REINVENTION OF FEMININE IN INDIAN CINEMA

1. Ancy and Soniya1
Ancy M Varghese
Soniya Satheesh D‟Costa
Students,
Mar Ivanios College, Trivandrum.
21st
January 2019.
AMALGAMATING FRAGMENTS: THE REINVENTION OF THE
FEMININE IN INDIAN CINEMA
Being an actress, during the 1900s was a taboo, which led Dadasaheb Phalke to use
male actors to do female roles in the first Indian film, „Raja Harischandra‟. In his second
movie, he introduced Kamlabai Gokhle and Durgabai Kamat, the first actresses of Indian
Cinema; however, the characters were not of much importance. „Mother India‟, (1957) is the
first Indian film in which a female actress did a lead role. As time passed, the role of lead
actress was reduced to just an add on to hero centric films like „Kabhi Kushi Kabhie Gham‟ ,
„Dil Toh Pagal Hai‟, „Narasimham‟, „Boeing Boeing‟ etc. Thus right from the beginning, the
focus has always been on man and his moralities. The moralities that were attributed to
women were of ideal wife or of daughter in law and being the „lamp of the house‟. In the
course of time, there developed a tendency in movies, where women did „vamp‟ roles for
entertainment.
The roles played by women were insignificant: objects of love and sex. Their desires
including their sexual ones were not satisfied and man‟s desires were prioritised. The movies,
intentionally or unintentionally conveyed the notion that woman was meant to support the
man. She is often portrayed as a helpless woman, who needs to be saved by a man. She is
shown as one who doesn‟t have any needs or desires of her own. Her only aim in her life is to
satisfy the sexual desires of her man, both physical and mental. She is oppressed and
subjugated to all forms of violence. Men were always portrayed as sexually active whereas
women were passive. Even in sensuous movies, woman is shown as a sexual object, meant to
satisfy man‟s desire, who is totally unaware of woman‟s sensual desires.
The 1965 movie „Guide‟ dared to show a woman character (Rosie) who stood for
what she believed and followed her heart. The movie „Lajja‟, through the character of Janki
showed women that while being caring and ideal one can also be fierce and independent. The
character Rani in the movie „Queen‟ inspired many women to live their life on their own
terms. These movies portrayed woman‟s self will, freedom, fearless and bold attitude but still
nothing was talked about their sexuality and desires
What is it about women‟s sexuality that makes it a taboo? Passion and desires of the
body occur regardless of what gender you are. It has been accepted that men are sexual, loud
and active. They can be crass and boisterous about their sexual needs and flings. Women, on
the other hand, are expected to be shy and demure, keep their desires hidden and not make a
show of it. Indian cinema bought about a revolution when women began to bring out their
sensuality; through the clothes they wore. It took quite some time for the public to raise their
voices against the objectifying of women in the movies. There was a huge hue and cry over
how women were portrayed in films. The issue of their needs was not still addressed. If such

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a discussion came about, it was immediately shamed. Society was not ready to discuss
women and sex openly.
Lipstick Under My Burkha by Alankrita Shrivastava was released in 2016. The movie
created quite a stir when it was to be released. It all began when the censor board decided to
put a stay on the release of the film. According to them it was too “lady-oriented”, seeped in
fantasy and could “hurt the sentiments of a certain community”. Ironically, the movie went
on to win 10 international awards despite its ban in India. The battle between the makers and
the censor board finally ended with the board granting it an A certificate.
Now, one may wonder what it is in the movie that caused such uproar. The movie celebrated
the sexuality of woman. It has a number of not so explicit sexual scenes and cuss words. In a
society where women were meant to follow the shadow of the man in their lives (father,
husband or son), here comes a movie that openly showed women as having sexual desires
and an urge to rise. The four female characters are living lives that suppress them. Each of
them has different needs and desires. The characters belong to four different age groups.
Usha, the 55 year old widow owns the building where rest of the characters live on rent. Usha
is known as Buaji (aunt) by everyone in the locality. She has been so used to being called like
this that she had forgotten her real name. When the swimming instructor asks her name she
replies „Buaji‟. On asked what her actual name is we can see the realization on her face when
she utters her name. It sounded new to her ears. Living upto the title of Buaji, she had never
considered herself anything beyond that what she was expected to be. Her desires woke with
the „Lipstick Dreams‟ that she used to read in hiding. She considered herself as Rosy, the
passionate protagonist of the book and she attributes her desires to the swimming instructor
Jaspal. Rehana is the youngest of the four. She lives with her conservative parents. She wears
burkhas and kameez when she is around her parents. College is her freedom. She is stifled by
the way she is bought up. She leaves from home in a burkha and when she reaches college
she removes her burkha to reveal trendy clothes and wears makeup. Since she can‟t ask home
for money to buy all these, she resorts to stealing so that she can fit into the college group of
kids. She goes for a party ,drinks ,smokes and enjoys her freedom. She gets close to a guy
with whom she was hesitant to get close too but later ends up kissing him. Leela is a
beautician who dreams of leaving the city and going away far and to never return. Her lover
Arshad is a photographer. She is passionate and open in her sexual needs. She meets Arshad
his apartment and insists on havng sex in his bathroom which in turn results in him shunning
and shaming her for having a voracious appetite for sex. She is engaged to someone else and
causes a rift between Arshad and her. Shireen is married and has three kids. Her husband
Rahim uses her to just fulfil his sexual urges. He is least bothered about her needs and
expects her to stay at home looking after the kids and home. She goes for work without her
husband knowing. She is awarded the best sales person and receives promotion. She is heart-
broken when she finds her husband havng an affair with another woman. She is surprised to
find him affectionate, something which she had not imagined him as having.
Lust Stories tells four independant stories of Kalindi, Sudha, Reena and Megha. All
four of the stories deal with the sexual frustration the women going through. Kalindi is a
married school teacher. She has an affair with one of her students. Although worried about
the shame this affair might bring to her in society she continues with it. She is afraid of him
moving away from her. Although she claims to not be jealous of his affair with Natasha, we
find her following them and confronting him about the relationship at his house. When we are
introduced to Sudha, we find her doing having sex with Arjit, the bachelor at whose house
she works. They seem to us as a married couple when we see her doing the housework and
the playful banter they engage in. When the story moves forward we realize that Sudha is the
maid who works there. When his marriage is fixed, we see Sudha realizing her stand in the

