She gulps down desi tharra, smokes pot, mouths expletives, talks naughty, exposes like never before and doesn't mind some sultry moves -- that's the new age, raunchy, naughty and bold Hindi film heroine for you. From the Chhor do anchal zamana kya kahega coy woman to the I'm too sexy for you babe the Bollywood heroine has come of age.
Be it Nargis Fakhri's desire to drink tharra and watch soft porn in
Rockstar, Vidya Balan's sensual and titillating looks in The Dirty
Picture, Sonam Kapoor's confident display of the middle finger in
Players, Katrina Kaif's drunken act in Mere Brother Ki Dulhan or even
Rani Mukerji's uninhibited mouthing of expletives in No One Killed
Jessica - the bold drift is wide and visible on the big screen.
"Basically, cinema reflects what happens in society. So the
homemaker, subservient, silent sufferer and 'pativrata' woman of
yesterday, was what was shown in Hindi movies earlier. But as times
changed and society became more democratic and liberal, the woman's
portrayal underwent a change on the big screen too," film critic Omar
Qureshi told IANS.
"Today, women live with the 'double income, no kids' mantra, they go
to work, some don't mind living life alone, some don't mind extramarital
affairs...they socialise, party, drink and smoke...so that is clearly
reflecting in cinema as well," added Qureshi.
Some other films with actresses in bold roles include Delhi Belly,
Ishqiya, Shaitan, Tanu Weds Manu, Jism, Saat Khoon Maaf, Dum Maro Dum
and Girlfriend. In some, girls were shown consuming drugs and locking
lips with the same sex.
Young producer Ekta Kapoor has pinned her hopes on The Dirty Picture,
in which a saucy Vidya is seen telling co-star Tusshar Kapoor: "Mujhe jo chahiye uska mazza raat ko hee aata hai". But she feels yesteryear films were more titillating.
"My film The Dirty Picture is about a woman revelling in her
sexuality. There is a very definite line between sexuality and
raunchiness, and our story is about this woman who lived her life with
aplomb. It is a brave and bold performance, no doubt, but one needs to
see how actresses are getting more comfortable in their skin nowadays,"
Ekta told IANS over phone from Mumbai.
"Earlier, actresses used to play so-called 'sati savitris' and used
to be covered in wet dupattas or saris. I think that used to look more
suggestive and raunchy," she added.
When acclaimed filmmaker Rajkumar Gupta made romantic Rani mouth cuss
words and smoke in No One Killed Jessica, he had explained: "The abuses
have been used to define attitude and not in a derogatory sense. These
days abuses are a part and parcel of conversational language and we
didn't feel that there was any harm in using them."
The trend is only becoming rampant for many reasons - viewer's
open-mindedness, directors' daring attitude to show a realistic
portrayal, actress' confidence and producers' risk-taking ability.
"The sexy and bold woman was restricted only to the vamp in Indian
films earlier. She would do the seducing act back then because a heroine
was to be shown doing all 'ideal' things. At that time, producers
didn't want to take a chance by showing a heroine doing 'bad' things and
plus. Nowadays the audience is also more exposed - so they have a wider
perspective about women and their sexuality," said Qureshi.
Writer-actor Manu Rishi, who penned dialogues for films like Oye
Lucky! Lucky Oye and Aisha, says stories of the 'bad and naughty one'
always turn out to be attention-grabbers.
"Whether or not anyone likes it, it is an interesting, exciting and
controversial trend. It makes a film more saleable. Once, Urdu writer
Sadat Hassan Manto was asked: why don't you write about homebound women?
Why do you always write about prostitutes? So he said: 'Gharelu aurton
ke baare mein kuch likhne laayak nahin hota (There's nothing worthwhile
writing about homebound women).'
"He said it because no one wants to either read about homemakers;
neither does anyone want to write about them. Now if both heroines of
Dev D were asked to talk like Juhi Chawla spoke in 'Qayamat Se Qayamat
Tak' or like Bhagyashree did in Maine Pyar Kiya, imagine how they would
sound!
"Just like a sharp-tongued girl causes a crowd on the streets, films with such female characters draw a huge crowd."
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