Amal Sheheen Week 13

Gender Policing in Mainstream Hindi Cinema:  A Decade of Central Female Characters in Top-Grossing Bollywood Movies 

Bollywood films enjoy a global audience. Bollywood’s globalization has arguably affected the portrayal of Indian women in Bollywood films and has given media and the advertisement industry the power to influence the minds of its targeted audience. They can establish and normalize traits by mere portrayal, from associating colours and certain fragrances to a particular gender to the type of role that gender supposedly needs to perform in the society. This creation of gender stereotypes can be traced back to the printed images, caricatures, advertising propaganda, and even written content of the 1950s in the United States of America. 

Critical assessments of women in film have suggested that narrative structure in many films depends on the passive role of women and the active role of men. This stereotyping is heavily concentrated on defining and redefining who exactly the “ideal woman” is.  Bollywood, has become just another source to reinforces these stereotypes. This is argued by the Subuhi Khan in her paper and after thorough data analysis, have come to the conclusion that, “Women in Bollywood films experienced better life outcomes when they complied with prescriptive gender norms.” The message that Bollywood is sending to its audience is that modern Indian women should not be punished for occupying white-collar jobs or enjoying freedom as long as they continue to uphold traditional Indian gender norms. Hindi cinema is evolving in its depiction of female gender norms, but only in terms of eliminating hostile sexism. Benevolent sexism still remains a component of mainstream Hindi movies.