Women’s Day is almost upon us and what at one time seemed like a mere act of tokenism, has assumed a whole new proportion with women calling the shots on different fronts, both within and outside our movies.
This season, it?s the women who are the talking point of their upcoming films, as much, if not more than the men. After Deepika Padukone through all of 2013, and Vidya Balan before, this year seems to belong to the cute-as-a-button, Alia Bhatt who has impressed everyone with her cinematic chutzpah. Whether it?s her turn in Highway or the forthcoming 2 States, her fans and the film-makers can?t seem to get enough of her. That she has in a very short span with her professionalism and hard work, successfully got out of her illustrious father Mahesh Bhatt?s shadow is commendable.
Then again, it?s not just newbies on the block, heroines from different time zones are making their presence felt and how. After getting our attention in Dedh Ishqiya, Madhuri Dixit Nene joins forces with once-upon-a-time rival Juhi Chawla in Gulaab Gang, ready to kick some serious a*# . Just two years ago, Sridevi impressed us with her outing of a linguistically challenged mother and maker of laddoos in English Vinglish. Vidya Balan taught us and actresses to move beyond size zero and with Sonakshi Sinha and Huma Qureshi joining in, we could hope for a realistic representation of women in our movies. But then glamourous and real can be two sides of the same coin as Priyanka Chopra proved with Barfi! And a series of glamourous roles that she pulls off with great ease.
Malaika Arora Khan?s item girl, a new reboot version of the mothballed vamp of yore, is happily co-existing with the heroine and demanding a hefty fee for it to. Parallel cinema aces like Shabana Azmi are doing their bit to improve the cause of masala movies, while indie producers and directors like Guneet Monga and Kiran Rao have thrown in their lot with art-house and world cinema and all on their own steam!
Directors, producers and technicians, especially film editors are making their presence felt, all in a good way and obviously getting the menfolk to sit up and take notice of their work. Why, even the male dominated bastions of star secretary/manager and make-up artists is now under threat as women are storming in purely on the merit of good work! The spin-off of these wonderful developments is that films are increasingly displaying a better balance of yin and yang. Following the trend around the world (remember Blue is the Warmest Colour much feted at Cannes international Film Festival in 2013), lesbianism too is slowly coming out of the closet in our movies
Off screen too, things are a changing ? star wives are venturing forth on their own, both in personal and professional life, and marriage no longer spells the end of a career for women. And then again, getting married is no longer the ultimate goal for all women ? a fact that is finding its way into our movies too. In our scripts, women are no longer women?s worst enemies ? they can be friends too. Good times indeed.
As our cover girl Vidya Balan famously put it in an earlier interview with me-this era belongs to the Devis! So hop on and channelise your inner goddess.
