Leading Ladies: Hindi Cinema Finally Has Roles For Women That Allow Them To Have An Opinion!

Filmmakers today are not betting their money on Khans or A-listers to bring them money. And somehow, it's connected to the very fact that their female lead is not just a damsel in distress anymore.

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Today, she is the one who ends up liberating the hero or just ends up becoming her own. Actors like Tapsee Pannu and Rani Mukerji don't need leading men to lead their reel-stories.

The change wasn't overnight. Filmmakers took risks, trusted their instincts, and challenged their own selves to tell their stories, their way.

In 2004, Ashutosh Gowarikar's Swades too gave everyone a lesson on why patriarchy must be called out. In one of the scenes, a suitor and family come to see Geeta (Gayatri Joshi) but she turns down the marriage proposal because she wasn't ready to give up on her job and dreams. Sadly, the graph of women in Bollywood films has not been linear.

Swades/AGP

Years later, I remember watching Zoya Akhtar's Dil Dhadakne Do. The film must have received a luke-warm response at the box-office but some scenes make you want to sit and make notes.

In one of the scenes, Ayesha (Priyanka Chopra) asks her mother if one can opt for a divorce. She tries hard to make her mother (Shefali Shah) understand that she isn't happy. As a mother who has herself been subjugated to social pressures of letting go of her husband's infidelity reminds her daughter that one can't ever give up on a marriage.

Priyanka Chopra

The scene remains etched in my memory because it shakes you up and makes you realize how it's the woman who is expected to carry the burden of an unhappy marriage.

For instance, Zoya has always penned down female characters that have had a voice of their own. Her way of sketching characters like Safeena (Gully Boy) Ayesha and Sona Mishra (Luck By Chance) prove that a leading lady isn't just the one who dances in Switzerland donning a chiffon saree.

She's also someone who knows when to cut the chords and live her life the way she wants to.

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From 'Abla Naari' to 'Sanskaari ladki' to 'Vamp', the portrayal of female characters in Bollywood films have been either extreme or completely useless.

Today, filmmakers and writers like Ashwini Iyer Tiwari and Juhi Chaturvedi are handing the baton to their female actors with roles that aren't flat or uni-dimensional.

Even directors like Shoojit Sircar and Anubhav Sinha are making women lead the pack and tell their own stories.

Female Characters

This year, we saw films like Mardaani 2 and Thappad where women stood up for themselves. Be it at their workplace or their own homes where they're considered docile and forgiving just because of their gender, female leads took the steering wheel in their own hands and mind you, without any hero being their guiding light.

Swades

It's finally our time to celebrate the leading ladies and their way of raising the red-flag on several issues. We look back and trace 16 dialogues from Bollywood films that re-assure us that all is 'finally well' in Hindi Cinema.

1. Truth be told, we all know how accurate this is.

2. Who says that degrees and education are your real-portfolio? 'Shaadi ke bina, ladki adhuri hoti hai..' remember?

3. Women can make and recreate history. Yes, they have got the power.

4. You can't keep intimidating women thinking they're the weaker sex. Because they're not.

5. Shashi stood up for herself and raised some valid questions on patriarchy and how 'man of the house' is everything but a woman who rears and bears children and also manage everything is considered 'just a housewife'. Only Gauri Shinde could have done this.

6. Who decides what's heroic? Isn't a woman who stands up for herself and fights for her rights a hero too?

7. No matter who wears the uniform, both men and women are equally dedicated to their jobs-irrespective of the nature of their work.

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8. Why is it only a woman's responsibility to carry the burden of a relationship or other basic responsibilities? Ever heard about load-sharing? Watch Manmarziyaan and Rumi could give you a lesson or two on it.

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9. No matter what your socio-economic status looks like when it comes to family dynamics, it's easier to call a beti 'paraayi' but a beta always stays a beta.

10. Why should women always introspect about how they should dress, walk, or eat in public? Why can't society learn to make peace with the fact that women and men can co-exist peacefully without shaming each other for their choices?

11. Spoiler alert: Women no longer will compromise just because "Thoda adjust karlo" has been etched in their minds since forever.

12. A man is never questioned on how he succeeded but if a woman does, it's not digested well. After all, how can they? Must have had their 'ways'.

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13. Reality check: Sometimes, there is no one more hypocritical than our own parents.

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14. How difficult it is for people to understand the concept of feminism? It isn't about equal rights because men and women have been and are equal. It's about realizing that they need a fair chance too.

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15. Be it verbal or physical, a woman can stand up for any kind of attack that affects her self-esteem or harms her physically. They don't need to gauge the intensity because even one slap can give you clarity on all that has always been unfair.

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