In order to understand this representation of women, one must first know the history and general themes prevalent in the Bollywood film industry, as well as the role of women in traditional Indian culture, and how both the traditional and unconventional Indian women are portrayed in films. Talking specifically about movies that centred on women, most early Indian films in the pre-independence era explored traditional culture, folk culture and mythology. These would employ foreign actresses because Indian women were hesitant to expose themselves to the camera. Though women were ubiquitous in popular cinema, they were inevitably denied depth or dimension. This could be attributed to the fact that the audience was pre dominantly male and so were the filmmakers and technicians.
During the 1980s, there was the beginning of the action era; this is an era that brought a lot of changes. The Bollywood Hindi films heroines have lost their strength and space to the hero. According to R. Agarwal (2014), she stated that, “She was reduced to being a glamorous component of the films, dancing around trees, being kidnapped, raped or killed.” In the recent history of Bollywood Hindi films, the body became an essential part of a success of an actress. To make their bodies fit, and be attractive they are spending lots of time in gyms and in beauty parlor. Actresses deal with the villains by herself, defeating them for example- in film Baaghi (2016) where Shraddha Kapoor is performing martial arts and is fighting for her freedom.
Post World War 2, the rise of capitalism and growing feminist movements for greater equity for women, resulted in greater participation and representation of women in the public sphere, accompanied by shifting of labor oriented industrial set up towards a more service oriented edifice(Messner 201). This resulted in more commercial visibility for film stars, sports stars and political leaders. While India had a taste of national icons in the field of politics and cinema such as Indira Gandhi, the field of sport, with its obvious disregard for traditional feminity, inherent in its form and content, had not seen an acknowledged woman icon. It is only during the last decade of the 20th century, Indian socio-economic edifice realizing the potential and requirement of women sports icons, decided to cheer its
Mother’s Character in Hindi Cinema: Then & Now Let’s start this journey of change with some cinematic mother’s character during the time phase. Recently the character of mother in Indian Cinema has got completely changed. When we remember earlier mother’s character of women we got a picture of a miserable soul who always weeping, wailing and all giving and all forgiving, a peasant resisting a lusty landlord or money lender (Mother India) and if she is rich, a devoted wife who could not defy her husband (Ram aur Syams), a suffering ailing mother, often widowed or abandoned and struggling to bring up her offspring with dignity in the face abject poverty (Awara, Ganga Jamuna), a very strict and authoritarian mother (Junglee, Khoobsurat), and
Nowadays, movies portray stories in which either a male or a female character can assume the leading role. Unfortunately, this was not the case on the year 1975 as most movies and TV shows targeted a masculine audience. The Bollywood film, Jai Santoshi Maa, might be considered as an early representation, in media, of feminism. There are many factors that might influence one’s decision in categorizing this film as feminist. Some of the elements present in the movie, which confirm the previous claim, are: relatable characters, the establishment of a role model for women to see as their guide and symbol of Female empowerment.
Background & Motivation Women roles portrayed in stereotypical way in advertisements have been a matter of much public criticism and controversy. Two major stereotypes roles in Indian television advertisements, that is, submissive roles of housewives advertising household product and the glamorous roles for modern girls advertising cosmetic products. Role portrayed in submissive and exploited image has cast a negative impact on the women 's community as widely researched by scholars with emphasis on content analysis techniques of advertisements. We took this project to understand the perception of advertisers & Indian consumers on basis of their attitudes, reactions, and perceptions about these roles. Objective: 1.
in Han dynasty. In the very beginning of the film, she might be seen as a girl with socially-awkward attitude. However, after she makes a decision to go off to fight in the war instead of her elderly father, she shows her courage, her self-confidence as well as her self-reliance. From these three main female characters, it can be seen that their characters are incredibly different compared to other animation movies which have women play in roles. For this research, we will focus on these three characters about the concept of feminism according to
“Kabuki is well known for its exaggerated acting, flamboyant costumes and makeup, and unnatural storylines. The onnagata, usually male actors who perform the roles of women, have been an important aspect of kabuki since its beginnings in the 17th century. In a "labyrinth" of gendering, the practice of men playing women 's roles has affected the manifestations of femininity in Japanese society.” (Wu, Guanda, Onnagata: “A Labyrinth of Gendering in Kabuki Theater,” Academic OneFile) Kabuki theater is an amazing art that takes ordinary ways to do things and makes them extravagant. Kabuki plays are very structured and mainly focus on topics such as: ethical conflicts, romances, and historical events. Another interesting fact is that in most Kabuki
The actors performing the male roles in historical plays often employ a large melodramatic style of acting, known as ‘aragoto’ or ‘rough-stuff’, and wear a heavily stylized facial make-up called kumadori, which uses a white base marked with heavy lines. Their voices are powerful and exaggerated, bellowing and braying their often-nonsensical lines as they performed in a broad and bombastic style. Wagoto characters are quite the reverse, often being played by onnagata, and are much more sensitive, restrained and romantic in feel. In traditional kabuki, men play all of the roles. These men are called onnagata as they express female beauty without negating their own male body by emphasizing and stylizing feminine movements and gestures.
As we see in the movie Mughal-E-Azam, as the courtesan dancer and her feelings were buried alive. Having a women wearing less clothes,dancing sensuously on screen was is fulfilling the demands of the men. Women have become an eye candy in the movies. Their main role in the Indian cinema is hip and breasts shaking and lack substance. As Vinayachandran said in an interview, “Most roles for women involve glamorous skin show, a vivacious song and dance routine and in supporting the male hero to achieve his goals” (40, 2011).