At a time when the nation is coming to terms with the Nirbhaya Act and also
when even Parliamentarians are speaking about women rights it is perhaps time
to look at ten films that deal with women- not so much as empowered women as
much as they being the central theme and yet empowered .
1. Mother India: An iconic statement on womanhood –more on
motherhood and an early statement on the moralistic stance of a woman scorned.
Dealing with the status of women in a feudal background, it is not just the
swan song of Nargis but the envy of every actor thereafter.
2. Guide: Strange that many do not list this Goldie masterpiece
as a women centric film though it deals with a protagonist some times in the
1960s when the woman was willing to walk out of matrimony and not choose a
career but make bold and live with a man she loved. Waheeda gave it her best
and the spirit is capsuled for eternity in the spirited: Aaj phir jene ki
tamana hai.
3. Sujata: The Bimal Roy Nutan combination listed us with some
brilliant cinema dealing with women. Name any of the three films and they would
be justified to a list, as would probably all of them. This is my choice simply
because that within the system and without being a rebel it was a powerful
Dalit women. Was it the role, the Director or the actor? A moot question.
4. Mirch Masala: This Ketan Desai salute to woman empowerment
is very Smita Patil dependent. It is also deals very directly with how the
predator needs to be dealt with. With an actor like Naseer adding all the punch
the film requires the final scene is a lesson on how to build a climax to its
logical conclusion.
5. Aandhi: Made during the times when Ms Gandhi Senior was not
exactly popular or tolerant to any form of criticism, the film was wrongly
conceived as a take on her and thus suffered a tad. Yet gulzar gave it his
touch –not to mention the power pacted performances from Sanjeev Kumar ( an
award winner ) and the legendary Suchitra Sen. Her last outing at Bollywood- a
role that is etched in the minds of all who have seen the film and even the
songs on TV. In fact Bollywood told her : tum agaye noor agaya.
6. God Mother: It is not just about Shabana walking away with
the National award- she did it when she played a doormat in Bhavna. This was
all about how a women can handle the wolves and speak in their own language.
Little Red Ridding Hood had come a full circle. The wolves got a whole lot of
their own medicine and politics and gang war was no longer the subject of the
godfather- since the arrival of the God Mother.
7. Yeh Kaisa Insaaf: This could be a surprise entry into the
list but the last few reals of the film is a scripted to empower women. Shabana
again gives it her all in and poor Vinod Mehra is at the receiving end in a
family drama from the Dasari stables ( what then is such a film doing in this
list!!) you know it is a genuine salute to women.
8. Astitva: May be some when they think of Tabu would like to
add a Chandini Bar which dealt with what the Maha government thinks is taboo
but to me this Mahesh Manjrekar film is in a list of all time favs. since it
deals with the space a woman fights for in the precincts of matrimony and is
not willing to compromise on it . Great Tabu and an interesting cameo from
Namrata Shirodkar.
8. Fiza: In contradistinction to the soft Behn of Hindi films,
who are either raped on waiting for hero bhaiya to get her married or set her erring
hubby right. This time the protagonist is willing to take on the system and go
in search of her brother (played with such soul by Hrithick Roshan). Karishma
gives the role a sincere interpretation. Khaleed Mohd. who has torn every film
maker, took this task to heart. Debut luck not to be repeated later though.
9. Lajja: This Raj Kumar Santoshi film is truly a tribute to
Indian womanhood. He chose the porcelain Manisha, the radiant Madhuri and
ethereal Rekha to tell three different tales of exploitation and three
different responses. Not to mention the tales were perfunctory in the telling
yet it was an experiment that spoke sincerely and was indeed well executed.
This over Damini which personally speaking was a little over board.
10. Dor: What a movie this. Nagesh Kuknoor can surely not
replicate this great work of his. Ayesha Takia and Shreyas Tarpade are no stars
and yet this film is a stand out thanks to their not starry performances and
for treating woman as people with character and not to mention compassion.
Surely this list is worth a debate as even consciously I know that films like
to Ek Bhar Phir, Bhumika, Dirty Picture etc… the list can be long. To me
subject to my present recall skill sets, the ten best are as stated above.
L. Ravichander.