3. Ancy and Soniya3
society. Reena is a middle aged woman having an affair with her husband‟s best friend. She
is not satisfied with her married life even though she loves her husband. She doesn‟t get the
love and care she craves for from him. Megha a young and shy school teacher is
inexperienced when it comes to dealing with men. When her wedding is fixed she is filled
with excitement and hopes of what is to come. She is shocked and surprised when she
realizes that he doesn‟t understand that she too needs to be pleasured and satisfied. Even
though her husband loves her immensely and cares for her, he fails to satisfy her sexually.
She sees her friend Rekha who is a librarian in the same school, using a vibrator. Rekha calls
the vibrator as „the best husband one could have. Megha decides to use it. But before she
could, her husband arrives home in a dishevelled state and she rushes out to meet him with
the vibrator still tucked inside her sari. The grandmother mistakes the remote of the vibrator
to be the one of the TV remote attempts to use it, resulting in Megha climaxing in front of her
in-laws and husband.
Both the stories talk about the discovery of sexuality in woman. Usha is shunned and
shamed by Jaspal and her family members when they realize that the Rosy who engaged in
phone sex with Jaspal was none other than Usha. She is told to act according to her age and
conform to the title of a widow and “Buaji”. She is shocked at surprised when Jaspal shuns
her and tells her that she can never be rosy. Leela is stuck between the two men: one whom
she loves but shamed her and the other who is eager to marry her and would give her a
comfortable life. Rehana is caught for stealing and she loses the guy she was attracted to and
her so called friends who call her and bring expose her as the burkha clad woman. Her
parents feel she has bought shame and dishonour to her family and decide to stop her studies
and get her married. Shireen confronts her husband‟s mistress. He finds out that she is
working and although he congratulates her in front of everyone, at home he rapes as
punishment for confronting his mistress and for going to work. He asks her to decline the
offer and stay at home looking after the kids.
Lust Stories on the other hand portray women who are in control of their needs and
sexuality. Unlike the protagonists of Lipstick Under My Burkha, they don‟t conform
themselves to the set norms and rules of society and fight against it. Kalindi realizes she
cannot continue the relationship forward when she knows that Thejas is ready to leave
everything to start a life with her. Her thoughts are beautifully portrayed monologues and we
see the confusion and eventually the realization that she needs t stop depending on him.
Sudha for a moment considers herself equal to the status of Arjit. When she finds out that his
wedding she is fixed she accepts the decision realizing that she can never o above her status
in society and that she was just used for his pleasure. She accepts that it was good while it
lasted and it would be wrong for her to expect more from him. Reena shows no regret for
being in a relationship with Sudheer. She confesses to Salim, her husband who realizes that
he had been neglecting her for his work. This revelation mends their relationship and they
decide to work their relationship out. Megha is ousted from her in laws house and her other in
law wants a divorce to take place. When Megha‟s mother tries to ask forgiveness for her
daughter‟s acts, Megha frilly states that she isn‟t ashamed of what she did and she has no
intention to return to a marriage where her needs and desires are considered as shameful. Her
mother had told her that the greatest pleasure in life is having children. She tells that having
children is not the main priority or pleasure of a married life. A few months later, we meet a
Megha who is bold, confident and more aware of herself. Paras meets her later, realizing that
she has her needs and he wants to give them another chance where he is open to satisfying
bother their needs.

4. Ancy and Soniya4
The stories portray the reality that is prevalent in our society. One set realizes their
needs and desires but are unable to fulfil them because of the patriarchal society they lie in.
Their needs are controlled by the men in their lives. They are not given the freedom to fulfil
their heart‟s desire. The other set consists of women who are independant and strong in their
needs. The successful journey of this revolution can be traced while we analyse the progress
from the 2016 movie, Lipstick Under My Burkha to the 2018 movie Lust Stories. The
controversies that were raised in the latter movie was very less when compared to the first
one. The progress shows how the society has started to accept this revolution in movies and
thus accepting the desires of women.
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