Bollywood's Heroes Rally For Their Heroines

Stereotyping women and objectifying them has come pretty easy to the predatory showbiz. As Shabana Azmi once pointed out, why should a girl offer herself like a tandoori murgi or be pataoed with a missed call? Is she that easy? Why do women allow themselves to be used as eye-candies, especially in recent years in the ‘item’ songs space? Not only are women portrayed in derogatory ways, with the camera panning on their chest, pelvic region and posterior, but also the words used to describe, in typically the case of an item song, are not very flattering: halkat jawani, chikni Chameli, Munni badnaam. Each is demeaning and regressive.

The men featured in these titillating songs, a huge draw in several patches of rural and semi-rural India and even educated regions up-North, look a little short of gang-raping the item girl. She gyrates, feels her body all over with her hands and her gestures are purposely inviting, enough to damage the young and impressionable India.

Filmmakers like Shyam Benegal in the70s, 80s and 90s, and in recent years, filmmakers like Kiran Rao, Zoya Akhtar and Gauri Shinde have made a great effort to show women in a respectable manner. Their women are strong willed, who speak and act with their mind. They have professions, or even if they dont, theyre dignified. Another reason that women in showbiz have largely appeared as objects is the lack of well-etched characters, which is changing now.

Amitabh Bachchan had recently tweeted that stereotypes for women are fast-breaking which is a great news. There's a gradual shift in the manner in which roles are being written for the weaker sex. Shes fast-becoming the hero of her films -Deepika Padukone in Piku, Rani Mukerji in Mardaani, Priyanka Chopra in Mary Kom, Sridevi in English Vinglish, Vidya Balan in The Dirty Picture... She is the hero!

Farhan Akhtar, who produced Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, which featured Katrina Kaif as a diving instructor without lecherously panning the camera on her body, says, “There are many films being made which are for women. We even have a lot more female filmmakers, so that in itself is a change. But when something disturbs me I tend to not watch that film. You have the power to reject something as an audience. That's probably the best way to make the people creating such content realise it and they will have to stop.”

Actor Imran Khan agrees with Farhan and says that the last seven to eight years have seen a sea change in the manner in which women are portrayed on screen. And the situation is only improving.

Aamir Khan, on his talk show, spoke about the objectification of women in Bollywood and he had Deepika Padukone, Parineeti Chopra and Kangana Ranaut beautifully break down the myth of the ideal hero and the weak heroine. The actor-producer felt it was his responsibility to highlight an issue that has bothered his world: showbiz. He said, It is shameful that our industry in some manner does objectify women, and it has been happening for years. Its about time we stopped that practice.