line between Feminism and Women Empowerment. Her words stand true to date.
Firstly, let's not confuse between Feminism and Women Empowerment. Feminism is the advocation of equal rights for females whereas Women Empowerment is the ROAD that we take to achieve the "supposed" feminism. And just to some up what feminism is NOT.....
The world of cinema has some striking statements when it comes to feminism. Where actors, film-makers have made pro-feminism statements, their movies paint an entirely different picture. From mentally and physically abused women to cheated housewives our cinematic world has portrayed it all.
In Hollywood, feminine characters have been breaking every now and then. Bollywood is struggling with it's stereotypes. Where Jolie played Christine Roberts in 'Changeling', Meryl Streep in Devil Wears Prada have portrayed strong fictional female characters and though Bollywood has really given us some strong female characters but only of lately. Juhi Chawla in Benaam Baadshah, Nutan in Khaandaan or more recently Sonakshi Sinha in Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai Dobaara have potrayed stereotypical roles in films.
Eversince the release of the 2008 hit movie Fashion, Bollywood has finally understood how to get feminism right. Characters like Bipasha from Corporate, Zoya from Raanjhanaa, Swara in Anarkali of Aarah , Datto in TWMR, Sridevi in English vinglish etc. screamed of feminism, foul mouthed people like our CBFC chairperson, Pahlaj Nihalani wanted to stop this fire of feminism. The entire fiasco around 'Lipstick Under My Burkha' was baseless as Mr. Nihalani wanted that woman should and always be 'pure'. But gladly, he lost this battle and the movie is up for release.
With such mentally challenged people sitting as the head of films, expression of female characters remain doubtful because such people allow more Mr.Nihalanis to pop up. These mentally challenged people should be handed over to the women of the country and beaten black and blue to make them realize a woman's true worth.
We tend to rely statements that are said by the people from the film fraternity. This is because we as the common audience rely on what is depicted by the media who majorly focus on the film fraternity. Hence, they become role models for both men and women who are inspired by their speeches and begin to act. The sense of responsibility that we expect to see in them is prevalent.
But speeches alone don't work. Relevant change through cinema is ignored as seen in Anarkali of Aarah, Corporate, Fire, Phobia etc. flopped because they depicted a strong feminine character which beat up the male character.
Actors like Kangana Ranaut, Kalki Koechlin, Swara Bhaskar, Priyanka Chopra, Sonam Kapoor etc have been vocal about feminism we need to support such celebrities who are doing their bit to bring a change in the society! But Sonam Kapoor's recent statement, " I am the girliest girl possible but I cannot accept that I am a feminist because I want support." speaks volumes that our society needs to change. Unless and until we don't bring a visible change, nothing is going to happen of our cinema.
And once again, as Kalki has summed it up here, it is very true!
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