Feminist Bollywood

Bollywood movies through a feminist lens.

[feministbollywood]

"Gender-Based Violence in Media: A Media Ethics Toolkit"

“Gender-Based Violence in Media: A Media Ethics Toolkit”

This toolkit has been designed. . .to provide a handy guide when it comes to reporting gender-based violence. . . . [M]any media practices tend to perpetuate patriarchal mindsets and rape culture.

“Gender-Based Violence in Media: A Media Ethics Toolkit.” Asmita Ghosh and Japleen Pasricha. Feminism in India. [pdf] https://feminisminindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/GBVInMedia_Report_FII.pdf

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NH10 (2015)

Why didn’t you? Why did you? You should have known.

Such are the premises of any horror movie, a series of bad decisions. The audience yells at the screen, imploring the characters not to turn down that road, not to split up, not to trust the stranger. We are confident we would do better. We would know better. Our victim-blaming would protect us.

Horror movies work, in part, not just by asking the…

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Jhansi Ki Rani (1953)

Jhansi Ki Rani (1953)

Having seen Manikarnika earlier this year,  I thought it would be fun to compare an earlier movie on the same subject. Rani Lakshmibai is an important historical figure and an important nationalist/patriotic symbol. However, media tells us most about the time period in which it was made, so what does Jhansi ki Rani say about its subject, its time period, and its audience?

Jhansi ki Raniis not…

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Review: Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi (2019)

Review: Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi (2019)

I will be honest with you: Manikarnika is the Kangana Ranaut movie I’ve always wanted. In every scene, she looks like she is trying to set fire to everything her eyes. It is awesome.

I’m not a huge fan of historical epics. It’s so easy to get them wrong, to make them too stiff or too modern or not modern enough. Manikarnikafocuses squarely on the title character and one Ranaut, which is exactly…

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Review: Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga (2019)

Review: Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga (2019)

Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga is about love, family, acceptance, dreams, and art. Particularly the transformative power of art.

Tl;dr: It’s really great, go see it.

Sweety (Sonam Kapoor Ahuja) is a lesbian. The movie hides this for quite some time (why doesn’t she want to marry? Independence?? She’s in love with a Muslim boy??? No, she has a girlfriend), playing it as a surprise, but. . .that’s…

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"These Are 10 Of The Most Interesting Female Directors In South Asia Right Now!"

“These Are 10 Of The Most Interesting Female Directors In South Asia Right Now!”

With every international film festival held, the question gets more pressing. Where are the female directors? Numerous studies on the representation of women in film keep showing the same depressing results, despite well-meant initiatives by festivals and funds. But as bleak as the prospects may be, there are obviously many wonderful and gifted female filmmakers out there in India and South Asia.

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"Two Indian women become first to enter temple after centuries-old ban overturned"

“Two Indian women become first to enter temple after centuries-old ban overturned”

On Tuesday, female protesters, reported to be in the millions, came out in support of women being allowed to enter the temple. Dubbed the “women’s wall,” the protesters formed a human chain, extending an estimated 385 miles across Kerala. Local government organizers said more than five million people took part in the 15-minute peaceful protest. “There were so many women and there wasn’t even…

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Zero (2018)

Very short review: Very funny movie, excellent performances (particularly Anushka Sharma and Katrina Kaif), and, as usual, the more interesting story, the woman’s story, is on the sidelines. Additionally, the music was enjoyable, and the movie was beautifully shot.

Although Shahrukh Khan’s character is supposed to be 38/39 and at this point, it’s just like, “yeah, okay buddy.” I’m not sure what’s…

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"Priyanka Chopra Isn't a Scammer, She's Just Way More Famous Than Mainstream American Media Grasps"

“Priyanka Chopra Isn’t a Scammer, She’s Just Way More Famous Than Mainstream American Media Grasps”

[T]he Cut’s editors, and their perspective, are mostly white. This likely contributed to their ignorance about Chopra’s worldwide fame, or that Bollywood dwarfs Hollywood by sheer size. While Hollywood nets more money (a fact partially attributed to the low cost of tickets in India), Bollywood is the world’s largest producer of films, churning out 1,602 in 2012, compared to the U.S.’s 476 films,…

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"The Problem With Men Dominating Movie Reviewing"

“The Problem With Men Dominating Movie Reviewing”

The odds that someone is going to watch a movie or read a book that has worse reviews than its competition is extremely low. This study found that when a female-driven film is reviewed by male critics, they are harsher than female critics, sighting that “female writers award an average rating of 74% and males an average rating of 62% to films with female protagonists,” even though “women writers…

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"The grindmill songs: recording a national treasure"

“The grindmill songs: recording a national treasure”

Listen to the first of over 100,000 folk songs by women in Maharashtra’s villages that make up the unprecedented Grindmill Songs Project, which will run regularly on PARI. Close to 30,000 of these songs have been digitally recorded and 40,000 translated into English from the original Marathi. Some 3,302 performers across more than 1,000 villages were involved in this phenomenal recording of a…

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Review: Krishna Cottage (2004)

Review: Krishna Cottage (2004)

Sometimes I’m lucky and I really want to see a movie that is in the theaters or easily available online. Sometimes I just sit with my cat and scroll through Eros Now until something sounds interesting. Such was the case with Krishna Kottage: I’d never heard of it, but a horror movie sounded good for Halloween, and it focused on a female ghost. I was extra intrigued because the producers are a…

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“In This Stunning New Music Video About Romance and Consent, Marzi Hai Minimum” The cool kids in the Garden of Consent roll a die and play hopscotch to determine what sexy times they’re going to get up to today and construct kinky fantasies as their supportive girlfriends cheer them on.

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"Is it time to bury the item song? The answer can only be yes"

“Is it time to bury the item song? The answer can only be yes”

The skewed gender politics of the average item song, in which a woman performs for a group of men, is a reflection of the Hindi film industry’s culture of normalising sexual abuse and the careless consumption of women’s bodies. Rarely essential to the narrative, the item song declares that it is permissible, and even natural, to cavalierly use women’s bodies for entertainment.

Shabana Azmi…

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Sexual Harassment in Bollywood

Sexual Harassment in Bollywood

Women are speaking up and speaking out against harassment, misconduct, and mistreatment in the Indian film industry.

Sexual harassment allegations pour in against many members of the media fraternity. Scroll.in

Ganesh Acharya, Tanushree Dutta And the Eternal Disco Dance of Male Solidarity. Nisha Susan. The Ladies Finger.

It took a year, but #MeToo is finally roiling Bollywood and Indian media. Ku…

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Review: Kahaani 2: Durga Rani Singh (2016)

Review: Kahaani 2: Durga Rani Singh (2016)

I really enjoyed Kahaani, so I’ve been looking forward to the sequel. I wanted to savor it, to save it for the right day. The right mindset, when I could appreciate its violence and thriller-ness.

Today, it was cold and rainy. I huddled under a blanket. In the United States, we are in the midst of an outrage regarding sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual abuse, the treatment of girls and…

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The Daily Fix: Tanushree Dutta’s charges are a reminder film sets must follow sexual harassment laws

The Daily Fix: Tanushree Dutta’s charges are a reminder film sets must follow sexual harassment laws

Dutta’s story conjures up the life of the film set, where ideas of artistic licence have often bled into sexual licence which is non-consensual or inflected by unequal power dynamics.

. . . .

Bollywood’s craven refusal to take on powerful men is best encapsulated by Amitabh Bachchan, one of its most powerful men: “Neither my name is Tanushree nor Nana Patekar. So how can I can answer your…

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