Masculinity In Bombi Cinema

INDRAPRASTHA COLLEGE FOR WOMEN, UNIVERSITY OF DELHI

B.A HONS. MULTI MEDIA AND MASS COMMUNICATION

FILM APPRECIATION (312)

CONSTRUCTION OF MASCULINITY

Submitted by:

Aprajita Chauhan

Semester 3

Section A

14/0469

CONSTRUCTION OF MASCULINITY

INTRODUCTION

Masculinity is certain behavioral aspects associated with the male sex. While discussing about the construction of masculinity in Bombay cinema, we’ll try to understand how a man reacts/responds to other people, how he reacts in certain situations. Since gender is a social and cultural construct, constructions of gender in films are also not absolute but complex.

We’ll look at the way the male image is represented in Hindi films and chart the change in image of the heroes from 1970’s to the present. We’ll be analyzing three films- Zanjeer(1973), Qayamat se Qayamat tak(1988) and Desi Boyz(2011).

TYPES OF HERO

Before we start analyzing the films, lets briefly understand the different kind of heroes, portrayed in Bombay cinema:

The Classic Hero

• The Classic Hero is the person who goes on a quest to achieve some good end that benefits other people in some way. Perhaps they are rescuing a maiden in distress or preventing a dastardly villain from ruling the world.

Example: Zanjeer, where Vijay a.k.a Amitabh Bachchan, saved the people from the violent acts of Teja a.k.a Ajit Khan.

The Anti-hero

• The Anti-hero is a hero that we do not particularly like. Anti-hero’s can be frustrating for the audience, but they do