If Bollywood is the perpetrator of rape culture in India, then why can't it be the saviour too?

Dear Bollywood, we need a hero--not a stalker.

Dipannita Saha Dipannita Saha
जनवरी 24, 2017
The hero might have touched the heroine and left the screen, but his imitators are harassing women all over the country. Photo Coutesy: Youtube

Imagine a scenario where a boy follows a girl everywhere. He stalks her, professes his love for her, and even threatens to commit suicide if she says no. What do you suggest the girl should do? If you said she should file an FIR and get him arrested, then just spoiled the plot of many a Bollywood films.

Before we begin to point out everything that is wrong with our films--let's get the definition of rape culture straight. You've heard the word a number of times; hell, our newspaper headlines are plastered with it. Yet, define it as an environment where prevailing social attitudes have the effect of normalizing or trivializing sexual assault and abuse, and you would dumbfound many.

But why is rape culture surprising? After all, what else do you expect from a society that elevate sub-standard films which glorify stalkers, make the heroines fall in love with them, consider rape jokes humourous to the level of blockbusters. Films that reinforce the idea that no matter what the woman's will, at the end of the day she is a man's entity. But just have to pursue her enough.

Stalker alert! Photo courtesy: Youtube Stalker alert! Photo courtesy: Youtube
 

From Rehhna Hai Tere Dil Mein (starring R. Madhavan and Dia Mirza) to Raanjhanaa (starring Dhanush and Sonam Kapoor), Hindi films have glorified the shameful act of stalking really well.

Bollywood has been churning out movies for years now that send just one message--ladki ki naa me haa hoti hai. Why is a woman who rejects a man never taken seriously? Why do our films sell the idea that a no may be just a yes, shrouded with some terms and conditions? Because stalking is equated with love and persistence is considered to be a mark of 'true love' in Bollywood. 

Be it the song Gandi Baat, or the classic Jhumma Chumma De De--our films not only misrepresent love, but also never seem to take consent into account.

And if you think stalking is the only vice that Bollywood has, let us remind you that it's just the tip of the iceberg. Crime against women have been normalized in our films for so long now, that it has become a source of mockery. Come on, how many times did you laugh when Raj from Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge made unwanted sexual advances at Simran in the train?
Bollywood has highlighted women as objects of desire with only their bodies to offer for years. Take any popular item song, and at the centre of it you will find a naughty village girl who wants to be ravaged by men.

For a moment there, you can fool yourself into believing that finally women are owning up to their sexuality and desires, and call this cheap show a sexual revolution of sorts. But listen to the lyrics or watch the music video one more time, and you'll come to find that all of these perpetuate the culture of misogyny that has shackled Indian women for years.

Item girls are essentially hypersexualized women, who appear mid film to perform unreal racy dance numbers while male background dancers drool over them.

These dance sequences, and their corresponding item girls, generally carry no significance with respect to furthering the plot of the film and more often than not involve tiny outfits, copious pelvic thrusting, and a sea of sexually- entitled men.

Yet, we blame westernization for the rape culture in India. How ironic is that! How are skirts a reason for rapes, and films like Mastizaade, Grand Masti, or Kya Super Cool Hai Hum innocent entertainment? Most Bollywood comedies--adult or otherwise--are nothing but reels of film embedded with misogynist thoughts and blatant objectification of the female body.

Take for example, one of Sallu Bhai's most famous films--Dabangg. When an offering of money by the Dabangg Salman Khan is refused by his female lead Sonakshi Sinha, the next words you hear are: "Pyaar se de rahe hai rakh lo, warna thapad marr ke bhi de sakte hai." Misogyny plus violence is equal to eternal love, and the top earner for that quarter--if not the whole year.

 

Not all hope is lost though. While we have had more than our fair share of cringeworthy movies glorifying misogyny, we've also had empowering films like Queen, Piku, and English Vinglish. These movies not only portrayed strong and independent women as the protagonists, but also showed us that movies can do well regardless of crass humour and objectification. And sometimes even men.

Yes, it is true that it's rare to find films where the actuality of the society is reflected, at least, in the depiction of genders. However, we have to agree that every once in a while a feminist movie breezes past the male-dominated Hindi film industry.

And if you think feminist cinema is an offering of the new millennium, you're wrong! Aandhi (1975), Arth (1982), Mirch Masala (1987), and Damini (1993) have been keeping the candle burning for women-oriented films since the 1970s.

It's time we had more feminist movies in Bollywood. Photo: Youtube It's time we had more feminist movies in Bollywood. Photo: Youtube

The old excuse of giving the public what it wants doesn't hold up anymore. Movies recently have shown that if the public is given genuinely good content, they will consume it. If cinema is a reflection of society, shouldn't filmmakers own up their social responsibility, and not make a mockery of sexual crimes?

Films form mindsets, they become the topic of discussion, and often seep into our culture and behaviour. We can only expect things to change when we as consumers refuse to accept violence in the form of entertainment.

Clearly movies have a strong hold on us, the masses. So if a film that has men salivating over women and following them to the ends of the earth just to get a date can become evergreen classics, imagine what a film that features a woman standing up for herself and not giving into advances can actually achieve?

Maybe, just maybe, these films will also start a trend. One that says: "Ladki ki na, na hi hai. Haan nahi", and rescue many young girls from falling prey to aspiring Romeos.

 

लगातार ऑडनारी खबरों की सप्लाई के लिए फेसबुक पर लाइक करे      

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